water vs. no water


 
I have been using a foiled pan for awhile.I tried a 14" clay saucer from Home Depot ,just laying on the water pan hooks,no pan,yesterday.
I found with just the saucer the tempts were more solid and less swing.jmho
 
Over the years, and after plenty of experimentation, I prefer using both methods!
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... For ribs , Boston butts, briskets... H2O in the pan; steady, set & forget, low 'n slow cookin' as the WSM was designed ..approx 225* @ lid therm
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No overnite cooks ... ribs always done 3.5-4hrs....butts & briskets smoked to 160* internal then foiled and finished in the oven
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Finally, for all poultry I use a dry waterpan with a foiled top for EZ cleanup...crispy skin cannot be achieved with H2O in the pan
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...After several blind comparison tests my family & friends all prefer the food smoked in this fashion and so do I!
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thanks you guys! did my first butts yesterday with the water pan since I am still learning. They came out great, but took 13-14 hours at 225, a couple hours longer than I planned. Now what to do with the gunky water left in the pan! I guess flush it, and hope I dont spill it on the way in......
 
You're better off dumping the greasy water somewhere on your property than flushing it (if that's an option for you). If you have a septic system, I'd say NEVER flush it.
 
I live in the burbs, so unless I dump it under a tree, I have nowhere to dump it. Not sure if the tree would like that. I don't have a septic system, but you think dumping it in the toilet could risk a clog?
 
I would like to pose a question on this subject, With many here using a clay pan inside their waterpan, would this be for a top grate cook only or would a bottom grate cook burn too much for being near a hot pan?
I have read on this forum somewhere, that if using the bottom grate with the waterpan full of water,that the bottom grate meats will take longer to cook because it's closer to cooling water than the top grate food, but doing the claypan or empty waterpan method,would it have the opposite effect?

Cheers

Davo
 
Yes, it can have the opposite effect. If temps get away from you the clay gets quite hot. Unlike water, which is limited to 212?, the clay can get much hotter and that heat will get transferred to the air immediately above it.

I prefer an empty foiled pan for most cooks myself, water for when I really want to slow then limit the rise - for bacon, e.g.
 
Originally posted by K Kruger:
Yes, it can have the opposite effect. If temps get away from you the clay gets quite hot. Unlike water, which is limited to 212?, the clay can get much hotter and that heat will get transferred to the air immediately above it.
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I'm glad to hear you say this, Kevin. I recently tried the foiled pan, no water for the first time and it was a breeze. Was thinking of looking for a clay saucer but then thought, why bother since it was so easy without it...seems more trouble than it's worth. You've confirmed it for me. Thanks!
 
The greasy water is a main reason I run dry. I am easily able to let the grease solidify and then discard the layer of foil. no muss.. no fuss.

I would HIGHLY suggest never flushing. Putting that much fat in your plumbing is asking for issues. Digging a hole is probably your best bet.

As for clay vs empty pan.. i think it's an even argument. Assuming both people slowly rise their temps and don't let them spike... the performance should be the same. The clay will hold temps longer then the bowl which can be a plus or minus... but it's all in you are accustomed to.
I would be lying if I said I haven't burned things on the bottom rack... but I have learnd from those mistakes.
 
Posted May 06, 2010 09:16 AM Hide Post
thanks you guys! did my first butts yesterday with the water pan since I am still learning. They came out great, but took 13-14 hours at 225, a couple
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A couple of tips about H2O disposal: 1) Don't use any more water than necessary...1.5 gals for a 4 hr cook, etc. 2) Reuse the water several times .. add only 1 gal if you still have some in the pan. 3) Whether you reuse or not, when you clean your WSM, dump the cold coals in a tall kichen trash can, with the bag allready 1/2 full of kitchen trash...then dump the water pan on top ...wipe the pan with paper towels..VIOLA! You're done!
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Water disposal is the main reason I go waterless. It is a pain to deal with the water. If you really want to use water, one thing I tried that worked pretty well is a double pan. I filled my pan with water just like normal and then put a drip pan on the bottom grate. Then I could just dump the water because it didn't have any grease in it. Of course you give up the bottom grate using this method, but since I usually don't cook that much, I didn't care.
 
Well you guys have convinced me to try and go waterless next time. I will just foil the pan and see what happens. It sounds like the temp. is just as easy to control, or am I reading it wrong?
 
Originally posted by P.Jean:
Well you guys have convinced me to try and go waterless next time. I will just foil the pan and see what happens. It sounds like the temp. is just as easy to control, or am I reading it wrong?
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The temperature can be controlled very well without water, but small adjustments of the vents have a relatively large effect. Once you get used to it it's easy.
 
When you foil the pan, use a couple sheets of HD Aluminum foil and leave an air space between the bottom of the water pan and the foil. The air space will tone done the radiant heat from the empty pan and it will allow the drippings to not burn.

Along with controlling temps on the way up (start closing down the vents around 200º), don't stress out about a even a 50º temperature range fluctuation. There's not a lot of difference between a cook at 225 versus 275 except a little shorter cooking time. Also, if all else fails and you can't seem to get the wsm to drop below 300º don't be afraid to shut the top vent for a few minutes - just to get things back under control.

Good luck - I KNOW you'll appreciate the ease of clean up and you'll get good at controlling the temp.
 
I use a 12.25" single layer foiled clay saucer. Then top with a 12" foil disposable pizza pan. I replace this each cook and it saves a lot on aluminum foil and setup time.
 
I stopped at Home Depot today and picked up a 14" clay saucer. Plan on using it for my next cook since I don't like having to deal with the water pan and cleanup.
 
Originally posted by P.Jean:
thanks you guys! did my first butts yesterday with the water pan since I am still learning. They came out great, but took 13-14 hours at 225, a couple hours longer than I planned. Now what to do with the gunky water left in the pan! I guess flush it, and hope I dont spill it on the way in......
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I foil my pan even when using water, then when done I fill the pan with Kitty Litter and let it absorb the grease and remaining water. I then ball up the mess and throw it in the trash.
 
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