I used to be real paranoid about quickly loading the water and the meat, and have someone tending the door, to minimize the time the hatch was open.
You will find many times where I have posted about long pre-heat times to 270º. I have used up to 2.5 hours preheat when it was below freezing, here in Sacramento that is fairly rare. 2 hours though is common when the ambient is 45º or below. 1 hour above 45º and 30-45 min. in the summer. The reason is to thoroughly get all the metal heated up. Recovery then is never more that 15-30 minutes to achieve desired cooking temp.
Ok having said all that, I now put my foiled water pan in empty, I usually have all the racks out when I do this, I then fill with boiling water, Close the hatch and 5-15 minutes later load the meat. I used to pour the boiling water in the pan and then quickly load it in the MES, but like you said I either spilled some or burned my hands during the process. Plus if you don't have the alum foil nice a snug and flat under the two wings that hang on the rack, the foil catches and tears and when it snags more water is spilled.
So preheat the MES and put in an empty pan and fill.
There is no reason why you can't put the water pan in before you start the preheat and add boiling water then start preheat. I think preheat will take longer to get to 270º though. (I haven't tried this method yet, I will and let you know how much longer preheat takes.)
You will find many times where I have posted about long pre-heat times to 270º. I have used up to 2.5 hours preheat when it was below freezing, here in Sacramento that is fairly rare. 2 hours though is common when the ambient is 45º or below. 1 hour above 45º and 30-45 min. in the summer. The reason is to thoroughly get all the metal heated up. Recovery then is never more that 15-30 minutes to achieve desired cooking temp.
Ok having said all that, I now put my foiled water pan in empty, I usually have all the racks out when I do this, I then fill with boiling water, Close the hatch and 5-15 minutes later load the meat. I used to pour the boiling water in the pan and then quickly load it in the MES, but like you said I either spilled some or burned my hands during the process. Plus if you don't have the alum foil nice a snug and flat under the two wings that hang on the rack, the foil catches and tears and when it snags more water is spilled.
So preheat the MES and put in an empty pan and fill.
There is no reason why you can't put the water pan in before you start the preheat and add boiling water then start preheat. I think preheat will take longer to get to 270º though. (I haven't tried this method yet, I will and let you know how much longer preheat takes.)