I hate how the reservoir runs dry so quickly, and the only way to get to it is to open the door. And you know what they say, “if you’re lookin’, you ain’t cookin’”.
So I added this stack and barely crack the ball valve open to drip feed the water pan. It can last a few hours versus before where I was refilling the pan every 45 mins or so.
by thYrd_eYe_prYing
17 Comments
Well played. Great ingenuity 👍🏼
Is that water pan supposed to sit that low just above the burner?
Love the creativity
Genius! I will have to try this as well.. I hate having to check the water!
I have the same smoker! I’d cover the water dish in foil, too. Thing can get pretty gnarly after a lot of cooks.
If you want to get really fancy, put a cap on the top you can seal, run another copper tube from the top of the water stack to the water pan, with the open end at the water level you want to maintain. The water will fill up the pan to the level of the second tube opening. Once it reaches there, no more air can get in and the water outflow will stop. As it evaporates, the water will drop below the second tube and allow air to enter and water to fill the basin until the second tube end is covered again. It’s the same principle that makes those gravity fed autofill pet water bowls work.
Looks great! Super cool.
But what’s all this water pan stuff? 😉
and yet, here you are, still opening the smoker.
I’ve been using the WSM for about two decades now, and I stopped putting water in the water pan in the first year. I just line the pan with foil and use it as a drip pan.
I haven’t noticed a difference in the cook whatsoever outside of ridding myself of the headache of filling and maintaining a water pan.
If you haven’t tried some cooks without the water, I highly recommend giving it a go
Mmm white lightnin!
That’s cool and all, but water is kinda of useless for smoking…
Awesome mod! I had a vertical propane smoker that had the same issue, so I just filled the pan with playground sand and covered it with foil to keep drippings out. Did just as well to diffuse the direct heat as the water did. Foil wrapped bricks will serve the same purpose.
Those methods aren’t nearly as cool as this mod though!
Make your life easier and fill the dish with sand and cover with foil. The reason the water pan is there is basically to be a heat sink to allow the smoker to heat up faster after you open and close the door. I switched to sand long ago and notice no difference in my cooks.
I just put rocks in mine. No need for water. The rocks actually seem to hold temp longer than water did. And to your point the water always runs out before the smoke is over. So annoying.
The water isn’t to add with ur cook. It’s a heat sync, it’s doing nothing. U don’t need to fill it at all. As other have said u can fill it with sand or put a fire brick in it to help hold heat. But ur meat isn’t gunna be dry because ur not using water. Using water is actually prolonging cooks and potentially drying ur meat out more than no water would.
Very cool idea and humidity does have something to do with the amount of smoke flavor and the degree of surface evaporation. Whether it’s needed or not is a personal preference but there is enough science out there to say humidity can be good for smoke deposition to a degree of course and how humid your environmental conditions are or are not also matters. I like your mod! 👍!
Must be a plumber