The clay saucer method question

[RobinC]

I ran my 18" WSM for a while without water in the pan (just foiled it, no force draft system). For me I found that it was more susceptable to temp swings than when I had water in the pan. Ultimately I changed back to water in the pan as I found the smoker more predictable like that. Would agree about the water not adding moisture to the meat though.

[bigcheese]

the meat arrived from devon rose today yay! look like nice cuts too. ive got 4 single short ribs and 4 racks of baby backs too.
im gonna pop to b&q tomorrow to pick up the clay saucer, I know a few of you are saying its not needed but im gonna give it ago as im still a newbie and dont think I am experianced enough to be experimenting with other ways yet.
one other thing i do want to try is a smoker box for some wood chips, I been using chunks before but I still got an unopened packet of oak chips I got with the smoker. does anyone know where I can get one tomorrow?

[bencops]

Sorry, not saying its not needed, just discussing/chewing the fat on what difference it really makes!
I won't be cooking ribs without one on my WSMs. I wouldn't cook chicken without the heat deflector in my ceramic. Go get one.

[Tiny]

Folks,
At the risk of starting a heated debate.........does the water not significantly increase the humidity in the smoker and thus reduce the potential for moisture evaporation from the meat?

During the various threads on turkey I didnt venture that I always cook mine with half an inch of white wine in the bottome of the pan with it contained within foil to create a moist atmosphere for the bird to start life in, foil comes off at the end and we crisp up but I believe, perhaps wrongly, that the moist atmosphere in the early part of the cook limits evaporation and thus increases moisture.

In Dubai last August I gently poached in my own juices as the humidity precluded evaporation, I was cooked long and slow and was very moist indeed.
My guess is that with most of these things there are few absolute truths, but through trial an error we find something that works for us personally and swear by it.


Cheers
Tiny

[RobinC]

The use of water in the pan doesn't prevent moisure evaporation from the meat. Evaporation of water is largely what is happening during the stall phase of a cook. I can't say that personally I've noticed a difference in meat moistness when using water in the pan and when not using it. My preference for using it is based on the fact that I find my WSM with the charcoal I use more reliable/consistent temp wise with water.

[bencops]

Just to finish the discussion of my experiment yesterday, by 9pm I was repeatedly basting chicken every 3-5 minutes with the lid off. The temp in the WSM with no pan at all came up to 350F and the fire lit all around (at the start (7 hours previouly) it was just in one corner). I couldn't get the temp down lower than 350. In my opinion that would not have been the case if the clay tray had been in.

[aris]

How would the clay bring the temp down? Water - yes I can see how via evaporation. Not being obtuse, just trying to understand the science behind it.

[RobinC]

The clay absorbs the heat from the charcoal as does the water. The difference is that when the water hits 212f it evaporates. The clay can carrying on absorbing heat beyond that temp. Of course as time progresses eventually the saucer will stop being something that is absorbing heat from the fire and instead radiating heat into the cooker.

[bencops]

The clay absorbs heat from the fire and loses it by radiating it away. When it loses it at the same rate as gaining it it stops changing temperature (thermal equilibrium)

The same is true of the cooker. The clay tray changes the thermal equilibrium point at the dome (its a heat deflector). It'll be hotter under the clay tray that the same position with no tray.

[smitty]

Been reading through and thought i'll give this method ago, but where do you actually buy the saucers from? Not sure what I'm actually looking for, any help would be appreciated

Cheers Dave