I remove the water pan when cooking chicken at high temps so that the radiant heat from the coals crisps the chicken skin, as in the Hot & Fast Chicken recipe. You can also use the juices left in the bottom of a rimmed baking sheet pan after letting the turkey rest before carving. Injury from hot water and/or steam is possible if pan is not used properly. The pan catches the drippings that would otherwise hit the coals and flare up to create the taste that some people associate with grilled meat, not barbecued meat. There are two reasons to consider using water when barbecuing with the Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker: Water in the pan makes “low & slow” barbecue temperatures easy to achieve and maintain. If you are using a smoker you will want to put the 2-3 liters of water, beer, apple juice or wine in the water pan. Some grill experts put an empty aluminum pan in the grill in order to catch drips and prevent flare-ups. Because water pans can help to generate radiant heat, placing them directly above … Why? I've smoked with and without a water pan. I put it on the grill above the deflectors. I always change my foil out before every cook. On long smokes I use one of the spare aluminum drip tray pans that came with my smoker for grease off in the corner so my meat doesn't dry out. If you don’t want to use water in the pan, my recommendation is to just wrap the pan in aluminum foil and leave it empty. Here are my recommendations for foiling the pan, based on many years of personal experience: Every Time When Using The Pan, wrap the bottom with wide, heavy-duty aluminum foil. Line the water pan with wide, heavy duty aluminum foil, but suspend the foil 1-1/2″ above the bottom of the pan so it does not touch. The water pan is suspended by the four grill straps at the bottom of the middle cooking section. Many years ago, the WSM Owner’s Manual suggested that the water pan could be placed directly on top of the charcoal chamber when using the WSM as a steamer. If you like the results and you’re comfortable with the process, don’t feel like you have to change anything. The flavor of the meat will be most influenced by the rub, injection and sauce you use. Water pan for 18.5 smoker (2008 and earlier). I just put it on the smoking grate. Use a foil baking pan if you don’t have a water pan. To collect pan drippings when smoking a turkey, cook the turkey on the top cooking grate. In a vertical smoker like the Weber Bullet, an indirect cooking environment is achieved by using the water pan as a physical barrier between the meat and the heat. Pour water into the pan immediately before the pan gets hot. Some folks scoff at the notion of doing anything beyond just rinsing out the pan after each use, but I like to run a “clean machine” and keeping the pan clean is important to me. Smokers have a water pan included, but grills generally do not. I always change my foil out before every cook. It sure smelled good while cooking, but I couldn’t taste much of a difference in the finished product and it made a greasy mess in the charcoal bowl. Creative Weber smoker owners have tried almost everything as an alternative to water in the pan or even as an alternative to the pan itself. Have an electric unit and you’ll find the pan over the electric heating element. When Using Water In The Pan, don’t foil the inside of the pan. Different smokers have different grate sizes, and also different builds will impact heavily on airflow. This temp range is often used when barbecuing high-heat versions of chicken, turkey, brisket, pork butt and tri-tip. There’s nothing worse than having the cooker temperature soar to 350°F because the access door fell off! Cold Water In The Pan, How Often To Check And Refill The Water Pan, Disposing Of Water/Grease And Pan Cleanup, Foiling The Pan To Collect Drippings For Turkey Gravy. This air gap helps prevent the drippings from burning. So, my recommendation is to never foil the inside of the water pan when using water. Foil just the bottom of the pan, bringing the foil over the top edge of the pan to secure it, then remove any excess material so that the foil does not touch the water. This slows the cooking process and promotes the rendering of fat and the conversion of tough connective tissues into gelatin. If the pan seems unsteady, do not use the pan or add water to it until the problem has been resolved. You do these at your own risk! This will eliminate direct heat and flames from potentially burning the food, as well as eliminate potential flare ups caused by dripping fat falling onto your charcoal. It makes no difference to the price you pay but it really helps me continue improving this website. How? Well, that seems obvious, right? Water pan placement will largely be determined by the type of smoker you have. Think of water as training wheels for your smoker. It can be difficult to tell how much water is in the pan when refilling in the dark, so turn on a patio light or use a flashlight to make sure the pan is not overfilled. On long smokes I use one of the spare aluminum drip tray pans that came with my smoker for grease off in the corner so my meat doesn't dry out. Don’t splash water out of the pan into the fire, and take care to not overfill the pan. But here’s my advice after many years of experience with this cooker. Assuming you don’t over-smoke the turkey, the drippings will be perfect for making gravy. With the middle cooking section off the fire, put the water pan in place, making sure it is seated securely on the four grill straps. It takes a lot of energy to heat water to the boiling point of 212°F at which point it turns into steam. Water can be used to help in smoker temperature control. You can then put a drip pan on bottom cooking grate with a dash of water in it to collect the drippings. These things may smell good while cooking, but experience shows they impart little or no flavor of the meat. It’s not uncommon to end up with about 1-1/2 cups of drippings. In wood-burning offset smokers, the cooking chamber and the fire box are side-by-side in separate compartments, thus the cooking process is indirect by design. If it's cold outside, you can add hot or boiling water to the pan, and that will help the smoker come up to temperature quicker. If the cooker starts to run too hot, more water will boil away, consuming extra heat energy and keeping the cooker temperature down. If you’re using the 14.5″ WSM with its smaller water pan, check the water level more often. (Las Vegas, NV). More charcoal is used when cooking with water. Replace the access door and make sure the door knob is fastened properly. When you foil the inside of the pan, water can get past the foil and into the pan through pinholes, small tears or seams created when piecing together two pieces of foil. My smoker came with a water/marinade pan. by DONNA Boiling hot water and/or steam has the potential to cause serious injury if the water pan is filled in an unsafe manner or if the pan falls into the hot coals during use.