Disposable or reusable pans?

[smokefire96]

I have a Weber SmokeFire and a lot of the recipes on the app suggest to place an aluminum dish filled with water(I usually do half water and half apple juice) inbetween the grill grates and the flavorizer bars, my guess is so the meat retains moisture. Does anyone have any suggestions for a reusable pan that I could use instead of disposable aluminum pans? Maybe silicone or a sturdy metal? Advice is appreciated

 

[DieselTech]

Look into a stainless steel pan of the size you want.

 

[Fueling Around]

Welcome to the forum
I agree with DieselTech to find SS pans that fit your grill.
chopsaw is the most knowledgeable SmokeFire grill user I recall.
Stop over at roll call and properly introduce yourself.

Roll Call

This is where all new members should begin. Tell us a little about yourself, where you live, what you do, etc. Just helps us get to know you better;-)

www.smokingmeatforums.com

 

[whistlepig]

Aluminum pans used to be disposable. But not at the prices they want for them these days.

 

[Brokenhandle]

Rich chopsaw I know loves his Smokefire, as do others. I'm sure it's personal preference but I've never used a water pan ever. And own many different types of smokers.

Ryan

 

[whistlepig]

I've tried water pans and couldn't see any difference.

 

[Chasdev]

I use, wash and re-use "disposable" aluminum pans all the time.

 

[chopsaw]

any suggestions for a reusable pan

Weber makes a " wet smoke " system for the SmokeFires , but it uses the foil pans from Weber .

I use a Broiler pan from the house oven . Fits nice under the lower grate , and I just line it with 24" heavy duty foil .


I will put some water in it , but mostly just to keep the juices from burning at higher temps .
When I was testing when I first bought the grill , water in a pan really evens the temp on that grill . I have the EX4 .

 

[mike243]

I have tried multiple liquids in the pan and could never taste a difference in the meat no matter water or fruit juice, pretty sure weber is trying to stop grease fires which can happen to any pellet smoker

 

[chopsaw]

pretty sure weber is trying to stop grease fires

That's exactly right , plus trying to overcome the user end nonsense . It goes without saying that Weber should have foreseen that as a problem . One of the worse fires I've had was in my Genesis 310 , because I didn't clean it enough .
It's a shame that they had to redesign that Smoker because of the negative public comments .


I use drip pans in all my grills when smoking or cooking at low temps .
I was really careful with my smoke fire when I first got it . Took me 6 or 8 months before I grilled without cleaning it every other time .

 

[Chasdev]

In my attempt to find the end of the internet, I watched a Steve Gow "Smoketrails" BBQ Youtube video yesterday where he does experiments cooking briskets with and without a waterpan.
According to him and his semi scientific tests, beef retains more internal moisture when smoked with a water pan in the cook chamber than without.
Pretty convincing viewing.

 

[fxsales1959]

I have a Weber SmokeFire and a lot of the recipes on the app suggest to place an aluminum dish filled with water(I usually do half water and half apple juice) inbetween the grill grates and the flavorizer bars, my guess is so the meat retains moisture. Does anyone have any suggestions for a reusable pan that I could use instead of disposable aluminum pans? Maybe silicone or a sturdy metal? Advice is appreciated

I do similar with my Pitboss pooper using two 13x9 aluminum "cake" pans turned sideways which i wash and reuse.

 

[BigDave11]

I have had some luck finding stainless steel water pans at asian grocery stores. They tend to carry a healthy amount of kitchen equiptment/supplies. this is the kind of thing im talking about https://www.webstaurantstore.com/ch...eel-steam-table-hotel-pan-4-deep/4070249.html

looks like the oem weber smokefire pans they sell are 8x13. A 1/2 pan is like 10.5x13 or so. here is a pan sizing chart you may be able to find one that fits perfectly. https://www.webstaurantstore.com/gu...AUxvelzOjJ98PpgTu-hTWGnaPh4eSKvGE8o4ka_0GylL2

 

[jirodriguez]

The one thing you do NOT want to do is use the wife's good baking pans in the smoker...... I speak from experience! (but my wife now has a nice new set of steel USA baking pans)

 

[JIMSMOKES]

The one thing you do NOT want to do is use the wife's good baking pans in the smoker...... I speak from experience! (but my wife now has a nice new set of steel USA baking pans)

I used her big skillet on the smoker for a bit. Then finished a sear on the kettle with the vortex.
I now have a dedicated grill skillet and she got hexclad replacement. LoL