# THIS... is how to control the temperature in a Brinkman smoke n grill.



## wizardoftrance (Dec 24, 2014)

The internal temperature for smoking/slow cooking is directly controlled by how much water you put in the drip (water) pan above the fire pan.

The more water in the drip pan, the lower the internal temperature will be... the less water... the higher the temp.

The drip pan works just like an indirect heat radiator...

If you remove the drip pan totally, the smoker becomes a grill... too hot to smoke or slow cook.

2 cups of water in the drip pan will put the temp right at 250 deg with a good fire going.

Adjust the amount of water to adjust the temperature... if it starts getting too hot?... add a cup of water... not hot enough? you have too much water in the pan.

Its that easy... yet nowhere have I been able to find anything written about this... so here it is.


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## tcharris32 (Dec 28, 2014)

I am a newbie so take this for what it's worth. 

In a perfect world,  that may be the case. However in the world that I live in, how tightly you seal up the smoker, what kind of charcoal you use, how much charcoal you use, what kind of wood and how much wood you use, and  the temperature outside also all come into play. 

I just smoked a turkey in my new smoke n grill the other day and filled the water pan to within an inch from the top and I had temeratures in the 325-350 range almost the whole time.


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## 4x15mph (Dec 28, 2014)

Water in the pan is a key variable.  For the newbie that is seeing the grill go to 350, you may be allowing to much "vent/air".  It is important to restrict air flow and use the liquid pan to get to the desired, slow/low temperature.


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## wizardoftrance (Dec 28, 2014)

For some, the way to control heat in these charcoal/wood based "ovens" just might be a baffling question... Heat baffling LOL.

Never forgive a pun on the run


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## tcharris32 (Dec 28, 2014)

I understand that it is a key variable but to say that it IS THE way to control the temperature is not 100% accurate. By this logic, my smoker would have never even reached 200 degrees because I had a pan full of water. I did say that all the other stuff comes into play.


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## wizardoftrance (Dec 28, 2014)

Dude, you win!  Not a contest. All of the things you mentioned will affect temperature... but of all the parts on the smoke n grill, ask yourself what the base function of that water pan is... and other than drilling holes in the fire pan, leaving the little door open, creating a bonfire in the fire pan, adjusting the amount of water in the water pan will provide the most adjustment of temperature... the easiest.

The only reason I posted it is that I could not find that in the instructions or posted anywhere else on the internet, but it appears to be more common knowledge to the veteran smokers here.

So if you can use the info I provided to make better smoked stuff power to you!  If you know other and better/easier ways to control the internal temp... share them here :)


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