Newbie question: Stoker vents?


 
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Eric Simon

TVWBB Fan
Greetings! I am using my Stoker for my 18" WSM for the second time (i.e. on the steep slope of the learning curve!).

I attached the Stoker fan to one of the bottom vents. After I dump my chimney into the coals, add water to the pan, and assemble the smoker, should I fully close the bottom vents? Or do you leave the bottom vents open until the WSM comes up to temp (225F in my case)? During the cook (6 hours in this case) do you leave the bottom vents totally closed, allowing the Stoker fan to have maximum control?

Thanks!
 
First, don't use water, no need to as the Stoker will maintain your temps = no need for a heat sink.

I always keep the other two bottom vents closed. When starting my cook I start with the top vent 100% open. Then when I'm 20 degrees under my target temp I close my top vent to the final cooking position. Mine is round two probe widths. This is how I and I think the majority of WSM Stoker users are doing it. But definitely lose the water.
 
Thanks very much for your reply, Larry.

Do you think there are effects of the water beyond temperature control (i.e. increasing moistness of the meat) that make it worth keeping the water? The water can't hurt, can it (other than increasing the time required to reach temperature at the start)?
 
There are two camps here and the point has been argued passionately many times on this site. I'd say it's about a 75% dry and 25% water split. I fall on the side of dry. Search on "humidity" and you'll find some interesting reading.

I've cooked both ways and CANNOT tell a difference between the two. Others however swear they can, who am I to question/doubt them.

In the case of using an ATC I would say using water could potentially reverse the benefits of what those who argue for water in a cooker list (****, hope that made sense, not the smoothest sentence I've composed). Why, increased airflow in your cooker. Due to the ATC having to heat the water as well as cook your product you'll see far more action from the blower which means far more airflow through your cooker. In my opinion increased airflow over your product over a long period of time is not a good thing. It might be interesting to compare a Stokerlog graph of two similar cooks and condition, one using water and the other dry. My guess, lots of fan action.

Just my .02
 
Wow Larry, that's a good point on not using water when using ATC. Do you keep the water pan in place, empty? It would seem that you need to have something there to deflect the direct heat of the coals.?
 
An important purpose of putting water in the pan is to prevent fat from the cooking meat from falling into the coals. Besides potentially kicking up ash, fat in the coals will produce chemicals that are both off-putting in taste/odor and potentially hazardous to your health. The water pan thus serves to prevent this.

I would thus think that you'd want some sort of shield between the food and the coals. I suppose you could use an empty water pan, but wouldn't that get coated in really baked-on fat? Perhaps a foil-lined pan? But I wonder if the foil/pan could get hot enough to produce the off-putting chemicals when fat drips directly on it.
 
Mark, a layer of HD foil over empty water pan and your golden. Some foil the inside just in-case any fat/juices gets under that top layer. A foiled pan also makes clean-up a breeze.
 
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