First Brisket (pron) - Updated at 4 hrs 30 mins of cook

Wyley said:

You mentioned that you fill the water pan with HOT water. Is that HOT as in BOILING HOT. If not then you are using much of your heat energy further heating the HOT water that you start with to boiling. That could be why your fuel consumption is so high at the beginning. If you are going to use a water pan then you should start with boiling water and if you need to add more you should use boiling water for that also.

Paul

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I've heard that a few times now, but it hasn't quite clicked for me. I used cold water when I started my WSM, and it was up to temp very fast - everytime.

I understand that it takes energy to heat the water. That's the whole point of adding the water: it acts as a damper to the fluctuations of the cooking chamber temp. My 18" WSM has a 3 gallon bowl in it, and the Backwoods Party takes about 3 gallons as well. I don't see it taking longer to heat 3 gallons of nearly scalding hot water in the party than it takes to heat 3 gallons of cold-to-luke-warm water in the WSM. I think it has to do with the insulation of the Backwood's chambers.

I agree absolutely that the hotter the water is when it's added, the quicker the chamber will come up to temp. I'm sure you guys have way more experience with these smokers than I do. I just have to get it to make sense for me. I'm sure in a few more cooks I'll start to see how the process is really working.

Bob in St. Louis said:

Just for grins, you could dangle a temp probe halfway into the water (not laying on the bottom of the pan) and see how long it takes to heat 3 gallons of water to the point where it stabilizes. You could do this the next few times you smoke.
Once with cold water, once with hot tap water, then once with boiling water.

Just a thought.

Bob

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I do actually have a spare probe I could try that with (it's a spare as long as I'm not doing multiple meats), so that's definitely something I could try. And science while drinking and smoking food... Well, I don't see what could go wrong!

TS - thanks! I do have a stoker that I haven't hooked up to the backwoods yet for a few reasons 1) I wanted to get a feel for it without the gadgets, 2) that stuff can be a pain at times (but still worth it in the long run), 3) I haven't gotten the adapters for it yet, and 4) the blower has died (about 3 years of use on the WSM) and I need to have Rock's breathe life back into it.

I think that it would be worthwhile to extended the basket just a little so that lump can be packed it a little better, modify my startup a little, and get the stoker going again. Those things will probably have a fairly significant impact. Don't get me wrong, I am LOVING the backwoods! But just like every grill/smoker there's a learning period.