water pan in smoker

[sinister]

Merry Christmas everybody!

Just felt like making a post so....

I smoked all summer on my uds without a water pan. I just added one today and am smoking a ham...that water pan really stabilized the temps! I'm kinda amazed it works as good as it does. Should have done it sooner   

 

[bmudd14474]

If you don't want to use water you can use sand in the pan and cover in foil to keep the drippings out.

 

[flash]

Pretty much the whole of idea of the water pan is to stabilize the temps. Without it, you're close to just grilling. During this time of year, I use playbox sand also. The foil idea works. This way you can use the sand several times. Just be sure to dampen it again before the next smoke.

 

[sinister]

Never heard of using sand. So it's used to stabilize temps also? 

 

[sinister]

I searched and found this info from S2K9K

"[color= rgb(24, 24, 24)]It is used as a thermal mass to help maintain consistent temps. Same reason the water is in there except water won't go above 212* and as it evaporates the temps will fluctuate".[/color]

[color= rgb(24, 24, 24)]I'll be switching to sand.[/color]

 

[desertlites]

yup, sand is the way to go!

 

[flash]

I searched and found this info from S2K9K

"[color= rgb(24, 24, 24)]It is used as a thermal mass to help maintain consistent temps. Same reason the water is in there except water won't go above 212* and as it evaporates the temps will fluctuate".[/color]

[color= rgb(24, 24, 24)]I'll be switching to sand.[/color]

 It does keep temps more consistent and higher. Water does provide some moisture, but also evaporates allowing for temperature fluctuations. When it gets cold here, I only use sand, but during the summer months, I switch back to water. You may find with using sand, that you want to spritz or mop more to maintain that moisture when needed.

 

[kcbbqdude]

If you just wan't to retain internal heat, use some fire brick wrapped in foil.  

 

[hydrostan]

In my Smokey Mt smoker today I smoked 2 summer sausage chubs. I have always put the pan in with water, but one chub was fairly long so I couldn't use the pan. The problem was that the bottom of this chub burnt a bit as it was too close to the fire pan. I guess I need to shorten my chubs!