Water/ beer pan….ya or nay

[Timber II]

Was reading in another post that most guys just wrap the pan in foil and use it like a drip pan. When I’ve been smoking summer sausage or keibasa I usually just pour a beer in the pan.

What would be best?
Thanks
Timber

 

[chopsaw]

I go dry for smoked sausage .

 

[smokerjim]

I dont add any liquids either.

 

[Gonna Smoke]

I'm with Rich and Jim...

 

[Timber II]

One by one I’m weeding out all these mistakes I was making. Appreciate the help boys!
Timber

 

[chopsaw]

One by one I’m weeding out all these mistakes I was making.

They're not mistakes . It's learning what you like .
Try both ways and make note of the difference , if any . Then use what works best for you .

 

[Winterrider]

I me also in the dry camp.

 

[zwiller]

Total waste of beer for sure. One time I dropped like $40 for water pan ingredients for smoked turkey. 2G apple cider, bottle of brandy, whole spices, lemons, oranges, what have you. Smelled incredible while smoking but yielded ZERO taste or aroma in finished product. Oh man I was mad.

In the dry camp too, but have been experimenting with methods to increase humidity in the smoker during the later/cook stage for my summer sausage. I typically run into a problem where the casing starts to dry and IT not climbing. I get better every time but still not got it consistent yet. Damper being closed helped for sure but was not enough. I tried water one time and left damper open in fear of too much humidity but did not do much either. Goal is to do both next time. I think issue I have is I only smoke like 1Kg/2-3lbs at a time so I need a little help. Someone running say 10lbs in the MES might be just fine. Have not run kielbasa yet but doubt I need to do anything since it's much small in diameter.

 

[Smoke-Chem BBQ]

I use water when doing pork shoulder, brisket, or ribs, and generally a dry, foil-wrapped pan when cooking chicken, jerky, veggies.

 

[bill ace 350]

Dry.

Waste of beer.

What did you think it would do?

 

[civilsmoker]

I'm not a beer person but you should totally use the beer.....ie smoke the sausage and drink the beer with the sausage.......

 

[chopsaw]

What did you think it would do?

You can tell the wife you need beer for the smoker .

I was in line at the grocery store one time . Had a bag of dog food and a bottle of Jim Beam . The gal said " That doesn't go together "
Told her " Well , I could of had steak and water , but what fun is that ? "