# water pan



## wistexsmoker (Feb 22, 2013)

hi, noob to this forum, but have been smoking for many, many years. my question is this, i have a MES, been using it for a year or so.

when i went to use it to smoke some fish, my water pan starting to leak. i found 3 pinholes in it. what caused this? i last thing i smoked was a pork butte. at that time i just used the pan as a drip pan.(no water). i admit i am not the best on my cleanups, i usaully wait a few days after i use it to clean it up. now, this week i used a tin foil pan in place of the leaky stainless pan. today, when i cleaned it up, the tinfoil pan also has some pinholes in it. what is doing this? never had this happen before.

does MS  sell a replacement pan?

thanks in advance. jeri


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## netbbq (Feb 22, 2013)

I won't be the last to say this, but the heat and water is the likely culprit.  Try filling pan with sand (seriosly) and covering with foil.  The meat will shed moisture and the sand will create even heat and not steam.


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## netbbq (Feb 22, 2013)

Sorry...clean play sand in bag from HD or Lowes


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## flash (Feb 23, 2013)

WET playbox sand. And you can reuse it several times if you place some foil over top of it. Re-moisten it before the next use.

I used a little JB weld to fix some holes in mine, but always wondered about safety. I'm still here. LOL

Contact the maker of your smoker and order some spares.


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## fpnmf (Feb 23, 2013)

http://www.safesand.com/information.htm

http://safemama.com/2009/05/18/faq-whats-the-deal-with-play-sand/


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## davidhef88 (Feb 23, 2013)

Flash said:


> WET playbox sand. And you can reuse it several times if you place some foil over top of it. Re-moisten it before the next use.
> I used a little JB weld to fix some holes in mine, but always wondered about safety. I'm still here. LOL
> Contact the maker of your smoker and order some spares.


What is the purpose of wetting the sand?  I never have , and haven't heard of anyone else.


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## scootermagoo (Feb 23, 2013)

Wetting the sand would be totally counter productive.  It will not allow the sand to climb over 212 degrees.


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## handymanstan (Feb 23, 2013)

Your right about that Scooter....Unless you wanted to be counter productive.  I never use water in my electric but in my master forge vertical charcoal smoker I have problems keeping the temp down and was thinking I would try to put water in the sand to aid in that on my next try with it.

Stan


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## linguica (Feb 23, 2013)

Instead of a fine sand, go to an aquarium shop and ask for plain river wash. It's a coarse, clean sand.


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## flash (Feb 23, 2013)

Davidhef88 said:


> What is the purpose of wetting the sand? I never have , and haven't heard of anyone else.


Playbox sand is damp, maybe I overstated saying wet.  It just seems to help keep the temps more consistent when it is damp.


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## flash (Feb 23, 2013)

ScooterMagoo said:


> Wetting the sand would be totally counter productive.  It will not allow the sand to climb over 212 degrees.


Why would you want the sand over 212 degrees??


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## flash (Feb 23, 2013)

fpnmf said:


> http://www.safesand.com/information.htm
> 
> http://safemama.com/2009/05/18/faq-whats-the-deal-with-play-sand/


Glad I am not eating the sand


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## linguica (Feb 23, 2013)

Flash said:


> Davidhef88 said:
> 
> 
> > What is the purpose of wetting the sand? I never have , and haven't heard of anyone else.
> ...


Damp sand will store more energy than dry sand, but can not exceed 212 deg until all the water turns to steam and that much steam in a smoker is not a good thing.IMO


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## scootermagoo (Feb 23, 2013)

Flash said:


> Why would you want the sand over 212 degrees??


Because the whole idea of using sand is to achieve a higher temperature mass than just water can do.


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## flash (Feb 24, 2013)

ScooterMagoo said:


> Because the whole idea of using sand is to achieve a higher temperature mass than just water can do.


 Truthfully, I have never added a temp gauge to my sand to see what temp it is and I am not sure of the benefit to the meat if it is under, at or over 212*. It is there as a heat sink.

Basically I just see higher temps and more consistent temps, especially during cold weather, using playbox sand.


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## flash (Feb 24, 2013)

Linguica said:


> Damp sand will store more energy than dry sand, but can not exceed 212 deg until all the water turns to steam and that much steam in a smoker is not a good thing.IMO


 Can't say I have ever noticed any steam coming from the sand.  What do you do when you use water, which will produce much more steam?

Water is not there to provide moisture, although it does a little.


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## linguica (Feb 24, 2013)

Most use sand to even out temperature fluctuations. Probably a lot more important in a WSM than a MES.   WSM's run at higher temps and a bowl of water will create excessive moisture.


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## suya (Feb 24, 2013)

Sorry to follow up with an even more basic question, but, what is the purpose of the water pan? Isn't it to add moisture and to keep your food from drying out? This isn't me being sarcastic, I really don't know. My former MES came with a water pan, and I always used it as instructed. Was that a mistake? Also, I had the MES with a window and I alway saw condensation, on the inside of the glass while I was smoking. Is that normal and ok? Is there always going to be moisture regardless?


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## flash (Feb 24, 2013)

Suya said:


> Sorry to follow up with an even more basic question, but, what is the purpose of the water pan? Isn't it to add moisture and to keep your food from drying out? This isn't me being sarcastic, I really don't know. My former MES came with a water pan, and I always used it as instructed. Was that a mistake? Also, I had the MES with a window and I alway saw condensation, on the inside of the glass while I was smoking. Is that normal and ok? Is there always going to be moisture regardless?


 No, it is there to add a heat sink and attempt to keep temps stable and lower. It does add some moisture, but very little. I have one friend that uses lava rocks, others sand, one uses a  couple of bricks. I was always told to use Playbox sand and it was moist, so after the first use, I always re-moisten it to use again and again. Whether it is needed or not, that I am not sure of. Just the way I was taught. I only use sand during the colder times in Florida. During our Summers you can almost forgo water due to our high humidity, although I would still put a pan in place. I personally use a GOSM vertical smoker. Water of course can evaporate so the smoker temps will fluctuate more than when using Sand.  I do find with using Sand that I tend to spritz the food more, but with either, I have never had a problem with dry food.


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## bigsky109 (Apr 5, 2013)

Lava rock?   Sounds like a better idea than sand.   I guess I am out the door for Lava Rock......No more water for me.  I had a hard time smking my first chicken with a water in the pan.   No I see why.   Good info here and when I smke my turkey this weekend I am using no water.


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## flash (Apr 6, 2013)

bigsky109 said:


> Lava rock?   Sounds like a better idea than sand.   I guess I am out the door for Lava Rock......No more water for me.  I had a hard time smking my first chicken with a water in the pan.   No I see why.   Good info here and when I smke my turkey this weekend I am using no water.


Never had any issues with water unless it was quite cold outside. Only problem is refilling it when needed. Lava rock is good, just remember to cover it also with foil as you would the sand.


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## i bleed blue (Apr 15, 2013)

Flash said:


> Never had any issues with water unless it was quite cold outside. Only problem is refilling it when needed. Lava rock is good, just remember to cover it also with foil as you would the sand.


I have some ceramic briquettes leftover from my old Elec ECB, I wonder if those would work...and would they help the unit get above 300 degrees, I'd love to do chicken but it doesn't get past 280-ish.


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## flash (Apr 15, 2013)

Worth a try.


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