Water pan in KBQ? Please school us.

[jjdbike]

Hello everyone.

I apologize if tis subject has been beaten to death. I just go a "new to me" KBQ home and set up. I'm planning on a first trial run w/ a small chuck roast, followed shortly after by a couple butts.

As far as I know, maintaining high humidity can help bark formation and smoke sticking to surface of meat. I've also read that a large pan of water can act as a heat sink, helping to maintain constant temp and moderating temp fluctuations. It seems that the KBQ fan cycling on and off, the temp seems to go up and down a bit. Probably not enough to impact cook, but would water pan help?

I read somewhere that a full size hotel pan fits, but would significantly impact air-flow. That being said, it seems to me that placing a full pan in bottom, would help add humidity and add a heat sink, but double as a drip pan to keep bottom cleaner.

Is my thinking correct or flawed? Are there other considerations I'm missing?

Please school us on water pans in the KBQ.

Thanks in advance!
JD

[58limited]

I use a water pan myself for the reasons that you mention, some people do not. At the very least, it catches drippings which makes clean up easier.

It is normal for the temperarure to swing about 25^o above and below the set temperature as the fan cycles - you are looking for the average temperature. When I cook at 225^o the temp swings from around 200^o up to about 250^o thus giving me an average of 225^o. The swing becomes larger as the thermostat wire under the fan gets dirty.


Hint: cook a pan of beans right under the roast to catch those good drippings, Yum!

Do you have an owner's manual? If not, download here: https://kbq.us/wp-content/uploads/20...ers-Manual.pdf

[bbqLuv]

58limited ted "I use a water pan myself for the reasons that you mention, some people do not. At the very least, it catches drippings which makes clean up easier."
That works for pellet grilling too.

[bbqLuv]

The definitive answer can be found in the following video: (3) Do Water Pans Improve Barbecue? A Scientific Analysis - YouTube

[Bruceski44]

I use a water pan myself for the reasons that you mention, some people do not. At the very least, it catches drippings which makes clean up easier.

I use a water pan in my KBQ for this reason also. My cook temps are usually 225F, so I think the water provides some stabilizing heat mass for the cabinet temperature. The water will never get above 212F (boiling temp) no matter how much heat you apply. If I was cooking at 275 or higher, I think the water might be a drag on getting the internal temp up.

When cooking on my previous COS smoker, my briskets would never come out juicy like I wanted them. So one time I put a water pan in and wired up one of those electric charcoal starters (pictured) to a variable transformer (functioned like a dimmer) as an immersion heater to keep the water just below boiling. The inside of the cooker and the brisket were both wet for the entire cook due to condensation, but the brisket was still dry. Moral of the story? A moist environment is no guarantee of a moist product. I didn't watch the entire YT that bbqLuv posted, but that seemed to be where he was heading. Maybe a quick summary would be good for those lacking the time to finish the video.

P.S. Yes- that was a pretty dangerous setup. The first thing I did when approaching the rig was to shut off the power before touching the cooker.

[bbqLuv]

Yes, a quick summery would be nice.

[hogdog6]

I too use a water pan don't know what it does or doesn't for the cook, easier cleanup is my reason.

[Timbo54]

Hotel pan lined with foil ( no water ) makes cleanup easy.