Water pan questions

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bennyd84

Newbie
Original poster
Sep 23, 2016
4
10
I've heard of people putting their wood chips in the water pan with no water and smoke like that, but I figured you just put the chips on the charcoal and put water in the pan, or any tips would be great thanks
 
You may not even get chips to smoke if placed in the water pan. You can run with washed sand or pea-gravel in the water pan, as a thermal mass for more stable temps. Water will cause you to burn through more fuel, but does act as a buffer for high-temp spikes. Water will limit your high-temp potential.

If burning charcoal you should use chunks for smoke wood. Chips will burn up quickly with direct contact with the heat source. You can cheat buy using a burned-out soup can to put the chips into and place it close to the hot coals. That will slow down the burn and smoke production from the chips.

Chips are best suited for electric and propane smokers with a smoke box/pan or chip loader tube located directly above the heat source.

Eric
 
Thanks man, I meant chunks, lol, so if you put chunks in a dry water pan they won't smoke??
 
Probably not...too far from the heat source to get hot enough. The bigger the wood the slower the smoke...too big with not enough heat + no smoke. Chips would even be problematic up that high from the heat.

If you have chunks, go straight to the fire with them and you'll have smoke. Just don't let them get excess air by opening the fire box door too often or for too long...the chunks will flare-up and burn.

Eric
 
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