water trouble

[deer trail]

hey guys, i was wondering, do you smoke poultry, pork, and beef with or without water? Please get back to me as soon as possable.

thanks men, carry -on

 

[smokin relaxin steve]

Are you talking about your "water pan" if so i use it for everything I smoke...

 

[DougE]

I use a water pan for everything I smoke too.

 

[Dutch]

Depends on the smoker; my Lang-no; my GOSM-yes; my ECB-yes; my electric UDS-no.

 

[rbranstner]

I use a water pan on all my smokers except for my UDS. The UDS is such a moist environment that you don't need one.

 

[phillet]

i use it for everything i smoke. its just easy for me since its built right in and i just need to fill it up.

 

[jirodriguez]

Rule of thumb is if it is a vertical smoker you will use a water pan (might be filled with other stuff beside water, but that is beside the point). The only verticals that you don't usually see a water pan on are UDS smokers. Most offset smoker so not have a water pan - but some people add them to help regulate temps in the main chamber.

A vertical without a water pan basically turns into a grill, the water pan helps deflect and regulate the heat so you get those nice even temps you want. Hope that helps.

 

[adiochiro3]

I always use a water-filled pan, even in my offset, to help even the temps and keep moisture up.

 

[corn cob]

Without Water......

Water pans came on the scene in large numbers in the late 70's early 80's in the ECB which had no way to control the fire/air flow. They act(ed) as a heat sink to protect the meat from burning and keep temperatures under control ...Probably takes more BTU's (charcoal) to boil a gallon of water for several hours than it does to cook a pork butt to 195* and what do you get in return? Nothing much of value. Fill it with masonry sand, cover it with foil and forget it...~~~ I do find water useful/necessary when it's time to clean up...and to add a few drops to a glass of bourbon!

Fun!

 

[glgoodwin]

Yeah I always put water in the water pan of my ECB and have never used water in my SnP.

The Idea of sand instead of water, would proably work good as well, but I just like the idea of steam in my smoker (not that its making a ton of difference)

 

[eman]

Right now i am down to just one smoker , My MES.
If i am smoking something that i want to have a real nice bark , Butts , Brisket i use sand in my water pan. If i smoke something that i want to be real moist ,Ribs , Bird , I use water in the pan.
When i had my NBOS i never had a water pan so it was alot more tending to the meat and heat.

 

[meateater]

In my UDS, always. Make clean-up... well what clean-up?

 

[rgacat]

I use water/apple mixture on everything.