pan water or not?


 
R

Ron Fisher

TVWBB Member
Greetings,

I tried searching this site before asking the question. I'm new to the WSM but not to a variety of other lesser quality smokers. I was reading Amazon reviews of the WSM and the first one is from a person claiming to have won numerous championships using the bullet and they never put water in the pan.

I did 3 racks of St Louiees last weekend using the minion method and no water. After three hours on the top grate at what I thought was 250 (lid thermometer is reading about 40 low) they were far more done than I'd expect.

Do most of you guys do the add cold water to the initial smoke then add hot as needed or go dry?

Thanks

Ron
 
Ahhh, the eternal question...you'll find those that live by their rule hard and fast (on both sides of the fence).

Myself, I'm still playing around with it. There are benefits to both methods honestly. Myself, unless I'm smoking hot-n-fast, I'm using water in the pan as I prefer the shorter swings of temps with a water pan. That said, proper planning can nullify the temp swings even w/o water.
 
if you use the search function you can find dozens of threads on this, but in the end it's just a personal preference. I use water in the pan because I find it makes it easier to control the temp and I like the moisture and don't find the cleanup to be as terrible as others.
 
It is a personal choice on what you want. I haven't personally used my WSM without water yet and I am thinking of trying it. Now I did use to have a Masterbuilt electric smoker and did ribs several times without water and they turned out fine. You will learn that you do need an external thermometer as the the lid thermometer is off and the top of the lid is not the temp your worried about. This is just my personal preferences here
 
I used to use water but I didn't like the clean up afterward. For the past nine years I've just put double layers of tin foil over the pan and have had no issues. I see no reason to use water as I always get excellent results without. Like Myk said, you'll get different opinions. As for keeping the meat more moist by using water, I don't buy it. Just try cooking chicken by boiling it in water to 180; it'll be dry even though it was cooked completely submerged in water. Keeping meat moist is really dependent on cooking it correctly and not over cooking.
 
More importantly than water/no water, you have discovered that the lid thermometer on the WSM is notoriously unreliable. The 250 lid temp could easily have been 300 at the grate. Most everyone uses a digital probe thermometer to monitor pit temp as well as meat temp. There are a number of options. I have the iGrill2 and like it very much for its accuracy and the fun of watching a line graph of your cooking temps scroll across the screen of your iPad.
 
Ken Keating said:
I used to use water but I didn't like the clean up afterward. For the past nine years I've just put double layers of tin foil over the pan and have had no issues. I see no reason to use water as I always get excellent results without. Like Myk said, you'll get different opinions. As for keeping the meat more moist by using water, I don't buy it. Just try cooking chicken by boiling it in water to 180; it'll be dry even though it was cooked completely submerged in water. Keeping meat moist is really dependent on cooking it correctly and not over cooking.
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I see it more as a protection against flare ups that could dry out the meat. like brisket for instance. I don't doubt that the difference is minimal
 
I just converted to waterless this past weekend, I found that my WSM came up to temp faster, burned longer, used less fuel, etc. The hardest thing was adjusting to the amount of O2 that comes in via the bottom vents. I had two of them closed completely, and the third just barely open, and I mean just barely. It settled in at about 240 and sat there for what seemed like forever. Not to mention, cleanup was a snap, just take off the foil and you are ready to go again. I'm a convert I think. That being said, it all comes down to personal preference. If you want to use water, do it, if you don't, that's cool too.
 
Thanks for the replies. I've gone through several remote probe thermometers over the years and typically always use them as my guage, just stupidly thought Weber might put a decent one in. My not so thermodynamic brain told me that with heat rising the top of the kettle would be the hottest... likely not so, I'll bet my top grate was close to 350 for those ribs. I kind of like the idea of replacing the water pan with a clay something or other that would also catch drippings and continue to make it "indirect" cooking. Might also allow for some McGivering into a 3rd grate.
 
Ron Fisher said:
My not so thermodynamic brain told me that with heat rising the top of the kettle would be the hottest... likely not so, I'll bet my top grate was close to 350 for those ribs.
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Well that is true, but when the smoke/heat rises, it hits the meat and other air and cools down.. The Therm may read, 250, the top rack will read about 270-275 and the bottom rack will read around 10-12 degrees warmer. I don't use water, I have really maintained a constant heat and the cleanup is MUCH easier..
 
Like a lot of others , I have given up on water and control my heat with the vents. If you want t try water a few times I would start with lukewarm at least. To me , the cold water keeps the smoker from heating up way too long. But it's good to try it a few times and see what you like.
 
As previously stated, whatever works for you is fine. As for me, unless I want to cook hot and fast, I always use water. But I also just use my Performer if I want to use hot and fast. Whatever floats your boat. Good Luck.
 
I'm still very new to WSM and water pans - for those who don't use water, how do you foil the bowl? over it (like a lid), or all inside the bowl?
 
When foiling the pan, you don’t want the foil to touch the bottom as the heat will cause the drippings to burn. What I do is make a donut shaped wad of foil, say about an inch thick and 5-6” in diameter. Place this in the bottom. Then foil the inside of the pan, with the bottom portion resting on the “donut” and not on the bottom. Bring the outer portions of the foil to about 1-2 inches beyond the pan rim and the fold over the rim. The bottom airspace created by the donut prevents any flare ups. Also, use double layers of foil, as sometimes one layer will get punctured and drip to the bottom.
 
Matthew said:
Interesting... Where did you buy one and size and pic?
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I bought bought one at Home Depot in the gardening section for a 18.5. Its a clay saucer for large clay potted plants.
Take your water pan with you to get the right size.
 
Ralph G said:
I bought bought one at Home Depot in the gardening section for a 18.5. Its a clay saucer for large clay potted plants.
Take your water pan with you to get the right size.
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I bought two 11.5 inch saucers, stacked them on top of each other and foiled them as one. 22.5" WSM here.

I lined the bottom (fire side) of the pan with two layers of foil, and then the inside, just wrapped up and over the edge of the water pan. I foiled the interior of the pan, laid the foiled saucers in, and then foil across the top, allowing the foil to touch the top of the saucers, this creates a depression in the center to catch the drippings. Clean up is easy, just remove the top foil, check to make sure no grease gets down into the pan, and refoil as necessary.
 
I like the idea of running water. The reason I don't is mainly out of laziness. Having that moisture in the smoker, especially early in the cook can't hurt. My problem is I can't really dump the water anywhere. The last time I tried that, my dogs showed up with chunks of grease all over them. If I've done a really long cook I'll dump the ashes in trashbag and they'll soak up the water I pour in over them and it can safetly put it in a dumpster. I just use the vents and foil the pan. Lower end temp control can be harder but I do use a lot less fuel.
 
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