Maybe a dumb question

[Guest]

My owners manual and several recipes that I have read make a point of not removing the lid because of heat loss. Some think that you do not need to mop with a water smoker. My limited experience has yielded contrary results, which may be beginners luck. I wait until about half time to start mopping and then mop once per hour. I have noticed very little heat loss and no extension in cooking time. The mop definitely adds flavor and moisture. Rather than experience a heat drop and lag in coming back up to temperature, the added air allowed with the lid off seems to get the coals burning hotter. On occasion I've had to fan the excess heat away. By starting to baste at halftime the food has already sbsorbed enough heat that little is lost in the basting process and the thermomter doesn't move. Why am I experiencing different results?

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[Chris Allingham]

I don't think your experience is out of line with what most of us experience. Basting or mopping has no detrimental effect on cooking time if you open the cooker just long enough to do your business, then close it back up.

The water in a water smoker provides a moist cooking environment that's beneficial to some types of meat, like brisket or ribs, but I wouldn't go so far as to say that it "bastes" the meat. As you indicate, basting and mopping not only add moisture, but can add tremendous flavor. I baste everything with apple juice, beginning at halftime and again at each subsequent halftime until the meat is done. If I do a recipe like "The Renown Mr. Brown" that calls for a special mop, I'll use it at the halftimes instead of apple juice.

Concerning loss of temperature, what you read in the owners manual and in recipes is the "common wisdom", which says you should only open the cooker when necessary and just long enough to service the meat, fuel, smoke wood, or water--no peeking to admire your handiwork. I think that's good advice no matter what kind of cooker you use.

The owners manual assumes you're starting with a small amount of charcoal, then adding a few briquets every 1-1/2 hours. Heat loss may be more of a problem under this approach. If you're loading up the charcoal ring with fuel, like most of us do, then you have a greater heat reserve, so the temp will either not drop that much, or will recover quickly. Using a hot briquet like Kingsford helps, too.

My experience in using the WSM with Kingsford in moderate weather is that I get a little temp drop that recovers within 5-10 minutes if I open the lid briefly, but I may get a temperature spike if I leave the lid off for a few minutes (like while I'm futzing around taking pictures for the Web site) due to the introduction of uncontrolled air into the cooker.