Water Bowl

[wicz]

Besides putting out the wood pucks, what else is the water bowl used for?

I was smoking a pork butt last night and it hit 200 degs in about 6 hours.  I felt like this was a little early.  The pork butt was very hard to pull.  I felt like the pork wasn't done enough and it was a waste.  When I was cleaning up the smoker, I noticed water bowl was bone dry.  I know I filled it up before I started smoking.  So what did I do wrong?  Maybe my thermometer is off? Or does the water in the water bowl do something else besides putting out pucks.

Thank you very one for the help.

[LilSmoker]

Hi wicz, the water bowl also provides moisture/humidity which helps in the cooking/smoking process, you need to refresh the water bowl every 4 hours, i always use hot water as this helps keep cabinet temps up, never let yout water bowl run dry  ;)

LilSmoker

[Wildcat]

May have been cooking at too high a temp - hence the fast cook vice the low and slow.  I shoot for a cabinet temp of 190 to 210 and only take the butt temp to 190.  DO NOT RELY ON THE DOOR GAUGE - IT IS WRONG.  It might be accurate where it is located but not where you are cooking.  Although FTC is not always necessary, it may help in your situation.

[wicz]

I was smoking at 250 degs.  I find that this is better then at a lower temp.  I only had one butt in the smoker and it was at the middle of the smoker.  I am making another run tonight.  This time i am going to use a foil pan full of water or apple juice.  Thanks for the help guys.

[Consiglieri]

Water bowl is also fire control:  not only does it extinguish the pucks, but it catches all that very flamable goop from the drip tray. 

[Wildcat]

Water bowl also makes a good "Ice Bucket" when cold smoking.

[wicz]

Thanks for the help guys.  That was a newbie mistake letting the water bowl run dry.  I did another butt Sunday night.  It hit 200 around 8 am this morning.  I FTC and took it to work to pull.  Everyone loved it.  Thanks again guys.

[SKSmoker]

Good cooking at 250 there wicz. I did all of my butts at that temp and never had anything go wrong. It decreased the cooking time which is nice, and it made the butt "sizzle" for the last 4 hours or so of cooking, which is something I never got when I cooked at 225F.