Water pan or not

[vicki blair]

To add water pan to my smoker or not? I have. Seen and lots of great info but seems to be a divided camp. My first batch of ribs were a little tough and dry for my liking and what I’m use to from my grill. Next batch I’m going to go lower temp for longer as my first change. AND then try adding a water pan! I would love insight and suggestions from this site! Thanks in advance for your input!!

Happy Smokin’ everyone

 

[SmokinAl]

I use a water pan in all my smokers, unless I’m cold smoking something.
Al

 

[smokerjim]

what type smoker ya using. I'm sure you'll get all different opinions, i'm a no water guy.

 

[Cabo]

Same as Al. Water pan unless I'm cold smoking or doing jerky

 

[phathead69]

usually only time i use water pan is to help absorb some of the heat.

 

[PPG1]

I like a Water pan for most of my smokes

 

[vicki blair]

what type smoker ya using. I'm sure you'll get all different opinions, i'm a no water guy.

Sorry I didn’t mention what I am using ……
#2 analog! I kinda expected all sorts of answers but that confirms I need to do it both ways and see wht I like! Anyone ever use beer instead of water?

 

[jcam222]

I use a water pan most of the time. In addition for most cooks I run that pan full of broth and under the meat. Liquid gold!

 

[mcokevin]

What temp were you running your smoker at? 225 with a water pan should be real good for ribs.

 

[kilo charlie]

If your smoker came with a water pan you should use it.

You can use water, beer, apple juice etc.

 

[smokerjim]

Sorry I didn’t mention what I am using ……
#2 analog! I kinda expected all sorts of answers but that confirms I need to do it both ways and see wht I like! Anyone ever use beer instead of water?

What a waste of beer

 

[mcokevin]

What a waste of beer

Hey, nobody said you had to dump out the beer in the water pan when you're done smoking

 

[zwiller]

As soon as I understood this, it all clicked for me: moist meat is created by getting the meat to a high enough IT to break down collagen and fat to make it tender. Generally speaking we're talking around 190-205F. Some folks don't measure and go by probing but I measure and also probe a few spots too. "Dry" BBQ (note the quotes) is classic sign of under cooked meat and adding water in your pan is not gonna fix that. Also generally speaking, smoking food to proper IT takes longer than many people expect when first starting out. Those pesky last few degrees take the LONGEST to hit but you NEED them for proper breakdown.

Check out SmokinAl write up for ribs and this extremely close to my method for ribs based on IT. Here in Ohio ribs are meaty and classic methods based on time like 321 are out the window. Been awhile since I ran ribs but I recall they took around 8-9hrs for me. http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/240916/perfect-ribs-every-time-this-really-works

 

[SmokinAl]

what type smoker ya using. I'm sure you'll get all different opinions, i'm a no water guy.

I use a water pan next to the firebox on the bottom rack in my Lang. It evens out the side to side temps. I use a water pan in my WSM as a heat sink to keep the temps steady & do the same in my Smoke Vault. As far as making the meat more moist, I don’t know if that would have any effect on that. However I do either baste, mop, or spritz most of the meat I cook. I also inject most of the meat I cook. So these are things I have learned by experience & also from some of the senior members on here.
Al

 

[vicki blair]

As soon as I understood this, it all clicked for me: moist meat is created by getting the meat to a high enough IT to break down collagen and fat to make it tender. Generally speaking we're talking around 190-205F. Some folks don't measure and go by probing but I measure and also probe a few spots too. "Dry" BBQ (note the quotes) is classic sign of under cooked meat and adding water in your pan is not gonna fix that. Also generally speaking, smoking food to proper IT takes longer than many people expect when first starting out. Those pesky last few degrees take the LONGEST to hit but you NEED them for proper breakdown.

Check out SmokinAl write up for ribs and this extremely close to my method for ribs based on IT. Here in Ohio ribs are meaty and classic methods based on time like 321 are out the window. Been awhile since I ran ribs but I recall they took around 8-9hrs for me. http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/240916/perfect-ribs-every-time-this-really-works

Thank you!! There’s some great teaching in there! I did the 3-2-1 method or a modified 4-2-1. Method and never checked the internal temp coz I followed the schedule. In Colorado my ribs on the gril would take 6-8 hours at 250-300 and done was was tested by appearance!

Soooo - next rack will be 200-225 ( 225 ) the first set but much longer and with a probe in the Meat! No water pan and then a batch with a water pan and I will compare But it sounds like lack of time was my issue !

I appreciate the link - will definitely read! I also just subscribed to the E-course for new smokers! On with the teaching folks - this newbie will catch on!!

Thank you everyone

 

[normanaj]

I can only speak from my experience with the Masterbuilt Electric Smoker(MES).

Adding water to the pan in the MES turns the inside into a drooling mess in my experience.

 

[SecondHandSmoker]

I only use the water pan in my smoker during long overnight cooks or when the outside humidity and dew point are extremely low.
Save the apple juice for mops or spritzes. Save the beer for drinking.
I presume you're also using a separate thermometer probe set up to monitor grate temps?

 

[Colin1230]

I always use the water pan unless I'm doing poultry at high temp. What it does for me is dampen the temperature swings. Having that volume of water in there absorbs heat and releases heat and is always buffering the changes. Also, I read somewhere that moist hot air is more homogenous than dry hot air meaning the temperature will be more consistent throughout the cooker.

 

[noboundaries]

Tough and dry = undercooked. Zwiller has you covered on the collagen as the reason why.

Water in water pan has zero influence on whether the meat is moist or not. It is only a heat sink to keep chamber temps low because water cannot heat above 212F at sea level in an open environment. The max temp decreases as altitude increases and atmospheric pressure decreases. Water will cause more smoke to adhere to the meat, which can be bad or good, depending on fire management (white-gray-black smoke bad; thin blue to invisible smoke good).

I've smoked spare ribs unwrapped and unspritzed in a dry smoker anywhere from 225F to 350F. The clock is the only thing that really changes. Ribs get a nice bark with a juicy tender insides. I smoke 'em until they probe tender. I've only temped ribs once after reading Al's method but prefer probing. I like my ribs with a little bite so there's just a tad of resistance to the probe. My wife likes FOTB so the probe has zero resistance.

Ah, the art of smoking. It seems complicated, but is merely a matter of heat, smoke, and time. Understanding the meat's physiology and the physics of the smoker are just bonuses.

Edit: fixed my under the weather thought processes.

 

[bill1]

I'm a water pan guy.
In the pellet machines, my pan includes a 400W hot water heater element, other wise the high airflow in these machines seems to undo any effects of just a water pan.
For many meats, I agree the biggest cause of dryness is the fear to take the internal temp to >190F to melt the collagen. But humidity certainly won't dry meat and keeps my chicken skin from getting rubbery hard. May not help bark formation on some meats but I'm not convinced it hurts either.
And humidity certainly increases the convective heat transfer so you cook better/faster. I think it also improves the efficiency of transferring smoke flavor molecules from the wood to the meat so faster cooking still means plenty of smoke flavor.