water or not


 
J

JimmyF

New member
As a new smoker without a lot of experience {4 smokes to date} I wonder can you cook low and without water, I'd guess you just add less coals but wouldn't that reduce cooking time. I think the answer yo my question is exp. exp. exp. Anyway I am enjoying myself.
 
Turkey... I won't cook a turkey with water anymore. It's TOO moist & absorbs more smoke IME.
 
JimmyF: Welcome aboard! A new smoker myself, just 2 months in, I started out w/o water, and just used a clay saucer, and have been able to keep temps 250F +- 25F with using vents; able to get higher w/ door adjustments and tilting the lid. There's many, many threads on this question to get more details answers on the how to. Am about to leap to the waterless and no clay saucer next .... more fun experiments ;-)
 
I have a wsm 18" that comes with a large water pan. are you saying the clay saucer replaces the water pan if so how
 
Personally I've never used anything other than a foiled pan, not water or clay saucer. That's just me though and you'll get lots of opinions on the subject. The one big difference though is I think you'll find you use less fuel w/o water.
 
The only time I use water is on over night butt cooks, and that's just to keep temps from spiking during the night.

I'll add some water just before I go to bed and well after temps have stabilized.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by JimmyF:
I have a wsm 18" that comes with a large water pan. are you saying the clay saucer replaces the water pan if so how </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Doesn't replace the water pan, but sits in it
 
No water for me, just a foiled water pan for everything, low and high temps.

I suppose I should get a clay saucer at some point, but I haven't had a need for one yet.
 
My Guru didn't do what I wanted until I started foiling an empty water pan. I'm now getting more from my fuel and more consistent temps where they are suppose to be.
 
i put a 19 inch clay saucer in my 22 wsm and have never looked back. love it for low and high temp cooks.
 
I cooked with water for the first year, but have since switched over to a clay saucer. I much prefer the saucer now and it's still dirt simple to manage temps.
 
i like the way that we all assume right away the the original poster has a wsm. that being said, i did my first true high heat brisket on my KETTLE and for the first time i did not use water but i did use a fire brick. didn't notice much differance but it did seem that i didn't burn up as much briq. when i do get my cl wsm up and running i will try it with and without water just for a base comparison but at this point i will probablt go away from water and use a clay dish or fire bricks.
 
I use water most of the time. A few high heat cooks for chicken and abt's and fatties are no pan cooks
 
Welcome Jimmy

The answer to your question 'can you cook low without water' is: it depends

I did an estimate and keeping a 1gal water pan full on a 16 hour cook in the WSM will consume something like 1/4 - 1/3 of your fuel just to boil water.

The draft system is also affected by altitude. Ambient temp and mass of food also are factors

So if you live on the gulf coast (sea level), it's 110ºF out, the sun is shining on your WSM and you want to cook 1 tiny rack of back ribs at 225ºF you might NEED the water. If however you live on a mountain in Alaska and want to cook a moose butt ....

Some folks get the idea when they start that if low and slow is good, lower and slower must be better (I was one). We can't help it, we're just wired that way but some hard earned experience has taught me this usually isn't so. Staying north of 250ºF has dramatically improved my results.

If you want to drag out a baby back cook at 225ºF it's not really a problem compared to dragging out a 20lb chuck cook close to 30 hours. The later can get quite dry and tough.

So I'll suggest most of the time keep it to 250ºF or above.

So skip the water without concern but it's a good idea to put something in the pan besides just a single layer of foil. Sand, foil balls or the pot saucer all work as a good barrier to prevent the drippings from causing unpleasant grease smoke.
 
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