Water Pan - foil or not

[Ray.S]

Just curious if all of you are using foil on your pan or not. I wish I kept the link but at work today I saw a post where the water pan was not foiled and not used with water and it just looked seasoned.

 

[RogerS]

I foil the bottom even when I use hot water in the pan and that's for low n slows (pork butt and ribs). For chicken I just foil the whole pan for a little higher temp. In operating tips & mods @ the top of page it has a wealth of info in regards to the water pan.

 

[Tony R]

I foil all the time... with water or no water.

 

[Ray.S]

In operating tips & mods @ the top of page it has a wealth of info in regards to the water pan.

Thanks very much, I overlooked that and like you said wealth of knowledge.

 

[Jeff Brig]

I must be the oddball. I have never messed with foiling my water pan, and don't really have any desire/intention to. It gets dumped and cleaned after each cook, same as the grates.

 

[J Reyes]

No water just foil but allow and air gap between the foil and bottom of pan.

 

[Dwain Pannell]

I'm like Jeff. No foil on my pan.

 

[S.Six]

I must be the oddball. I have never messed with foiling my water pan, and don't really have any desire/intention to. It gets dumped and cleaned after each cook, same as the grates.

I do the same thing as Jeff. When I do long cooks I don't foil and I use water. On short cooks(w/o water) I'll clean it out and foil it, cuz I don't want all the fat in it making a bunch of smoke that I don't want on my food.

 

[NeilH]

I do the same thing as Jeff. When I do long cooks I don't foil and I use water. On short cooks(w/o water) I'll clean it out and foil it, cuz I don't want all the fat in it making a bunch of smoke that I don't want on my food.

I foil for this reason. Don't want the smoke from the burnt drippings.

 

[Bob Mann]

I foil the top of my water pan with no water.

 

[Dwight Pennington]

I don't understand whether you're foiling the outside or the inside of your water pan....Can someone explain

 

[Dan Carman]

For me, it's pan on the bottom, sand in the middle, and foil on the top. I have done a few cooks w/o the foil, using a disposable drip pan under the food, but it's still enough of a mess afterward that I think it's worth it to foil the pan each time.

 

[Hamilton Barnes]

foil top and bottom with no water for short and long cooks.

 

[James Lake]

I guess I don't practice safe grilling....I don't foil.

 

[S.Six]

I don't understand whether you're foiling the outside or the inside of your water pan....Can someone explain

I foil the top, so as to catch them drippins.

 

[Ray.S]

So for those that don't foil or only foil the top do you wash the bottom after every smoke? I did a 1-1/2 hour cook tonight and did not foil and I did use water. The water side was easy to clean but the bottom had some soot that darkened the washcloth. No big deal though.

 

[Mike Willis]

So for those that don't foil or only foil the top do you wash the bottom after every smoke? I did a 1-1/2 hour cook tonight and did not foil and I did use water. The water side was easy to clean but the bottom had some soot that darkened the washcloth. No big deal though.

I foil the bottom so I don't have to wash it. When it's so dirty that you can't tell there's foil on the bottom of the bowl, it gets changed out for some new stuff...

 

[NeilH]

I don't understand whether you're foiling the outside or the inside of your water pan....Can someone explain

Dwight I'm just foiling the inside with a little space between the foil and the metal to it doesn't burn and create smoke.

 

[Dwight Pennington]

Thanks for the reply, Neil....Just wanting to understand why the foil....

 

[Edwin Vickers]

I foil and use play sand instead of water. The foil allows for easy cleaning. You can actually clean the sand and reuse.