Why Foil The Water Pan?


 
I

IanBeard

New member
Quite simply as the title suggests I'm not sure why this seems like a common practice. I did a quick search and I'm sure this topic has been covered before but I didn't seem to find an answer.

There seems to be 2 separate times when it's foiled;
-pan filled with water and foil under the pan.
-the pan has no water and is foiled on top and bottom.

What the heck is going on???

Thanks for any suggestions,

Ian
 
I think most people foil the pan just to keep it clean and to make clean up easier. I use a clay pot in mine so I foil the bottom of the pan, which keeps it from getting smoked up and gunky. Just another way to keep the WSM clean

I also foil the clay saucer before I set it on top of the water pan and it keeps the drippings from getting into the clay
 
Easier clean up. From just the two smokes I've done there is quite a bit of droppings and other gunk that falls down to the pan. First time I didn't foil and had to scrub the pan to clean. Yesterday I foiled the pan and just tossed the foil once it was cool.
 
I foil the pan for easy clean up. Sometimes I forget or don't have enough foil.
But when I do chicken it's a must because I use no water and I don't want the chicken drippings to be baked on the pan.
 
I thinks it's interesting how we work to build a seasoning over the cooker to cover up the shine so it controls heat better... except the pan. We cover the pan in shiny alum foil. LOL
 
Great question!!!! For a very long time I've never understood why some people foil the bottom of the water pan. It serves no purpose other than wasting foil. In 10 years of cooking BBQ on WSM's not one person has ever said to me, "Boy the bottom of your water pan is really dirty." An it's really not. I'm an empty water pan guy. I do foil the the inside of the water pan just to assist with clean-up. BUT...to each their own.
 
I follow Bruce's logic.... I used to not foil at all but there was always a greasy mess to deal with. The wide foil is easier to deal with too with no overlaps on my 18" anyway. Also, if you want to collect the drippings you can create spacers between the foil & the pan so they won't burn. I've just done that once or twice but it's another option.
 
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