Reverse Flow with water pan

[Murrdog]

Is there a reason no one that I can find on here builds a RF with water pan. Am I missing something. I have used a vertical smoker with a water pan for years and I am planning a 250 gal tank build. I was wondering if anyone had welded the RF plate solid and filled it with water (above the RF plate) and put a drain on the plate to drain all the way out the bottom of the tank. If anyone knows of a forum topic a link would be great. I have not had good luck with the search. Thanks for reading this!

[k.a.m.]

Murrdog, on a R/F cooker the plate is as much to the cook as the smoke. The plate is used for radiant heat, if you cool the plate you will only be sending cold smoke across the grates. And to heat the cooker up to 225° or better you will eat a ton of wood.
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Hybrid Cooker

[Bestiverhad]

I agree with K.A.M. And I'm not blowing smoke.
Why cool down the R.F. plate to begin with and the jury is out on trying to keep, (by adding steam) or return moisture to meat while in process.
I have a build in progress that I'm using a diffuser plate in the same manner as a reverse flow plate. I built it so I am able to put water/apple juice or whatever in the 'V' shape, but I don't believe I'll ever use it that way, because I like the taste the sizzling drippings add to the cook.
Just my taste.
The photos here will explain what I did better than I just did, I'm sure.
http://www.thesmokering.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=39292
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[Alien BBQ]

These guys are right on with the effects of lowering the plate temperature. However, if you are wanting to add humidity (which is a good thing) you can build a water trough in the bottom (4 inches high x 6 inches wide) with a filler neck on the front. This will allow you to add water at anytime during the smoke.

Some of the benefits of increased moisture in the pit is a better transfer of heat from the air to the meat and a more balanced temperature consistency throughout the pit. By placing the trough in the path of hot air flow below the plates, you will superheat the water without effecting the plate temp as much. Keep in mind though, water has mass and you will need to make allowances for heating the mass.

As far as to add water or not, my opinion (and everyone has one) is it depends on what you are cooking. Some meals require a hot dry environment, some prefer a moisture rich environment. I don't worry a lot about steam because the amount of dry air to moist and the lack of a pressurized chamber negates the negative effects. What it does do is make the conduction transfer of the heat more effective. However, meals that require a dry climate like breads or the formation of crunchy crust do not like the moist air as much. If I am cooking something that I want a crust on, I may start out with moist air but I purposely let the well run dry to crisp up things at the end of a long cook.

As with all Rf cookers it will take a bit of time to preheat and make sure you install an adjustable hitch wheel to raise and lower the hitch height (which will raise and lower your temps)


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[steviez]

I've been searching for this topic as well! I have a Lang 84 and I don't want to do any welding, cutting and the like to add moisture.

What are some other suggestions to add steam?

[DreChar]

[steviez]

Would you put it under the plate or on a cooking rack? (Sorry to sound like a dweebe!)

[Alien BBQ]

Putting an aluminum pan on the plate will actually make the temp go up immediately above the pan. I have done this many times on my hybrid and I can get about <10 degrees bump. I use this method to adjust cooking times when I am cooking different types of meat.
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[steviez]

Mr Alien! I said "yea right" about the temp being hot right above the water pan... I figured with all the convection going on with the reverse flow and all that - the h2o pan would not make any diff.

I stand corrected and will never doubt you again! Respectfully submitted - Stevie Z

[Chef]

I thought about putting a water trough in mine. But what i ended up doing is just setting an aluminum pan at the end where the heat rises about the RF plate. It seems to work pretty good.

[Murrdog]

Thanks for all the replies, I do think I will be adding a water trough on mine. I really think you need the moisture, or at least most of the time. I was going to build a solid plate, and was wondering if building the trough at the location most people build their dripping's drain would work? has any one done this. I would make a picture but I'm not as skilled as Alien. Oh and thanks Alien good info.

[whitey]

I have never had a need for any additional moisture in My R.F cooker..I do use a great deal of mop which between that and just the fat dripping on the pan.It stays with a great deal of moisture.





Makes Me hungry.



But none the less I look forward to hearing about Your Mod.Keep Us posted.

Whitey..
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