RevZiLLa
is One Chatty Farker
For my smoker, level of skill and patience, and smaller quantities of meat, the water pan works well. When I do HNF, the empty pan is just a diffuser.
Waterpan or no water pan?
- Thread starter revkab
- Start date
Twisted Belly
Knows what a fatty is.
I completely agree! There wasn't any difference and I never knew where to dump the grease water
And get this, I saw an article about a restaurant smoking water..... yes, water. Then they froze it and served the ice in special martinis and whiskies.
deguerre
somebody shut me the fark up.
My only experience is with a virtual WSM (Kettle + Cajun Bandit). But the only reason I can see for the water pan besides being a diffuser is temp regulation. Period. The water itself remains at 212 degrees and makes for a very good heat sink, helping regulate the cooking temp. Getting the pit up to temp is a fuel waster as you point out though. I'll often cook without the water and just use the pan covered with foil. As to the moisture of the meat, it makes absolutely no difference in my experience. Either you cooked the meat correctly, or you didn't.
revkab
is one Smokin' Farker
Wow!!! Lots of good thoughts, but the prevailing thinking seems to say that it is a waste of effort to utilize a water pan. I have no problem regulating the temp in either of my offsets, so that's not a consideration. I had wondered if the added moisture content in the pit area would slow the water loss rate in the meat, but most here didn't seem to think there would be a difference. I also noticed several who considered that using a water pan could cause a longer warm up period (makes sense), and thereby wasting fuel (those logs ARE a pain to cut and split). And since I really don't seem to have a problem with dry meat, I guess this is a moot point.
Therefore, unless I want greasy, smoky-flavored martinis, I guess I'll skip the water pan.
Therefore, unless I want greasy, smoky-flavored martinis, I guess I'll skip the water pan.
JMack
Knows what a fatty is.
I think I'm going to figure out how to run my uds without one. Once i get it dialed then maybe i will try and see if i get different results. Make sense?
Beentown
is Blowin Smoke!
He stated he uses a water pan to cook everything on smaller cookers unless it is extremely hunid.
JS-TX
is One Chatty Farker
I used to use no water but after turning out a brisket on Super Bowl Sunday that had a tough bark I started using water in my WSM. I think it may make a difference in the dryer cooler months. It's a PITA dealing with it though. I remember Myron saying steam helps tenderize the meat, which actually makes sense. It's for the same reasons you use a moist towel when you got a heating pad on a sore muscle. I think moist heat penetrates better than dry heat.
oifmarine2003
Babbling Farker
I use a water pan in my cabinet to catch the drippings and to help regulate temperature a bit. In my UDS, I do not use a water pan or any type of diffuser. So, for me, depends on what smoker I am using.
MikeR
is Blowin Smoke!
What he said!
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