? About the Drip/Water/Waste Pot

[hky280]

Other than the fact that the main purpose of the waste pot is to catch the spent bisquettes and to put them out, does the water in the bowl contribute in anyway to the smoking/cooking process?

The reason I ask is I just smoked my first pork shoulder, about 5 pounds and had it going for about 9 hours until the internal temp came up to 185 or so, used a portable digital remote  thermometer inserted into the meat.  I FTC'd it for about 2 hours too, it came out OK, was a bit on the dry side though, pulled apart with no problems. 

I never opened the door until the 9 hour mark.  Now I was reading up beforehand on a few related posts and replaced the little bowl with a disposable 13 x 9 X 2 aluminum tray to hold the bisquettes and the water.  The water level was over half way up to start. 

If the water drys up during your smoking cycle, can that contribute to the "dryness" of whatever you are smoking?  Is it that important to make sure the bowl is topped up with water before it runs dry?  If there are no more bisquettes being burned after say 4 hours and all the water has evaporated, is it still a good idea to fill up the tray with more water to keep up the moisture content inside the OBS?   I've ask because I've also read some recipes where people have added apple juice etc. to the water.

Thanks,       

[classicrockgriller]

Your V-tray catches the grease dripping and they drip into your "waste pot" (water bowl).

If you have no water in the water bowl .... you stand a chance of having a fire in your smoker.

That is not good eats.

Consider yourself LUCKY and if you don't enlarge the waste pot then check it every 4 hrs.

[GusRobin]

I don't believe that it effects the dryness of the meat. Was it a packer cut or a flat. A lot of time the flats sold in supermarkets are heavily trimmed.  A flat with little or no fat will usually come out dryer that one that has at least a 1/4 inch fat cap. It also helps to apply a heavy spritz when FTCing

[classicrockgriller]

I don't believe that it effects the dryness of the meat. Was it a packer cut or a flat. A lot of time the flats sold in supermarkets are heavily trimmed.  A flat with little or no fat will usually come out dryer that one that has at least a 1/4 inch fat cap. It also helps to apply a heavy spritz when FTCing

I think he was smoking a butt and not a brisket.

[GusRobin]

I think he was smoking a butt and not a brisket.

Oooops - never mind  ::)

[JT-MO]

Keep water in your bowl for fire prevention. Other than that I see the water bowl not affecting the moisture of the meat.

Some things to check or ask yourself:
Pork shoulder didn't have much fat?
Was it really a pork shoulder or some other pork cut?
Cooked it to long?
(Some say 1.5 hours per pound so a 5LB butt would be 7.5 hours vs the 9 hours you did it. )
Did you probe it in several places during the cook?
(Probe it serveral times to check overall IT temp, to avoid hitting fat pockets, etc..)

Over cooked or no fat is two good reasons for dryness.