Yet another water pan question.... sorry

[Rolf Jacobsen]

Okay I’m still new to a lot of all this so please forgive me for asking such a dumb question. The debate about water vs. no water and foiling the water pan seems to be a matter of personal preference. Much of this seems to revolve around the effort to clean the water pan following the smoke. I plan on doing a butt this weekend and would like to use the water pan with water as I think it will help me maintain a more stable temperature. I have an 18” WSM. The plan is to put the butt on the top grate. Assuming I do, what’s to prevent me from placing a foiled “catch all” pan, (no water), on the lower grate to catch the drippings? I do this all the time on my Performer without any problems. It seems to me this would make clean up a lot easier and still allow me to use the water pan on the bottom where it belongs. If I’m wrong, please tell me what I’m missing?

As Always…. Thanks!
Rolf

 

[timothy]

Sounds like a perfect plan to me Rolf.

Tim

 

[E Mann]

That should work, just use a foil pan and then you can toss it after the cook. I Don't use water and I know I'm supposed to, but I don't change the foil after every cook... unless we're at a comp. never had a problem!

 

[Dave Russell]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by E Mann:
I Don't use water and I know I'm supposed to, but I don't change the foil after every cook... unless we're at a comp. never had a problem! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

...and you guys think washing the pan is gross.

 

[dean]

The only issue I have had is a couple times when I did not use water the drippings (grease) burned giving the meat a bitter taste. I prefer to use water in it for longer low n slow cooks.

 

[Jerry N.]

Been there, done that. When I started and used water, I tried the pan on the lower grate option and it worked great. The water still got a little grease in it, but nothing I would be worried about pouring down the sink or on the ground. Personally, that would be the only way I'd use water if I were to use water today.

 

[Dave Russell]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Jerry N.:
Been there, done that. When I started and used water, I tried the pan on the lower grate option and it worked great. The water still got a little grease in it, but nothing I would be worried about pouring down the sink or on the ground. Personally, that would be the only way I'd use water if I were to use water today. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>