There are different ways you can cook with liquid on a kamado if you want to muck around like CC said a clean grill is a safe grill I just like a clean grill I do a lot of cooks in aluminum pans or use them as a drip they are so versatile and help keep everything clean .but it's the inherent nature of our cooks that make this hard. I used a the water pan but made up a mixture of vinegar and apple juice in there and smoked my ribs today for roughly 6 hours. Do you wrap your ribs, or not? You can then put a drip pan on bottom cooking grate with a dash of water in it to collect the drippings. Now I understand that is a metal stick burner (residential grade). The next way that you can use the smoker water pan is to catch the drips from the food and the mop and use these drips to make a gravy. Finally, I do sometimes fill the water pan with other things but generally when I'm cooking indirectly (but not smoking) such as fruit juice. Place in oven for 1 hour at 350. You won’t need a full liter of water in the drip pan because you already have enough water … Then instead of using water in your pan use the apple and wine mix. They were truly a thing of beauty No water pan = brisket, ribs, and clods. If you are using a smoker you will want to put the 2-3 liters of water, beer, apple juice or wine in the water pan. Put the sauce on there after four and half hours or so and then wrapped them up in foil for 45 minutes and shut the vents to keep them warm till we were ready to eat. water smoker by: zach . Pour mop sauce over the ribs and cover top tightly with foil. Guys, you all are doing it all wrong. Had a nice bark fell off the bone. I only use mine when I'm not concerned about getting a crust or bark on what I am cooking. Soak them in apple juice and red wine. If you’re looking for reasons to use a water pan in your smoker, there are essentially four: Water creates an indirect cooking surface: Cooking over indirect heat is essential to making really good BBQ. I also know that a WSM can be run without a water pan… According to B Flay you have max smoking in that time frame and risk drying out the meat if you go longer Here’s the secret: I place the ribs in long stainless steel pans or trays (about 4.5 ” deep)on top of cookie cooling sheets that hold the ribs about 1/2 inch off bottom of tray. If you feel like showing these Pitmasters some love and appreciation for sharing their rib smoking wisdom, please feel free to share this article with friends on Facebook, Pinterest, and anywhere else you feel will help people make better ribs. Smoke it at 250 for about three hours then wrap it up for the next three. He just places a small stainless bowl on the grill level beside the meat. When smoking a turkey the best way I have seen is to use apple wood chips. Sometimes turkey and chicken if I don't care about the skin getting crisp. He says some do use water pan and some don't. I got the idea from that video. Water pans will add moisture to what you are smoking. In some smokers, notably offset smokers, such as those made by Char Broil that you find in the big box stores, the heat source is located off to the side, away from the cooking chamber. For me: Water pan = fish and pork.