My wsm's tellin' me not to use water in the pan anymore?


 
D

Dave Russell

TVWBB Honor Circle
Well, not exactly, but check out two of my last cooks:

I did a big butt cook (5 f/ 40 lb. total) and had to leave the vents 100% OPEN ALL NIGHT LONG. Two out of the five took over 18 hours.

And check this out: Yesterday, I decided to smoke some spares, and I did 4, as we had family eating w/ us for supper. I got a late start and knew I need to cook at about 275 w/ foiling. I foiled the pan and did the MM by lighting Stubbs briquettes w/ 3/4 a chimney of K. All vents open for a good while into the cook and I was still only at 248 at the vent! I lit more coals and added, but that still didn't get the temp up much. I had wasted enough time and realized I needed to crack the door and let it get to 300 to get done in time. (BTW, That's the LAST time I'll do a HH cook w/ more than 3 slabs on the 18" wsm!! It's just too much stress to pull them at the right time since they're cooking so dang fast! Also, no matter what temp you start at, w/ all that removing the lid and playing w/ foil to check the ribs, it's really easy to end up WAY past 300 degrees!
icon_eek.gif
)

Anyway, I typically cook w/ a pretty full cooker, but I like to let the meat lose it's chill before putting on the cooker. I start off w/ really hot water. Also, the weather on the last two cooks has been great, (synomonous w/ "calm", in bbq terms
icon_wink.gif
). I've managed thus far, but will I be able to get the cooker up to 225 in January?
icon_confused.gif


I've got a sixteen pound packer and a couple of butts in the fridge. I've got a Maverick to help me sleep better, but I'm in the doghouse if it beeps at me while the Missus is snoozing.
icon_frown.gif
How many of you guys sleep all night w/ a dry foiled pan?

What's the deal? I hate to remove all the seasoning I have in my wsm. It's not THAT cruddy. Skip the water altogether from now on? I won't miss the mess, that's for sure.

Any thoughts or assurances will be really appreciated, as well as any charcoal preferences for overnighters. Thanks!
icon_smile.gif
 
How many of you guys sleep all night w/ a dry foiled pan?

What's the deal? I hate to remove all the seasoning I have in my wsm. It's not THAT cruddy. Skip the water altogether from now on? I won't miss the mess, that's for sure.
Click to expand...

Sleep like a baby here with a foiled pan. You can also adjust temps like a dial on a oven with this method. You will also go through way less cc as well.

You will actually gain seasoning/gunk when you get away from water, trust me the lid and mid section will get thick with gunk (good thing)!
 
i quit using water 5-6 years ago, and ive only had my smoker for about 7. I never did get why you would need water. you can control temps with vents. and it does not keep meat moist
 
Originally posted by Glenn W:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">How many of you guys sleep all night w/ a dry foiled pan?
Click to expand...
Sleep like a baby here with a foiled pan. You can also adjust temps like a dial on a oven with this method. You will also go through way less cc as well. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Glen, THAT's what I wanted to hear. What kind of charcoal do you use?
 
Originally posted by Corey Elks:
i quit using water 5-6 years ago, and ive only had my smoker for about 7. I never did get why you would need water. you can control temps with vents. and it does not keep meat moist
Click to expand...

Controlling temps w/ the vents isn't necessarily a good thing. I don't want to mess w/ the vents on an overnighter. I want to sleep. Also, if I'm cooking a bunch of ribs and foiling or glazing, as in taking the lid off a bunch...Guess what? I'm venting the wsm...A LOT! The temps tend to skyrocket, but not NEAR as much as w/ water in the pan. Just sayin'
icon_smile.gif


As to your last comment, it's debatable, BUT it's not an issue w/ me. I know I'll get much less "flaking" on the lid, and Harry Soo, Ray Lampe, and others claim you get better bark w/out the water. I've never had a problem getting good texture, but then again, if I do a low-n-slow rib cook, I do want as much texture as possible.

Thanks for the input!
 
Originally posted by Glenn W:
RO Lump most of the time, average cook start with 1/4 chimney lit. Big cook start with 2/3-3/4 lit.
Click to expand...

Cool. That gives me even more confidence in tossing the water. I've used a lot of that stuff in my UDS.
 
I only use water when smoking bacon or almonds when I want to keep the temp REALLY down.

All else is foiled pan. Not had any problems with all night cooks.

Sleep better than a baby.
(which comedian said he slept like a baby...woke up crying every two hours all night long)?

Ron
 
Thanks, Ron.

Hopefully I'll be doing an overnight butt/brisket cook this weekend, and I'll probably skip the water this time.

In the back of my mind though, I'm wondering why folks buy the BBQ Guru's and Stokers if the wsm is just fine w/out water in the pan. I guess, more for the ability to dial a particular desired temp in or fight adverse conditions, especially if a contest is on the line. That makes sense, but I sure hope the weather is nicer than it is today. I think we've been getting 40 mph gusts. Of course, I don't want to bbq in that w/ or w/out water in the pan.
 
