Water in the fire box

[Guest]

I almost posted this under the clean topic, but it really is a differnt problem that came to light as I cleaned the WSM yesterday. On Saturday I cooked a loin roast and 2 chickens. I filled the water pan a total of 3 times. On the second and third fillings, I may have overfilled slightly as water splashed down onto the coals. Not enough to do any damage, but did kick up steam. Yesterday when I cleaned the grill, a little water spill as I took the pan out. I filled a gallon jug with the dirty water. I then took of the charcoal grate and found MORE water in the fire box than had been in the water pan. I cannot figure out how this happened. We did have a heavy rain storm, but by the time it hit I had closed up all the vents, so I doubt that much rain water got in. Has anyone else ever experienced this? If not, does anyone have any speculation as to what happened?

Thanks.

Ken

 

[Mark George]

Hi Ken,

Yep, that has happened to me several times. The shape of the lid and the lip that it fits into funnels rainwater to the inside of the unit. Last weekend, mine was filled up to the charcoal grate. I have considered drilling a small hole at the very bottom of the charcoal bowl so that it can drain, but I don't want to affect the venting, and I don't want hot charcoal falling out the bottom. I usually keep the cover on the unit but that is not totally water proof either. Once, I put a plastic trash bag under the cover, which helped keep the cooker dry. I guess I should keep my beloved WSM in the living room!

George

 

[Guest]

George-

Thanks for the reply. We did have about two hours of hard rain, so that seems to explain it. I was really surprised to see the water in there since I had spilled that much and the lid was on and all vents were closed.

Ken