If this has been covered already I apologize. Didn't see this question. Wondering if most, none, or some use water pans on their pellet grills. I routinely use when using my charcoal and gas grills, but, have never on the pellet and wondering if that is something that I should rectify. Moreover, when watching various videos with Pellet people don't think I've ever seen a water bath. Makes sense to use, however, I never have and am wondering if it is necessary or helpful with the fairly reliable temps on Pellet Grills.
I never use a water pan on my pellet grill. There's a video on AR with Meathead and Doc Blonder discussing smoke. Doc Blonder says a water source could help pellet cookers with smoke retention on the meat. I'm not sure it would be worth it for me to go through the extra work he describes.
Hi, my name is Darrell. I'm an OTR truck driver for over 25 years. During my off time I love doing backyard cooks. I have a 48" Lang Deluxe smoker, Rec-Tec pellet smoker,1 Weber Genesis 330, 1 Weber Performer (blue), 2 Weber kettles (1 black and 1 Copper), 1 26" Weber kettle, a WSM, 8 Maverick Redi Chek thermometers, a PartyQ, 2 SnS, Grill Grates, Cast Iron grates, 1 ThermoPop (orange) and 2 ThermoPens (pink and orange) and planning on adding more cooking accessories. Now I have an Anova sous vide, the Dragon blower and 2 Chef alarms from Thermoworks.
I have tried it on my Traeger and it does not work very well. The problem is if you put the pan below the meat on the grate it will be on the drip pan which gets too hot so it boils away pretty quick. I guess if you had an upper shelf in your grill you could put the meat on that and put the water pan on the lower grate. Beside all that I never could tell any difference with or without the water so I stopped trying. These days I don't cook much of anything but chicken or sometimes fish and the occasional smoked sausage on my pellets anyway and they don't really need the moisture.
LSG Adjustable Grill/Smoker, MAK Pellet Grill, Large BGE with Several Attachments from the Ceramic Grill Store, Weber Gasser, Cast Iron Pans & Griddle, Grill Grates, Mostly Thermoworks Thermometers, Anova SV Stick, BBQ Guru Controller and Fan
I agree with the other posts, having never tried a water pan with my pellet grill. I've only used a water pan with my Kamado a few times when doing chicken. I think that helped some to get fall off the bone chicken.
I’ve done it quite a bit actually. In my FEC100, pan would be right underneath brisket with flavorful liquid. Not like a pan with a cooking grate, a foil pan jammed in the rib rack with brisket on top of the rack. Been too long to remember results, but I did it for about a year. Served another purpose to keep brisket drippings contained and not getting on other meats. Tried to duplicate Backwoods Smoker with water in a pan under ribs. Some difference but not worth the extra effort, in my opinion.
Yea I remember the post that Flat Rocker mentions. Same response as I had then, it doesn't seem to help one way or the other. A heat sink isn't necessary with a PID controlled burner pot and the little bit of evaporation you might get can be easily achieved by spritzing, which I do regularly. Forget the water pan in a pellet grill.
My Daniel Boone did not come with an upper grate. I purchased the front shelf and drilled a couple of holes through the back of the grill to mount it inside.
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