Do Water Pans Improve Barbecue? A Scientific Analysis

Comments · 1.1K

• CZ

  @czeslawpi · 6 years ago · pinned

  Please don’t take this the wrong way as I have watched all your content and am a fan. I do appreciate this video but as a fellow technical-minded BBQ cook (M. Eng) I have a few reservations. &nbsp;Your statements about the efficiency of a fire being affected by the presence of the water pan are erroneous. The efficiency of a wood-burning fire is not affected by anything in the cook chamber. The efficiency of a fire depends on sufficient oxygen being available for combustion. &nbsp;We all have to do the same dance in fiddling with the vents of our cookers to get a proper fire going and maintained. &nbsp;If you choke off the airflow the fire burns rich and you get the dreaded thick white smoke. &nbsp;Not efficient at all.<br><br>But c’mon, who are we fooling? &nbsp;We didn’t get into smoking thinking about efficiency and cooker heat rates. &nbsp;The overall heat efficiency of a smoker like an offset stickburner is really terrible. I would estimate under 15% at best. My Yoder Wichita weighs in at 660 pounds or so, and when I’m smoking ribs for instance the bulk of that weight has to be brought up to temperature and maintained. What’s 25 pounds of ribs compared to that? &nbsp;Almost statistical noise. &nbsp;It would be very difficult to determine the heat loss of an offset smoker through the combustion airflow, plus convection and radiation effects. &nbsp;A hilariously small portion of the wood’s heat energy actually goes into the meat. &nbsp;And be honest, how many people moderate their temps by leaving the firebox door open? &nbsp;That throws away what, 30% of your heat energy? &nbsp;Thanx Yoder (the company in Kansas, not the Jeremy in Cali😎).<br><br>I am dubious that a water pan significantly affects overall cooker efficiency. A water pans acts as a heat sink that absorbs or releases heat energy depending on changes to the air/gas temp inside the cook chamber. Most of the time you’re evaporating water yes, but in times of wind gusts, precipitation or opening the door, the water pan would release heat back into the ambient environment and prevent the need to ‘fire harder’ to make up for those temp swings. That’s an efficiency savings. &nbsp;That’s also pretty hard to quantify. <br><br>You correctly noted the amount of water present in wood as moisture, plus the effects of combustion in producing more. &nbsp;However, there is another potential source and that’s the meat itself. &nbsp;In one of your commercial brisket cooks with 25 briskets or so, you get an amount of water coming off the meat during the stall when the beef effectively ‘sweats’ out a portion of its weight. &nbsp;Just to make the math simple, say 25 briskets at 20 pounds each, and they all lose 1/4 of their weight during the stall. That’s 125 pounds of water in theory that you’re cooking out. &nbsp;How many water pans would that be?<br><br>Lastly, I am not sure what you were getting at with your Gaussian diagram. &nbsp;At a steady-state, the cooker will have mostly consistent zones of temperature. We all have to move our meat around inside from time to time to take advantage of warmer or cooler spots. &nbsp;But what are you attempting to visualize? &nbsp;The spread of temps around a mean inside a finite volume of smoke? &nbsp;That doesn’t seem very useful at all.<br><br>If you’re talking overall spread of temps from the firebox to the smokestack, it would be a strange situation if you were burning a fire and you were getting temps inside the cooker mostly too low to affect the meat at all. &nbsp;This is an elementary issue for the BBQ cook; just get a bigger fire going. If this is what you meant I guess you have a point, but it doesn’t seem consistent with your message in this video.<br><br>I do agree with the use of a water pan. For small cooks like a couple rib racks it makes more of a difference than a giant commercial cook of briskets, but it’s a heat-sink backstop that makes the cook’s control of the smoker easier. &nbsp;Liquid water will leech heat energy out of the smoke to vaporize molecules yes, but it’s a tiny amount of leeching due to the slow process over the hours of a cook. &nbsp;Shouldn’t bother anyone. &nbsp;It is to our advantage that we have to fire harder to make up for the water pan as it allow additional airflow and less chance of choking the fire off. &nbsp;Cheers all!

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• HE

  @hemogoblin164 · 6 years ago

  &quot;Yes&quot; was also a perfectly acceptable answer.

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• IN

  @inthedogghouse86 · 6 years ago

  After all the explanations. I was like.. what was the question again lol

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• JU

  @JumbalayahJihad · 5 years ago

  Mad Scientist BBQ: Math (and Science)!<br><br>My Brain: <i><b>AOL Sign On/Dial up sound effect</b></i><b></b>

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• MI

  @micheldevost · 6 years ago

  Conclusion at <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umXRJdg18CI&amp;t=740">12:20</a>

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• DA

  @davidbrown9390 · 5 years ago

  As a dad who has a busy schedule and desire for bbq.... I set wood on fire, keep thin smoke, when the meat looks edible.... we eat it. Works for our family! 🍻

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• LO

  @lowelllamb1835 · 3 hours ago

  I don’t know squat about burning wood. &nbsp;Plus, I’m an idiot. &nbsp;And I gave out at Calc 350.<br><br>Are you really burning 350 pounds of wood at a time?

• IM

  @imout671 · 3 years ago

  15 years of green egg/ lump Charcoal with a little green hickory... I&apos;ve concluded from experience a large water pan directly under my BBQ. Makes my cook times shorter , makes better bbq, makes the temp easier to regulate and catches grease and keeps my grill cleaner. &nbsp;Thank you for your &nbsp;video

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• MO

  @motleypixel · 6 years ago

  <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umXRJdg18CI&amp;t=770">12:50</a>, you&apos;re welcome. &nbsp; Bummed you didn&apos;t talk about entropy and enthalpy :)

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• JO

  @johnathonpate8365 · 6 years ago

  Man I&apos;m so happy that there&apos;s someone like you in BBQ. I love learning this kind of stuff.

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• PI

  @piratemon · 6 years ago

  Finally! &nbsp;4 years of college chemistry means something to me!! Thank you!!

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• JU

  @juanjaimescheib5657 · 8 months ago

  Conclusion and recommendations at <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umXRJdg18CI&amp;t=770">12:50</a>

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