Things I have learned about water smokers
Saturday, April 3, 2010 at 9:55 PM 
First off I would like to apologize for not making any additions to the blog lately, its been almost a month and a half since my last post. Originally I intended to add at least one post a week, alternating between blog entries and recipes, my goal was to have two of each every month. However, I have since learned how easy it is for me to get side tracked, but I do promise to make a stronger effort to add more to the site. And as always, if you have any questions or requests you can always drop me a line by sending an e-mail to patricksbbq@gmail.com, I would love to hear your feed back.
Secondly, I wanted to note that just because I haven't posted anything recently does not mean that I haven't been barbecuing. Quite the opposite in fact, over the past few weeks I have been smoking like a mad man. Ever since I picked up the ol' Brinkmann smoker I've tried to cook something with it at least once a week, and to tell you the truth I think my grill is starting to feel a little left out. Although I did grill up a couple of steaks for my family a few nights ago along with some chicken breasts for my lunches that I take to work. With the summer months fast approaching I feel its safe to say that both the smoker and the grill are going to be getting plenty of use in the near future!
Finally, I wanted to talk a little bit about some of the things I have learned about using a water smoker over the past couple weeks that might help some of you out. While the basics are pretty easy to grasp (add charcoal, add water, add meat and smoke!), there is always more to learn and here are just a few things I would like to share:
A little smoke goes a long way...
Prior to the Brinkmann water smoker, whenever I wanted to barbecue I would use my grill, cooking the meat using the indirect heat method, and add wood chips with the help of a small smoker box that I would place directly over the burners. I could go through several handfuls of wood chips using this method and the meat would always come out lightly smoked, the meat would have a nice pink smoke ring and the flavor would be perfect. Using that much wood in a water smoker, especially with poultry, will end up making your meat taste like beef jerky. Not that I have anything against some good jerky, its just not what I want to sit down and eat for dinner. So remember, go easy on the wood, and instead of using the small wood chips that are good for grilling you might want to try using some of the larger chunk wood.
Water* is a great equalizer...
At first when I started using the water smoker I was under the impression that the primary use of the water was to steam the meat, and by adding herbs and aromatics to the water pan you would infuse those flavors into the meat. While these both are partially true the main function, (as I have read online and come to believe as being true) is to act as a temperature equalizer. The water pan sits between the charcoal and the meat, this helps spread the heat evenly and creates the indirect heat we all love to barbecue with. It also helps maintain a steady temperature, if the charcoal starts to get a little more oxygen the heat is going to rise, the water will then start to boil absorbing the heat and creating steam, if the charcoal gets low the water retains heat keeping the temperature higher until you can add more fuel.
*Its not necessary to fill the pan with water, I have read about people using rocks or sand instead.
Lump charcoal vs. briquettes...
Yes, there is a difference. To put it simply just remember this lump charcoal burns hotter but for a shorter period of time (the brightest flame burns quickest), briquettes burn at a lower temperature but for a longer amount of time. Also, lump charcoal will provide more 'smoke' flavor than briquettes, so you may want to use less wood chips with lump charcoal. I like to use both, it just depends on what I am smoking.
I think that will be about it for right now, if I don't cut myself off at some point I'm likely to ramble on forever. And as I have said before, if you have any comments, questions, or even any suggestions feel free to drop a line at patricksbbq@gmail.com or add a comment below.
BBQ, Water Smoker, tips 
Reader Comments (4)
wood chips make all the difference but as you say, it can come out a bit like jerky. What ratio in terms of coal vs wood do you recommend? http://www.bonfeu-bbq.com/charbroil-smoker.html
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