Foiling An 18.5" Water Pan - A Solution


 
N

Ned

New member
If one sheet of foil won't cover the new 18.5" water pan, and if two sheets won't cover the pan due to a leak in the seam, I reasoned one sheet may cover half of a pan. Divide et ipera (Divide and conquer) - Julius Caesar.

I drilled a hole in the top of the water pan, across from the existing one; I enlarged slightly the existing hole; and I place a small diameter threaded rod in the two holes (spanning the diameter of the pan's top). Use four nuts and washers to hold this rod in place. This, in effect divided the pan into two sections. Then I simply foiled the pan, one side of the rod at a time, bring the foil up to the rod and wrapping it around the rod, and then I placed the foil around half of the pan's perimeter in a normal manner. The seam at the rod is above the water line, and of course at the perimeter as well. I used two layers of foil on each side to insure against a hole.

Any comments or improvements will be appreciated.

Ned
 
Without photo's, you are talking "Greek" to most. For $2.00 a roll for heavy duty foil, I think that is the simple route to take. My time is worth a lot, so I'm happy re-wrapping my pan every few cooks. I use the Terra-Cotta Clay plate setting on top of the pan (I NEVER put water in the pan) so it's a mute point for me. I'll spen $0.50 cents every few cooks and re-wrap if needed. Usually don't need to.
 
I don't use the water, and I read that its not a good idea to foil the inside of a pan when using it.
So this is for easy clean-up??

Tim
 
Originally posted by timothy:
I don't use the water, and I read that its not a good idea to foil the inside of a pan when using it.
So this is for easy clean-up??

Tim
Click to expand...

Why is not a good idea to use water and foil at the same time? I did for my last shoulder and everything was fine. Actually eased cleanup because the fat solids stayed within the foil and I just dumped the liquid out. A quick rinse and it was clean.
 
Tim, I also am curious about your post, that its not good to foil the pan.
Please shed a little light on that if you care to.
 
One of the problems I've found with using foil with water (and I've written about this in the Using A Water Pan In The WSM article) is that it's common for water to get past the foil and collect between the foil and the bottom of the pan. All it takes is a pinhole or the slightest tear.

On a few occasions, there was enough water that as it heated, it expanded and pushed up and over the edge of the pan and down into the fire. Not only did that make a mess, but it kicked up a little bit of ash, too.

So I've been in the habit of never using foil with water and I don't find cleanup hard, even if I let the water level drop. I never let it run totally dry, however. A quick scrub with hot soapy water and one of those green scrub pads and I'm in business.

YMMV.

Regards,
Chris
 
Chris, What do you do with the water after the cook. Especially if you are not at home ie comp.
But also if at home?

Mark
 
Ok, the way I read not to use water with the foil was some sort of chemical reaction would take place.

When I did the water and foil together, I used 1 gallon of water in the foiled pan and it never pushed out or boiled over.
 
Well I didn't mean to come off as one shouldn't or should foil a pan when using water.
I was just asking the OP a question.
I don't use water, and I read that its not a good idea to foil the inside of the pan when using it.( For some of the reasons that Chris points out)
So is this for easy clean-up??
That's all..

Tim
 
Actually Tim, it did ease clean-up a bit. When I was done with the smoke, the water that evaporated left all the grease and gunk on the outside of the foil. So just a quick toss of the water that was left and removed the foil with all the gunk. There wasn't much left on the pan itself, so just a quick rinse with soap and water and clean as a whistle.
 
Originally posted by Jack Bordeaux:
When I did the water and foil together, I used 1 gallon of water in the foiled pan and it never pushed out or boiled over.
Click to expand...
Just to be clear, I've not had that problem every time. But I had it several times and it was kind of messy when it did happen. So I stopped doing it and found that the cleanup wasn't so bad, anyway. So I don't do it anymore.

Regards,
Chris
 
Originally posted by mk evenson:
Chris, What do you do with the water after the cook. Especially if you are not at home ie comp.
But also if at home?
Click to expand...
I don't compete, so I can't speak to that.

I let the fat solidify on top of the water overnight, skim it off and throw it in the trash, and pour the water down the kitchen sink. Scrub the pan with hot, soapy water and I'm done.

Regards,
Chris
 
On my 22 I use what I call a double foil method. I have 3 sheets that I methodically fold/seam. Once I lay that in, I create second layer and lay it in (seams perpendicular) to the first layer. I've been doing this ever since my first smoke (a little over a year ago). Sometimes you get a little leak but it is NOTHING significant by any means!!! Cleanup from this is nothing more than dispose the water, dispose foil and wipeout the bowl.
 
I just don't get the whole foil thing. It takes less then 5min to clean the bowl out when using water. Plus you don't have a big,greasy,smelling ball of foil sitting in the trash can
 
Todd, foiling the pan allows the smoker to get to temp quicker. Heating the water just adds more time and uses more fuel to my cook.
 
On my 18.5" I foil with water, but after reading this, I may try without foil next time if it is easy to clean.

I agree the shape of the 18.5 pan makes it difficult, but I have a method that works pretty well:

Take a 2' piece of wide foil, and put on the bottom of the bowl centered, with the long direction running up and down, and wrap extra up and over lip and into bowl.

Take another piece of wide foil, same length, and lay inside the bowl centered with the long direction running left to right, wrapping the extra around the lip to the under side of the bowl.

Since the 2 pieces are 90degrees out of phase with each other they cover everything, and there is no seam down the middle of the bowl.

chad
 
To need a solution, you need a problem and I didn't know there a problem foiling the 18.5" water pan.
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Anyway, as Chris, Tom, and Todd have already pointed out, it's no problem cleaning the pan if using water. I only foil if cooking a massive amount of meat on both grates, or cooking at higher temps and foiling during the cook.

Water in the pan is a great heat sink, and it helps to slows down evaporation of moisture on the meat's surface. If you try both ways at the same temps, you'll notice that bbq cuts will get bark faster and chicken will be a little drier on the bone side if not using water in the pan.
 
I just experienced this problem, this morning.

Everthing was fine until I decided to "Top" off the water pan.

Water started dripping, thought I had a leak in the pan.

I had my water pan foiled both on the outside as well as inside.

Never had the problem before. Must have had a small pin hole in the foil near the top inside edge of the water pan.

Butt came out fine.

Will not foil the inside next Water cook.
 
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