When water pan is needed vs. not needed

[sumosmoke]

Need the help of the pro's on this one as it's got me scratching my head ....

In several posts I have noticed it's been mentioned that the smoke was done without any liquid and I'm trying to understand when, and when it's not necessary to place liquid in the water pan.

The concept of why adding liquid into the pan is understood, however does it really make a difference if all meats are cooked with a liquid? At times, I've even read that it's a huge NO-NO to let the pan go dry!

Thanks in advance for the help!

 

[travcoman45]

Laurel, I might be a hillbilly rebel, but I put water in da pan all da time. It helps retain heat when ya open that door fer a peek inside and in my opinion helps keep the humndidity up in that box so less moisture from the meat is leavin. Just my two coppers worth.

 

[ron50]

Water acts as a heat sink. It keeps the temp from going up too fast and keeps it from coming down too fast. And although despite what you may read,whilethe water doesn't add any moisture to the food, it does prevent some moisture loss by providing a more humid environment.

Some people use sand instead of water as it provides the same heat sink, and doesn't need to be refilled due to evaporation.

 

[richtee]

Trav and Ron nailed it. And adding any flavors to the pan is pretty much a waste of them. SOME aromatics may work somewhat... like licorice, clove...LOL..well, rosemary and the like anyway.

 

[sumosmoke]

What?? Adding flavors to the pan results in na-da????

Does that apply even towards poultry?? I was thinking of doing my first set of chickens with apple juice and bourbon in the pan but will save some $$ if it won't matter anyhow ....

Good advice Rich, better to know this now than to have spent the extra cash! Ron's mention of using sand also supports this I suppose ...

Tip - my ocd won't allow me to leave the pan dry ... any third opinions out there to support Rich's theory??

 

[geob]

Use the apple juice and bourbon in a spray bottle. Use it where it does some good.

geob

 

[earache_my_eye]

Hey Laurel.....from my understanding....and this isn't from personal experience...just what I've read here.......water in the pan will help if you are having troubles keeping temps DOWN...since water boils at 212*F...thus, it absorbs a lot of heat if your charcoal is running wild. Using sand in the pan is good if you are having trouble keeping temps UP.....the sand acts as a dry heat-sink that can carry some of the temp load if it's windy/cooler outside.

Anybody feel free to correct me if I screwed the goose on that one, but, that's how I understand it anyway......

L8r,
Eric

 

[richtee]

Most of the flavors that stick with the food are not so water soulable. And even if they are the high temp of the steam they need to ride to get there destroys them. As mentioned, SOME of the aromatic spices and flavors will get there, but yer MUCH better off using it in a mop.

 

[richtee]

The goose remains virgin..thank gawd! LOL!

 

[walking dude]

in my humble experience.......and i have the same smoker as laural...........only time i DON"T use water, is smoking summer sausage as per my thread on it.............i add more water as the smoke goes on, depending on the estimated lenght of the smoke..............have to open it once in awhile to mop/spray/spritz/take pictures.........so you can observe if it needs water or not............i have tried sand/river rocks...........didn't have much sucess doing that.........so went back to water.......what i used for over 20 years before that..........what can i say.......i am a old crusty cuss.............be quiet bob/eric/tip/etc...........LMAO.........

what they said bout flaovoreing the water.........waste of time and effort/exspense......if i use herbs, like rosemary.......i put it in the chip/chunk box.........let it smoke there..........

i know others will come along with their version of what to put in a waterpan..............but this has werked for me since i first bought my ecb in the mid to late 70's...........not a gourmet mind you......but my first ecb had/has the hole in the bottom of the fire pan.........heheheeh.........which after a couple lawsuits, was changed, for the werse.............

its basically laurel..........we/i can give you advice on the gourmet.........you need to make the mods to it, to get her to werk for you.....after that.........YOU experiment.......let US know what you found that werks..........you can also be a pioneer here............we are all..........

you be fine

sorry for speech-i-fying

 

[sumosmoke]

Mods are in for the ECB within the next couple weeks and I'm sure I'll notice significant improvements in the performance of the lil' thang and will do a few experiments.