I think I'm converted to No Water!


 
S.Six

S.Six

TVWBB All-Star
I've done waterless cooks before, but not very many. Lately I've been doing waterless cooks and really like the results. I love that i have a much higher temperature range available to me without the water. Today I did spares at 275° in my 18"wsm and it ran like a champ! No problem holding temp, sucker was rock solid! I sprits with apple juice mixed with a little bit of Jack Daniels every hour. At 4.5hrs it was ready for some sauce, then back on for another 20mins or so. Used pecan for smoke.

Will be doing more waterless cooks in the future.
Thanks for looking, see you next cook!
 
Beautiful spares. I'm fairly new to smoking, at least as far as having a dedicated smoker, but I have not used water and my results have been very good. You can't argue with results, those ribs are awesome. Any leftovers?:confused:
 
I never have used water and have been happy for the most part on all my cooks. Very nice looking ribs!
 
Great looking rib S.Six...hell i don't even use the pan...i also spritz with apple juice and oil.
 
I use no water in my Mini-Joe, 14.5" and 18.5". However, I DO use the heat deflector (water pan). My desired temperature for smoking ribs and Boston Butt is 275 degrees. I have no problem holding temps at this level.

However, when I am doing ribs, I nearly always do a full package full of ribs at one time (even on the small smokers). I use two Brinkman rib racks, cut the racks of ribs in two and do them as six half ribs. I do NOT spritz. I mostly follow Harry Soo's recipe and wrap the ribs.

However, last night I did six half racks of St. Louis cut ribs, using Penzy's BBQ 3000 seasoning instead of my home made (Harry Soo's recipe) spices. I went "old school" all the way using the lid therm instead of my Maverick 732. The ribs were finished in 3 hours and fifty minutes. They were excellent. Penzy's BBQ 3000 worked extremely well. I had excellent bark, the ribs were mouth watering tender and flavorful. The spices did not overpower the taste of pork. I would definitely recommend this spice as something to try.

My temps ranged from 250-275 the whole time. It was a GOOD smoke.:cool:

As an aside, I do remove the water pan when doing chicken. I run 325-350 degrees and am aiming for crisp skin - it works beautifully!

Keep on smokin',
Dale53:wsm:
 
Wish I saw this before I posted my last question, LOL..........do you guys use the lower rack as well with the dry pan? Robert, I love Penzey's spices but wasn't crazy about that BBQ 3000 on its own. Ive been mixing it up in dry rubs to use it up. Maybe I'll have to try it again.
 
Ken;
It takes several hours to do ribs and/or Boston Butt. I tend to take advantage of this fact and do six half racks of ribs at once (takes about the same amount of time, effort, and charcoal as one half rack) or two Boston Butts at a time. We eat a meal's worth right off the smoker and vacuum pack the rest for the freezer. I try to always have ribs and pulled pork available at short notice when/if we get surprise guests, etc. My son and his wife surprised my wife for mother's day and I "just happened" to have already smoked ribs in the freezer. Easy/peasy and a great meal was ready.

So, quick answer, yes I do use both racks without water - all the time. Not a problem. There's only about a 10 degree difference in heat between the two grates. That's not enough to matter IMO.

Keep on smokin',
Dale53:wsm:
 
I usually make just what I'm going to serve and some leftovers. I've had good luck freezing pulled pork but have never tried freezing ribs. I was just thinking about stashing more stuff in the freezer but I love running the smoker as well so its a double edged sword. LOL.........Do you finish the ribs all the way if you know they are hitting the freezer? I do my BB's generally for about 5 hours and my spares for 6 hours give or take.........Also since you ran the probe test on the grates I'm guessing the lower rack is the hotter one being closer to the coals? Just the opposite as when you are using water?
 
I have read and watched many videos on youtube with folks and their WSM's and I have mixed feelings about no water. I use water each time I cook but really do want to do it without water. The big question is can you maintain 225-250 with no water.
 
Craig Alumbaugh said:
I have read and watched many videos on youtube with folks and their WSM's and I have mixed feelings about no water. I use water each time I cook but really do want to do it without water. The big question is can you maintain 225-250 with no water.
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I can on the 14.5 & the 18.5. I don't have a 22.5, so no experience there.
 
I'm doing more waterless cooks recently. Great results. It belive it works good when you have a well seasoned smoker.
 
I can lock in with a dry pan at 225 with Blue Bag and 250 with Kingsford Competition no problem. I use a lot less fuel during the cook as well. I foil the bottom of the pan and then the top of the pan. I push the top foil down making a small bowl leaving the airspace in between the foil and the bowl. I usually only use the top rack since I'm mostly cooking for two but after reading more posts I am going to try the bottom rack again. Maybe I just had a bad day when I overcooked the food on the lower rack with a dry pan. I wish I would have taken notes to remember what I did. LOL. I have an 18.5.
 
Craig Alumbaugh said:
I have read and watched many videos on youtube with folks and their WSM's and I have mixed feelings about no water. I use water each time I cook but really do want to do it without water. The big question is can you maintain 225-250 with no water.
Click to expand...

I've tried with no water and was able to maintain 225-250 by starting it minion with a very small number of lit with all my bottom vents closed. personally I found the variation of temps to be higher. I like water in the pan and have never found it to be a huge pain like others have. each to their own.
 
I agree Matt as I just foil the pan and dump it when I am done and throw out the foil and just repeat the process each time I use it.
 
S.Six said:
I've done waterless cooks before, but not very many. Lately I've been doing waterless cooks and really like the results. I love that i have a much higher temperature range available to me without the water. Today I did spares at 275° in my 18"wsm and it ran like a champ! No problem holding temp, sucker was rock solid! I sprits with apple juice mixed with a little bit of Jack Daniels every hour. At 4.5hrs it was ready for some sauce, then back on for another 20mins or so. Used pecan for smoke.

Will be doing more waterless cooks in the future.
Thanks for looking, see you next cook!
Click to expand...
What did set your vents at for this cook S.Six?
 
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