I looked through the threads and I didn't see anything on this or I missed it. I'm getting a WSM and was wondering what every ones preference is on using water or to not use water. In my kettles I done both ways and had great results both ways so not sure what to do. Guess I'm looking at the pros and cons. Once thing on the WSM is it is going to change my grill times as I'm nrmally more around the 300 degree range when I grill on my kettles so I know I will have to take some notes and adjust my times.
For the last year or so I have not used water. I use a clay saucer foil lined resting on the same bracket as the water pan sits. This weekend I am doing some ribs and funny thing is I thought I would put the water pan back in to try. I saw no difference in flavor, temp control is where you could see a difference but whether good or bad is more about how your coals start out. If you light up too many coals in the beginning the water will help from a spike in temperature. If you are wanting to cook 250-275 with the water pan it will take longer and more coals to do so.
I run mine dry. I have never added water. The closest I have been to putting water in the pan is a foil pan with water on the bottom grate.
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I will line my pan with foil and use water on longer cooks (butts/briskets) but just do the foil for shorter cooks (ribs).
But experienced WSM users are all over the place on this. And, hopefully, a few more will chime in with their procedures.
I really don't think that there is a provable "right" or "wrong" way to do it. Take in what everyone says and figure out what works best for you and your family.
BD
I run my 22.5" dry as the water is messy and needs to be refilled more frequently than the charcoal. It holds temps fine dry. I also foil the water pan so that its easier to clean.
I'd suggest starting early with few lit coals and only use water on later cooks if the temp variation seems too great. If it were easy to clean out the sludge I'd say don't sweat it, toss the water in. But lifting out and cleaning out a sludgy water pan is super annoying to me. I use regular size foil and double it up crossways to cover it---dry.
I ised water the first couple cooks with m WSM and then stopped. I replaced my water pan with a deeper one (think it's a Brinkmann) and then filled it with ceramic briquettes and then foil it. Makes for a nice big heat sync to hold temps with.
@AZRaptor Can you link me to the ceramic briquettes? I just bought a deep bowl yesterday, with the intent for water. Not after this thread though. Lifting that sludge, past all the other tabs, without spilling... After a few beers. No thanks.
I use the Brinkman water pan when I want the ribs to show extra smoke ring (it's been said that the water aids in temperature control -and- smoke ring development). I usually line the pan with foil and then fill with water. I always either put another empty drip pan on the lower grate OR just make some drip-pan beans. I let the water cook off but don't usually refill.
If I'm not after a deeper smoke ring, then I just foil the pan, but I still use an additional drip pan ... much easier to clean up later.
On my WSM the temp holds pretty close to 225 degrees either way. SJ
I dont have a wsm, but have built a uds. This is an ongoing fight between do's and don'ts. I've done both and have had great success. I have used play sand on a 13 hour brisket and it was wonderful. I've used water on 4 hour babyback ribs and they were ok.
I think the most important variables are consistent temperature, spristing the meat to prevent it from drying out and most important of all is the quality of meat you're cooking.
One thing I really want to try is not using a water pan or diffuser plate of any kind and just let the drippings hit the coals. My drum is taller than a wsm so the top grate is farther from the heat source, but i would like to see how that turns out.
In my mini WSM I salvaged a 12" cast iron skillet that I had no need to use, so I used a grinder to take the handle and tab off. I now use this instead of the terra cotta that I started with, and I have never used water. Never had dry meat or a lack of a smoke ring. When I have to pull the tamale pot to add fuel, I barely lose any heat with the cast iron in there as a heat sink.
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No pan no water
Hunsaker Vortex Firebasket
22" WSM
Hot 'n Fast is where its at
(http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t310/swamprb/Ugly%20Drum%20Smoker/Weber/IMG_2188.jpg)
I used water in the pan the first few times....then I stopped. I think it helped keep things stable when the cooker was new due to all the air leaks. Now, between the gunk buildup and the gasket kit I installed, it is VERY well sealed up and I no longer see the point. I can dial it in and it will burn overnight with only fluctuating a few degrees (+/- 5 degrees)......that was not the case when it was new. It used to swing pretty good until I got it all sealed up, and the water pan certainly helped with that. The downside of the water pan was the disgusting cleanup and the increased amount of fuel usage. I leave it in dry and wrapped in a double layer of foil to make cleanup easy. I don't think my finished product is suffering by not using it.
Thanks. Appreciate everyone posting up many options for me to consider. Really helpful.
Very popular to not use water... But I am going to say use it.
It depends on what your going for... But there are a few things at play here.
1.) Wood releases the sweetest and least polluted smoke JUST around the range it bursts into flames. This is ~ 650-700 deg F... You can get pretty close to this with water to suck up some extra energy, but with out it your lit coals will spread until enough fuel is lit to raise temps unless you choke it down. This means dropping your fire below what is optimal. This is one of the reasons offset smokers are nice, you can give as much oxygen as needed and keep heat low with a smaller fire that you feed more often. Your not going to be constantly feeding a WSM, all your fuel is there so the fire will grow hotter then you want.
