My first smoker was charcoal fired, it had a water pan. My second was electric, it had a water pan.
I just got a MAK 2-star and there's no water pan. What gives?
It seems as though few to none of the pellet smokers have one. Is it a cost thing? No room? I doubt burning pellets give off more moisture than the other fuels.
Any suggestions???? I'm doing my first run of ribs tomorrow and don't want them to be a failure...
Never been able to run a water pan in my pellet pooper, not enough room. I cook a lot ribs for other folks. No complaints or else they wouldn't be repeat offenders.
I occasionally run one in my pellet grills, haven’t noticed much difference in results though. The MAK is actually very convenient for one, Just put it on the main grate and put food above on next level up.
SnS Kettle
Napoleon 500 Pro gasser grill
Weber Slate 30” griddle
Gozney Arc XL pizza oven
Instant Pot Duo Crisper 8 qt
Cuisinart food processor
Kitchenaid Stand Mixer
Breville Smart toaster oven
Anova Sous vide (Pro version and Standard Version)
Cabella 15” Vacuum Sealer
Combustion Inc Wireless Probes (Gen2 upgrades)
Fireboard v2
Fireboard Spark
Fireboard Pulse (3) probes and S1G antenna
ThermoWorks RFX gateway and 2 RFX meat probes
Thermoworks IR gun
Thermoworks MK4
Thermoworks Zero
Thermoworks Signals
7 Shun knives (paring to 12" slicer)
Misen Chef's knife
Dalstrong Phantom Series Boning Knife
8-9 other knives (enough to get an eye roll from wife!)
2 Mandolins, 1 veggie spiralizer
Work Sharp E5 sharpener
Chef's Choice sharpener
Hone Rolling Sharpener
I have tried water pans, well small foil pans with water in them, in both my MAK and my previous Camp Chef DLX. Absolutely no noticeable benefit to either additional smokiness or moistness of anything I’ve smoked. I do spritz, so maybe that obviates a water pan.
I'm definitely not the science expert here...but I think a water pan makes sense if you put it close enough to hot enough fire to generate steam, adding moisture to the meat and barrier to heat source. Given the MAK layout, if you set it to 225-250, that won't happen - your pan will still be full of water at end of cook and won't have contributed anything to the results. Have been very happy with ribs from my MAK, I do like to spritz though.
It is also a heat sink. A mass that will absorb and stabilize heat. A water pan will stabilize the temperature inside the grill.This is because water takes longer to rise or fall in temp than air, so once the water comes up to temp, it will radiate heat upwards into the grill if the grill temp begins to fall, and absorb excess heat if the grill starts to get too hot.
I'm guessing that the charcoal-fired and electric-fired smokers had a water pan because it was right over the fire, so it could regulate temps and add moisture (and catch drips). The pellet firebox is way down in the bowels of the MAK so I guess there was no room to put one.
Keep your fingers crossed....I just did a 2-2-1 and the ribs are just above 185F. Can't wait to sink my teeth into them!
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