Newbie question

[Calawah]

Hi All, I just received an OBS (non-digital) for my birthday and I'm very excited to start using it all the time. I smoked a pork sirloin in it the other day and one thing I noticed was that I had to refill the water bowl every 2-3 hours. When I was looking at smoker reviews they all state that the unit can burn 8-10 hours without any tending, but this doesn't seem to be the case. Am I missing something? I don't mind refilling the water bowl, but I just want to make sure I'm using the smoker to it's full potential!

Thanks

[KevinG]

You've got me baffled. I live in hot dry Az, and I've never had to fill mine that often. How high are you filling the bowl and where is the placement in the smoker? I only change mine out on really long smokes, or if I happen to smoke with a large supply of bisquettes which will fill up the bowl. It would take about 5 hours of bisquettes to fill it up, I rarely go over 3 and 4 is the most I've ever done for smoke - cooking time on the other hand could go all night, but I don't smoke the whole time I cook. I will dump and re-fill once the smoke is done, just so I've got some fire prevention to catch the dripping grease.

[beefmann]

welcome to the forum, I have  changed  the water  to a flavored drink after the  smoking process and if at  all  only  added a pint to it as to finish the  cook.  im  sure  others  will  chime in on this as well

[FLBentRider]

W E L C O M E  to the Forum Calawah!

I only empty / refill the bowl once usually. After the first four hours.

After that, it's more of a drip catcher.

[watchdog56]

I am with the rest here. Never had a problem with it. Usually keep vent 3/4 to full open.(Don't  know if that would make a difference or not)

[classicrockgriller]

On short smokes I use the supplied water bowl.

On long smokes, butts, briskets, I replace the water bowl with a disposible 9x13 cake pan.

[Calawah]

So it's ok for the bowl and or cake pan to go dry?

[DTAggie]

I use a foil pan on longer smokes.  Empty and replace after the smoke portion of your cooking is done.  It will go dry after several hours.  I try not to let mine dry out.

[classicrockgriller]

So it's ok for the bowl and or cake pan to go dry?

No, it catches the grease and grease can catch on fire.

[SouthernSmoked]

I always make sure mine has liquid content at all times. Make sure your adding an appropriate amount of water when you first start and it should be fine for at least 4-5 hours. Add water as needed on longer smokes.

[KyNola]

I'm with CRG. Don't let that water bowl go dry.