I have DEFINITELY noticed sweeter/better smelling smoke by adding water to the pan and allowing more air in to help the fire burn better (along with allowing temps more in the 250-260 range vs 220s). More fuel consumption has been the only downside.
2.) Moisture helps smoke adhere to meat... Similar to using mustard/oil/water to get more rub to adhere to something vs bouncing rub of a bone dry cut. You can spray down your meat too, and this will help... But keeping a humid smoking environment will help maintain surface moisture for longer and will give the smoke particles something to catch onto.
3.) The dryer the air is around your meat, the more the moisture on it evaporates. This can help form a heavy crust faster, then you can wrap sooner and be done... But forming a heavy crust also inhibits smoke absorption... So depending on your goals, having more humid air around your cut will help prevent evaporation, keeping the surface of the meat more moist for more smoke to adhere to, helping prevent the evaporative cooling that causes the stall, and allowing the crust to form more slowly giving more time for smoke to penetrate deeper into the cut.
Aaron Franklin insists that a water pan must be used on any smoker, and meathead discusses most of what I covered above in his article about wood/fire (the one that talks about not soaking chunks IIRC? The sweetest smelling chemicals he names are given at JUST under or above the temp that causes a standing flame... From this your wood should be within 50 degrees of having a standing flame. IMO its good to have enough air that if you are introducing much more, they will burst into flame.)
Quote from: TheDude on April 13, 2016, 07:39:18 PM
@AZRaptor Can you link me to the ceramic briquettes? I just bought a deep bowl yesterday, with the intent for water. Not after this thread though. Lifting that sludge, past all the other tabs, without spilling... After a few beers. No thanks.
@TheDude,you may abide with these ones:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/39086862?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=74&adid=22222222227026990857&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=56096179689&wl4=&wl5=pla&wl6=88703418489&veh=sem#about
;D
I use this same technique on most cooks, but in a shallow bowl that I made from a Smokey Joe lid ( this only works on the 18 WSM). I wrap the lid in foil, put some briquettes in the bowl, then two layers of foil over the top. The shallow bowl gives me more room for fuel, and for stirring the coals when needed.
I might as well try water again; the second cook shelf always seems to go unused anyway, and so I'd use that for a drip pan. I won't go back to using the water pan as the drip pan, for the reasons already mentioned above.
I'd need to make a decision about the lower cook grate on my 18, either continue to use the correct one and watch it slowly and expensively die, or use a 22 kettle charcoal grate if just holding a drip pan.
But all of that speaks to my frustration about the WSM: not using full capacity as a normal course of action, but paying the sludge price if I do, with crap in the water.
Quote from: TheDude on April 13, 2016, 07:39:18 PM
@AZRaptor Can you link me to the ceramic briquettes? I just bought a deep bowl yesterday, with the intent for water. Not after this thread though. Lifting that sludge, past all the other tabs, without spilling... After a few beers. No thanks.
They were these or something very similar, but I think it was these.
http://www.amazon.com/Char-Broil-2984653-Char-Diamonds/dp/B000ZIIUHW/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1460728061&sr
I have 2 WSM,s used water once and ended up draining it halfway thru the cook because
I could not reach 250 degrees. Now I just foil the pan. Easy lean up and stable temps
Thanks for the write up
@MeatAndPotatos I always use water personally. I also dont refill it I let it steam the first few hours amd then let it go dry after that. By then it usually has a bark so I let it go. If it starts looking dry then I'll spray it down with water.
Water all the way for me. It helps me maintain my temps around 225-228.
Whether or not to use water in your WSM depends on the result you're looking for. Anyone who says that there is only one way to do it is leading you astray. Water acts as a heat sink and will keep temps lower. Cooking poultry? Unless you want rubbery skin, you want higher temps that are tough to reach and maintain with the water.
After all of that, it really comes down to what works best for you. There is no absolute right or wrong way to do anything.
Best of luck!
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I don't have a wsm but I put water in my drip pans on my kettle for pork and brisket. Never for any poultry.
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Interesting conversation on WSM water pans. Many great points of view from longtime kettleHeads right down to first time posters (by the way, I'm I allowed to use BTW,
@rjmitch89, hello and welcome to the discussions here on the WKC from Eugene, Oregon).
Let's keep this going, shall we??? Why use a water pan at all on a WSM??? 'Cause it was part of the original product purchase??? Well, maybe the question is why use water in a kettle or smoker??? After all, most of use know that a "damper" on our beloved WSM is a boon to the final result and does not need to have any water involved. (Here damper means: foil wrapped water pan, or foil wrapped clay pot liner, or ???)
Here is my current thinking:
(1) Mostly to control temp's??? I dunno, my WSM 18", w/o water, holds temps to + or - 10 degrees. When you're new to kettling (is that a word), that sounds WAY our of bounds, but as you progress you realize that meat cooks just fine at + or - 20 degrees of these magic numbers. Soooooo, why so much concern over tight temp ranges???
