A: Nearly every smoker on the market has some form of a water pan. So you would assume that wonderful, mystical things occur by using water while smoking.

Well, with my experience, extensive research and polling of many barbequers in the know, this is likely not the case. I have smoked on a Primo Ceramic, Traeger Pellet, Tucker Trailer all the way up to a 6’ Austin Rotisserie Trailer and have never used water.

The theory is that the water would provide a humid environment while stabilizing temperatures and help keep meat from drying out. In my experience, spraying the meat with apple juice or mopping with your favorite concoction will do much more for keeping the meat moist than a water pan.

This is not to say that water pans don’t have beneficial uses based on the design of your smoker. For example, the Good-One Smoker, with its bottom drain valve, benefits from water in the pan when it comes time for clean up. Draining the pan while the water is still hot carries away the fat drippings, and such is the case in other smoker designs.

Just the opposite for a WSM (Weber Bullet). Lining the bottom of the water pan with foil and filling it with sand to 1-2” from the top and covering with foil will make clean up much easier. By design the water pan in the WSM does two things: protects meat from fire and aides in stabilizing temperature, both of which can be accomplished with sand, just as well as with water.

And there is a drawback with water in the WSM that you won’t get with sand. Water will turn to steam and rise to the top of the smoker, where it mixes with the creosote that has formed there. The creosote and water mixture then drips back down onto your food.

But don’t take my word for it, try it yourself or do your own research. Food for thought I like to say. If water is beneficial to your smoker design, use it. If not, see if it makes sense to use sand, or go without.

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