wsm water pan question

[grillin&chillin]

i have been using a wsm the last year. done some ribs a few times and pulled pork. i recently read somewhere that you don't have to put water in the water pan. i like a thicker heavier bark on my ribs and figure that not putting water in the pan will give me this result. but i am not sure how the ribs will come out without water in the pan. can u smoke the ribs for 2 hours with water in the pan then the last 2 hours have no water? any thoughts or ideas on this greatly appreciated.
thanx
cory

[Mike Lawry]

IMO ribs smoke better in the 225-250 temp range. (I have a WSM also).

If you can smoke the ribs in that temp with or without water in the pan doesnt even matter to me.

The water in the pan is only a temp controler. IMO.



Mike Lawry.

[OKBBQEA]

Yep, I agree with Mike. The water pan is mostly used as a heat sink in the WSM.

If you can control your temp without water in the pan. Go for it!
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[bigabyte]

I swapped out the WSM water pan for an ECB charcoal pan. I fill it about 3/4 with sand and then cover with wide HD foil before I fire it up. Makes an excellent heat sink and does not add any moisture. When your fire starts dying down, that sand will keep the temps up for a couple more hours. Plus, it's easy clean-up to just take off the foil and throw the foil away.
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--Chris Baker
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[DawgPhan]

I will say that it really depends on what I am cooking and for how long.

Ribs and chicken get a water pan. Brisket and Butts get empty water pan.

Next time with brisket I am going to use a stoker and a sand and foil pan.

[Doc1680]

It's sand in the pan of my pro Q. Covered with HD foil also. I tried water a couple of times and it seemed to make it too moist and it was hard to keep my temps up where I like them (240-250) causing me to expend more fuel to boost the temps. I also found that to be true in my offset. I have even seen some posts of folks that don't put anything in the pan. They just cover it in foil.

Try all of the methods and see what works best for you. That's the good thing about Q Cory. There are so many different techniques and methods of doing things. It's like a never ending experiment. "Experimenting" is a darn good excuse to Q all the time. At least that's what I tell my GF I'm doing.
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Love the voodoo that Q do.

Doc

[Tony]

Sand in the Pan works for me on my E.C.B.'s (Brinkmann vertical water smokers.")

I modified All 3 of them and I am able to lift the whole cooker
Top assembly off of the bottom fuel pan.

Before I start the cook,I put the "sand pan" covered with foil
on my Weber gas grill to preheat the sand.Saves a lot of time when trying to come up to temps and creates a stable temp in the cook chamber to start with.

Best Regards, Tony

[adolpho]

I while back I made the switch to the clay pot saucer in my water pan. I double foil it and stick it in the water pan. It's a breeze to clean afterwards. I've also noticed that I use a lot less charcoal. Even the the radiant heat that can build up with the saucer on the bottom rack has yet to cause that rack to be hotter than the upper rack. 12 hour burns are nice and even.
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[somegeek]

This is good info... I've been using the water pan for all cooks in my WSM. I have a bag of sand that I'll try next time.

somegeek
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WSM - added 2nd charcoal grill & brinkman charcoal pan as water pan.
Maverick ET-73

[JamesB]

I've only cooked with water in my WSM once... After that first time, it was sand in the pan covered with a double layer of HD foil... works great!

James.
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[grillin&chillin]

thanx for all the info and tips. i think i will try the sand technique. where do you guys reccomend i get the sand?
cory

[JamesB]

I just used play ground sand that I got at Home Depot...
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