(2) Water moisture in the cooker aides in "smoke ring creation" according to many including Raichlen, but I don't cook my meat so that someone else thinks that I have a huge "smoke ring" for what ever that's worth.
(3) Well I'm not aware of a "real" third reason, but com'on cookers, help me learn a little more of the value of water in the water pan.
SJ
Quote from: SmokenJoe on September 22, 2016, 07:17:19 PM
Interesting conversation on WSM water pans. Many great points of view from longtime kettleHeads right down to first time posters (by the way, I'm I allowed to use BTW, @rjmitch89, hello and welcome to the discussions here on the WKC from Eugene, Oregon).
Thanks for the welcome, SJ! Love the discussions here.
Quote from: MeatAndPotatos on April 14, 2016, 09:39:37 PM
I have DEFINITELY noticed sweeter/better smelling smoke by adding water to the pan and allowing more air in to help the fire burn better (along with allowing temps more in the 250-260 range vs 220s). More fuel consumption has been the only downside.
Out of curiosity, which WSM are you using? I've discovered that mine settles into that range and runs nicely between 250 and 260 with very minimal intervention when I'm running a hot steady fire and starting with the water pan filled with tap temperature water and I'm using a 22 inch smoker.
@Lightning I have the classic 18.5" WSM, it's an older 2002 mdl but cooks and holds the temp quite well. It's comfortable at around 240, so if I need more precision I use an Auber Inst SYL-1615 Temp Controller. I LIKE a LOT of smoke flavor in the meats I cook, so I put in more than the usual amount of wood chunks. Never noticed a difference with or without water (used water quite a bit when I first got my WSM) in the smell of the smoke, but then I'm usually smoking a good cigar while I cook :)
As a side note: I've owned and used a Smoke-n-ator for quite some time. Without a water pan, it's not very good at controlling the temps. The ribs cooked on my 22" kettle w/ that setup were nearly ALL smokering since you must feed the water pan continually during the cook to maintain your cook temp.
SJ
Quote from: Big Dawg on April 13, 2016, 02:17:03 PM
I will line my pan with foil and use water on longer cooks (butts/briskets) but just do the foil for shorter cooks (ribs).
But experienced WSM users are all over the place on this. And, hopefully, a few more will chime in with their procedures.
I really don't think that there is a provable "right" or "wrong" way to do it. Take in what everyone says and figure out what works best for you and your family.
BD
This...imo...water is a gimmick...dont use water n meat is never dry
after many trials, i found the water really doesn't do much other than act as a heat sink. i cooked various things with and without water in the pan. aside from helping the temps hold steady, i didn't notice any difference in the final product. a former competitive bbq'er i know suggested crumpling up some foil into balls and filling the pan with them, then covering the pan with more foil. he said the balls and air trapped under the foil covering would still act as a heat sink, but prevent the mess and hassle of dealing with water in the pan. i tried it out a few times and now that is how i always run my wsm. temps hold steady similar to having water in the pan and whenever the top layer of foil gets too dirty, i just remove and replace it. some grease/juices do get into the pan over time, so every so often i'll throw all the balls away, clean out the pan and replace with fresh foil balls. never had any issues with dry meat doing this.
I've heard of people using sand in the water pan to act as the heat sink and then use a metal pan to cover it (to prevent the sand from getting messy). Sounds like it would work.
But you're right. Water in the pan does not make anything more moist.
Great discussion.
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I use water in my pan occasionally. Usually for long overnight cooks where I'm sleeping and want to keep things steady, works well for that. However, every time I use water it steams off the seasoning inside the cooker. The next day the nice black grease is brown and flakey and I have to scrape it all off. Anyone else have this problem?
I don't find water to necessarily "hold" temps in the WSM. When I smoke poultry, I won't use water and my temps stay in the 325-350 range. With the same setup using water in the pan, my temps stay in the 225-250 range. Just my experience.
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I have a question regarding the water pan. I'm planning on doing a turkey and will leave the water pan dry. I've only used wsm once and used water and lined the underside of the water pan with foil to eliminate having to clean char from the underside of the pan. If I do the same method but leave water out of the pan, do I run the risk of melting the aluminum foil or is that just being paranoid?
I have never ran water in my bowl. Always wrap in foil. Never had an issue. Usually the bottom foil lasts me all season. The bowl I replace every time as it acted like a drip pan and caught all the drippings.
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Thanks @iCARRY. I figured as much but rather be safe than sorry.
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I don't use water in the pan. I foil wrapped it, placed new ceramic briqs from a gasser project I had years ago in the foiled water pan. I then foiled over them keeping a bowl in the foil to catch drippings. The pan full of briqs acts like a great heat sync. 1 bottom vent open 1/3 and top vent open 1/2 keeps me in the 240 260 range. If I need to use h20, I just use a foil pan on the lower grate.