full water pan VS empty VS ceramic pot VS ...


 
J

Jon Chappel

TVWBB Member
So I've only used my wsm a couple of times, every time I've used it I used either a full or empty water pan. Empty for high heat and full for smoking. I was wondering what other people use, and what the advantages / disadvantages to each method are.
 
Hey jon, welcome to the party.
The subject of water pan preferences has been discussed quite a bit around here.
If you have a lot of time on your hands,a search for "water pan" will result in 60 pages of threads, so somewhere between 500 to 600 hits.
Good luck.
 
Jon, what Mike said. I never use water and have done so only once. What a mess to clean up. I have been thinking tho if you use water in the pan and cover with foil clean up would be much better. But then there is the issue of fuel consumption. OH MY!!!!!!

Mark
 
Once I become adept at maintaing temps, I stopped using water or sand.

I mostly use a foiled saucer with an empty foiled pan. For HH, just an empty foiled pan.

Easy cleanup and uses less fuel.
 
With water in the pan you will be hard pressed to get temps out of the smoking range regardless of your vent settings... very "safe". However, more fuel consumption and a messy clean up. Plus, if actually relying on the water to moderate temps you have the need to monitor the level in the pan.
Foiled pan: less fuel consumption and easier cleanup. Requires a bit of experience to get the feel the vent settings and how much lit charcoal to start with... However, it is most definitely NOT rocket science!
As Mike said, check out out the all the previous threads regarding.
 
They all work. No pan works for the top grate also.
Heat control in the WSM is done by restricting airflow.
Pick a method, play with it and in a few cooks you'll have it down.
Water pan with water increases fuel use but only bout a pound/ gallon ( not a big deal).
 
I've used water, no water, and clay saucer -- all work and have some minor merits. Personally, I don't think the cleanup with water is all that bad. Most boils off and I clean up with a plastic trash bag held upright by a paper shopping bag. Ashes go in, remaining water and grease go in, scrape with a plastic putty knife and/or crumpled foil. Any paper towels, crumbled foil, trash thrown in the bag and all is rolled up and discarded.

As far as heating the water, I start with hot tap water (120*) and seldom have to wait even a half hour to get to 200* lid therm. That's when I start smoking (or when the dense smoke stops, which ever is last) and very little fuel is wasted in just heating.

Rich
 
I only recently got a WSM and have only cooked on it once but before I did, I did a lot of reading about this subject.

On my first cook I did BB ribs and foiled the pan with no water and used the minion method with a full ring of charcoal. I could have used less charcoal since I had quite a bit left when I was done but I didn't want to risk running out of charcoal on my first cook.

Overall my temps stayed pretty even for being a new smoker and the charcoal bowl being out of round. The ribs turned out great and I don't plan on using water in the pan in the future.

Wayne
 
Originally posted by TravisH:
Once I become adept at maintaing temps, I stopped using water or sand.

I mostly use a foiled saucer with an empty foiled pan. For HH, just an empty foiled pan.

Easy cleanup and uses less fuel.
Click to expand...


Ditto-
The point being do you really want to clean a NASTY water funk bowl or just cook.
 
Originally posted by Wayne Dimirsky:
I only recently got a WSM and have only cooked on it once but before I did, I did a lot of reading about this subject.

On my first cook I did BB ribs and foiled the pan with no water and used the minion method with a full ring of charcoal. I could have used less charcoal since I had quite a bit left when I was done but I didn't want to risk running out of charcoal on my first cook.

Overall my temps stayed pretty even for being a new smoker and the charcoal bowl being out of round. The ribs turned out great and I don't plan on using water in the pan in the future.

Wayne
Click to expand...

Not hijacking:
this is the real point-How much charcoal to use for what type of cook. New post? I wil start one.
 
I have been reading about this as well. help me understand.
So is the purpose of a clay saucer, or sand just to eliminate potential hot spots?
Is the foil only to make clean up easier?
Do you set the saucer right in the water pan?
 
So is the purpose of a clay saucer, or sand just to eliminate potential hot spots?
The "mass" (saucer, sand, water, whatever) is a "heat sink" -- by getting it hot, it helps to maintain a constant temp (water at 212*) regardless of the level of heat from the coals. No heat sink, you get temp variation based solely on the heat source (burning charcoal).

Is the foil only to make clean up easier?
Yes, and if you place another laver of foil across the top of the water pan with a depression of 1" or more, it will collect almost all grease drips. This is actually the only foil that I use -- regardless of heat sink.

Do you set the saucer right in the water pan?
I do. Some have a saucer covered in foil big enough to sit on top. A 14" saucer is near ideal, I think. Mine is smaller and fits down a couple of inches.

Edit: I've seen a recommendation to use a double layer of foil to catch grease as one layer will almost always leak. It's true that it can develop pin point holes and leak. Needless to say, the cost of the large Heavy Duty foil can get to be a real part of your cook cost.

Rich
 
After using water the first few times, I tried a couple of foil wrapped fire bricks in my foil lined water tray with excellent result.
 
To the point about the purpose of clay saucer/sand/etc...

Let me add that the idea behind this is definitely to help provide and EVEN heating surface. Most of these items tend to hold heat and thus temperatures MUST be caught on the way UP. Once you exceed your target temperature you will struggle to get it back and/or cause yo-yo'ing. Once you get a handle on it though, using something like a clay saucer will help you reduce fuel usage and help provide stable temps.

The water bowl is a "fail safe" that allows people to smoke simply and safely. Since water can only reach 212 F, the fire then uses it's energy to convert the water to vapour. This keeps the smoker in that "smoke" range of 225-250 that everyone seems to shoot for.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top