I have seen some mention on the site of putting one gallon of water in the water pan. I have the big 2009 pan in an 18.5 WSM just a month or so in use. If one gallon is enough for most cooking, I will hold to that standard since it will reduce the hassle of greasy water disposal probably. Maybe there is a formula depending on expected duration of the cook? I find cleaning of the water pan surface easy, it is the greasy water disposal that takes some work, especially when there is a lot of it.

the only thing i have found with using water is that it just uses more fuel. the more water you put in the more heatsink you have the more fuel you use to maintain a given temp. i keep 2 gallons handy just in case things get out of control like leavin gthe lid askew or something and the temps shoot way up i can always add a gallon or two to help bring hte temp down.

other than that water serves as nothing but a bigger buffer for errors in temp control.

quote:

Originally posted by Jon Merka:
the only thing i have found with using water is that it just uses more fuel. the more water you put in the more heatsink you have the more fuel you use to maintain a given temp. i keep 2 gallons handy just in case things get out of control like leavin gthe lid askew or something and the temps shoot way up i can always add a gallon or two to help bring hte temp down.

other than that water serves as nothing but a bigger buffer for errors in temp control.

Thanks. Then I guess I will reduce my start-up pan filling at one gallon, makes it easy to fetch and dispense. And have standby water.

I also just now discovered in a post on this forum the grease solution I will try asap: On my unused (usually) second food grate I will put a foil covered drip pan of some sort to catch the grease. Then I just throw the pan water on the ground, and put the foil-collected grease in a trash bag.

I like to fill my water pan on my new 22.WSM, about 3 gallons for long low and slow spare rib cooks. Get your temp. where you want it and forget about it for six hours. Cooking with out the pan will require closer attention to cook times and temps.
I tried roasting a chicken last night, no water pan, let it go two hours, was overdone. My fault that I should have checked it sooner.