Originally posted by Russell Y:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">I'm wondering why folks buy the BBQ Guru's and Stokers if the wsm is just fine w/out water in the pan
Click to expand...

The man with the most toys wins! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

...but I've never seen a U-haul in a funeral procession. I'm kind of into downsizing and minimizing nowadays.
icon_smile.gif
 
Evidently, my wsm changed it's mind.
icon_rolleyes.gif


It's 2:15 in the morning, and I can guarantee ya that if I would've used water in the pan, I wouldn't be out of bed right now.

I put the meat on at about 9:00, and it had been sittin' pretty at 240 for good while, so I turned the light off at 11:00. It spiked my 265max Maverick setting at aprox. 2 AM. and woke me and the missus up
icon_mad.gif


Evidently, "ALL THAT MEAT" isn't enough of a heat sink. I closed all but one vent to 1/2 open and it's "stabilized" at 240, so it's back to bed.

I'll definately go back to water for overnighters. I'll just not overload the cooker, and let all the meat sit out for an hour or so before throwing it on. Also, I cut a drum in two for a wind break, so that'll help conserve useage. Speaking of drums, I'm making another "new and improved" UDS for if I need to cook more than four butts at a time. It'll be mainly for ribs and chicken, though.
 
OOps, I got to shut the only open vent some more, and it's only half open.

Cooker's at 250 now, and like I said, I thought it had stabilized at 240. I guess all the meat rising in temp allows the temp in the cooker to go up as well.

Can't top the water off as there's three sheets of foil covering the pan. I need to get a BBQ Guru, right?
icon_rolleyes.gif
 
Well, I got woke up again at about 5:15 w/ a temp dip below 215, but that's no surprise, as I had to shut the vents way back after it had spiked at 2 AM.....and Kingsford just does that.

Anyway, I guess you could say that in MY experience, the wsm is MUCH EASIER to manage when used as the water smoker it was intended to be. It might take a a little longer to get temps up, but pulling meat out of the fridge earlier and pouring a kettle of boiling water in the pan, topped off w/ hot tap, certainly helps.

If I'd had water in the pan, I wouldn't have got woke up at 2:00 AM w/ a temp spike, and so the fire wouldn't have started to snuff itself out...since I wouldn't have shut the vents back so far. Follow?

As to the Kingsford, the jury is still out on whether the coffee can MM helps alleviate the ash suffocation. I just wanted to use the K on this dry pan overnighter since I think it burns slower than the Stubbs, which I normally use. Of course, K is a lot cheaper when you get it on sale, too.
icon_wink.gif
 
Originally posted by Glenn W:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">I need to get a BBQ Guru, right?
Click to expand...

No, sounds like there is some extra air getting to you fuel. Mine would go out at those settings. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Glen, unless it's been dropped, rolled, or kicked without my knowledge, there shouldn't be any leak issues. I haven't hardly moved the cooker since my last two or three cooks, and it snuffed out quickly every time.

I'll remind you that on my last overnighter, I had to leave all three vents open all night long to get temps going in the right direction. That's why I started this thread in the first place. Air's not the problem, believe me.

W/ the foiled pan, I'm just not used to my temp ramping up so much as the meat temp climbs, which evidently happened some time in the night between 11 and 2AM. NOW, since all the meat is in the plateau, the temp has been incredibly stable. No surprise there, huh?

A big bowl of 212 degrees is a pretty efficient heat sink, as long as you don't boil it off too quick w/ the charcoal. Call it an "equilibrium" if you will, and it's definately a low, low-n-slow.

Is 225-250 at the vent w/ a water pan necessary for good bbq on the wsm? Of course not, but IMHO, it certainly make things easier, and keeps the wife happy, too.
icon_wink.gif


Maybe that's why Chris A. and lots of others stick w/ this method for overnighters. If you go back and look at how his documented overnighters have gone, you'll see that most of the issues seem to be related to ash suffocation from K or the water pan being low.

Use a bigger pan like the new wsm pan or the ECB charcoal pan, adjust the vents where the coals aren't boiling off the water fast ("equilibrium"), tap the legs every so often or use low ash charcoal, and you're good.
 
Sorry it didn't work for you. I set my bottom vents around 20% when the temp is 200 and it runs 225-250 average with RO Lump for 12hrs+. Never have to stir or tap.

Dry method isn't for everyone.
 
Originally posted by Glenn W:
Sorry it didn't work for you. I set my bottom vents around 20% when the temp is 200 and it runs 225-250 average with RO Lump for 12hrs+. Never have to stir or tap.

Dry method isn't for everyone.
Click to expand...

It's cool. I appreciate your input a bunch, Glen.

If I wouldn't have had a big brisket on the bottom rack (automatic wsm burnt ends
icon_wink.gif
), and didn't want the meat to be done too early, I probably wouldn't have been too concerned w/ the spike. (I bet it wouldn't have gone over 275, going by rib and chicken cooks w/ a dry pan.)

I've never had to stir or tap with lump, either. I guess I'll use the K for day cooks and the Stubbs for all-nighters.

Thanks again for sharing your techniques!
icon_smile.gif

Dave
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top