Lot's of mention of water pans lately. If I'm using a water pan, there's NEVER any water in it. I use it as a heat baffle. What I do is, crumble up some wads of aluminum foil, place in the bowl, then cover the bowl with a sheet of aluminum foil, slightly dipped in the middle to catch the drippings. Works wonderful. And my bowls are larger than stock. Try it. All I'm sayin'...
I don't use them anymore. When I had the WSM, I lined the water pan with foil, filled with sand and then gave it a foil topper. Super easy clean up compared to dealing with the nasty water mess and the temps seemed more even and stable. A little more fuel efficient with the sand vs water too.
I will give foil balls a try sometime. I used a clay saucer lined with foil in my mini for a pork butt over the weekend. It cooked great but the scorched grease did have a slight impact on flavor. I will probably use a drip pan next time. If I'm cooking on the top rack only.
I'm not sure my water pan in the 18 is deep enough to accommodate both drippings and foil balls for something like a pork butt.
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Quote from: HoosierKettle on April 24, 2018, 12:57:50 PM
I will give foil balls a try sometime. I used a clay saucer lined with foil in my mini for a pork butt over the weekend. It cooked great but the scorched grease did have a slight impact on flavor. I will probably use a drip pan next time. If I'm cooking on the top rack only.
I'm not sure my water pan in the 18 is deep enough to accommodate both drippings and foil balls for something like a pork butt.
When I had a clay saucer in my mini WSM it cracked. And if your 18 is an old one with the shallow pan, this Brinkmann fits. Also works great in a 22 kettle when using a snake. Beware the paint chips easily, https://www.amazon.com/Brinkmann-812-0002-0-Smoker-Charcoal-15-Inch/dp/B0049EYYCS