FireDial -vs- The Water Pan in the WSM

[@LinkLayerLogic]

Thank you for this. It helped me make up my mind to get the fire dial. I'd already stopped putting water in the bowl and been having good luck with that, but getting rid of that bowl all together would be great. This should allow a lot more access to my fire through the stock door as well without that bowl hanging down.

[@OinkCluckMooBBQ]

Jason glad to hear this helped you with your decision. You will certainly have more clearance in your pit without the water pan! Enjoy it, and thanks for watching.

[@madswinebbq]

I like to use the water pan as a diffuser, no water. You should try the same experiment with no water in the water pan and I'd be surprised to see what happens. The water is the variable that ruins this test for me. However I'm not "ruined" with the firedial one bit. I see it as a diffuser, which to me comes in handy so if you're willing I'd be truly interested in seeing a video of a comparison without water in the water pan 👍 Great video!

[@OinkCluckMooBBQ]

The Mad Swine Backyard Barbeque thanks for the suggestion, in the video the graphs showed the temperature around the 8 pm and midnight marks. By then I would believe the water pan dried out. When I checked in the morning there wasn’t any water left in it. I was thinking of running it with sand in the water pan too. My thoughts are the water pan deflects the heat to the outer parts of the smoker (the walls) and carries it upward to the dome which is why the lower rack has the lower temps traditionally. Thanks again for your feedback, as I have some ideas of looking at this next time! Thanks for watching!

[@michaelh1621]

Great test…your thoughts on no water creating a lack of moisture in the cooker….thanks

[@nickma71]

The water pan is a heat sink by design, as well as a diffuser so there isn't direct heat. I observed the temperature changes with the WSM as the water evaporated. The temps go up. This takes quite a few hours of course. I can't see not using it. However, that is also an 18", and is shorter and the grates are closer to the fire. I have no reason to substitute. I greatly appreciate your data logging and information. Jeremy Yoder would be proud of the data set.

[@neilmacfarlane9463]

Just to say many thanks for your series of very informative videos on the firedial. I’m Uk based and recently discovered that there is a local supplier for this product. I’ve had my first cook on it today for my WSM 18 .....wow. It’s amazing how much more airflow is possible vs the standard (and way oversized) water bowl. I only ever foil it anyway and never use water in it as I can always hit and maintain target temps just using the dampers. I was very sceptical about maintaining low temps with it and sure it would race away to 300f plus. I was wrong.... First cook today was baby backs where I held temps between 250f and 27f for four hours with negligible adjustment. I raised the temp for the last hour and for finishing glaze. Again, so easy and quick. I’m very reluctant to modify my WSM but this mod has left me astonished. It seems to tick every box in terms of maintaining temp, evening out top vs bottom grate and doing it straight out of the box with virtually no play time required. Amazing product- thanks again.

[@OinkCluckMooBBQ]

Excellent! Thanks for the feedback and thanks for watching! Enjoy the enhancement!

[@OinkCluckMooBBQ]

Also quick tip if you want to aim for those lower temps like below 235 F start with less lit coals (like 4 briquettes in my 22) does the trick!

[@williammeinz8152]

I just bought my lava lock fire dial and I’m excited to use it! I have not used it yet. I have only done about eight cooks on my 22 inch weber smoky mountain. I’ve use the water pan the entire time and have had Great success and I’ve only used Kingsford briquettes. The lava lock fire dial should improve efficiency in cooked time as well as the use of less fuel as has been documented. The only downside that I could see is that the original water bowl will provide moisture for your meat during the cook and will not let me dry out. This could be an issue but we will see. All the reviews that I see everyone seems very happy with their fire dial. I can’t wait to try vertically hanging ribs in my weber smoky mountain!

[@OinkCluckMooBBQ]

Thanks for watching, don’t worry your meat will not dry out, as the waterpan actually acted as a way to dampen or restrict the heat. One thing I would point out when using the FireDial only begin with about 12 lit coals and then wait for your smoker to get within 20 degrees of your desired temp then close down your vents at the bottom to restrict the airflow and stabilize your temp near your target.

[@SonicBoomC98]

My last 4 cooks I've experimented with no water pan at all. I found I like the flavor and bark I get better this way. Now I'm interested in something like the Fire Dial or an old school smaller bowls

[@OinkCluckMooBBQ]

@@SonicBoomC98 glad you gave it a few tests. The FireDial will just limit the amount of drippings hitting the coals, which will limit your flare ups!

[@SonicBoomC98]

@@OinkCluckMooBBQ yeah the only thing I didn't like about no pan at all was on ribs it seemed like the bottom got extra charred, but I just tasted the ribs, and the taste was great

[@OinkCluckMooBBQ]

@@SonicBoomC98 exactly, happens to me when I hang my ribs all of the time without the FireDial.

[@chriscline4292]

I used the firedial for the first time this weekend. I found it to be similar to using the water pan except less hassle. I also found I had to keep my lower vents more closed than typical which resulted in a longer burning fire. It cooked for 9 hours and I didn’t have to add any charcoal during the cook. In fact, it burned for another 4 hours. I think I will be able to cut back on charcoal and save a couple $$.

[@ratking948]

Great vid. Id love to see a comparison vid No water in water pan vs. firedial. I still use the water pan sometimes for overnight cooks but I am beginning to realize I am wasting so much extra fuel keeping that water up to temp. My issue is I hate having my fire go out for long overnight smokes. And the water pan uses up a lot of fuel I believe. How do you feel the fire dial is opposed to just wrapping the water pan and cooking dry?

[@dalehansen9571]

Thanks for doing this. Great analysis!

[@OinkCluckMooBBQ]

Thanks for watching!

[@johnwatz4955]

Great video, my 18.5’s water pan is the new larger bowl & i don’t use it since acquiring a fire dial but I didn’t have a probe system to analyze the benefits. I just purchased a DigiQ unit & an oversized charcoal basket from Arbor fabrication, I’m anxious to employ all 3 together & reap the benefits. Thanks for the stats! 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

[@OinkCluckMooBBQ]

Excellent, thanks for sharing! I don’t have the 18 but several of my friends have them. I am blown away each time I see the size of the water bowl, it hangs down so low in the smoker inhibiting your ability to overstock with fuel or even place wood chunks on the top of your coal ring. Great work upgrading, just remember you don’t need as many coals to start the minion method with the FireDial. I still think you should hang onto the water bowl to use as a great cold smoking tool! Thanks for watching bud! 👊👍🤙

[@jmsteelejr1]

Great video I'm buying 1 right now along with the CB coal ring for my 18.

[@OinkCluckMooBBQ]

James Steele that is exciting! Enjoy your new toys! Thanks for watching!

[@douglaswilliams6834]

I switched to the firedial on my Weber 22 smoker, but I also added four fire bricks on top of the firedial for more thermal mass. Probably not necessary, but it can't hurt, IMO.

[@tsandphotog]

how have your result been so far? I',m hearing it can alter your flavor on pork and beef.

[@seancummings7788]

I know this was done a while ago but as part of your experiment... Did you heat up your water when you poured it into the pit? It makes a ton of difference when getting the pit up to temp.

[@OinkCluckMooBBQ]

Thanks for watching! I did do this in the video titled the cook test. I still see heating up the water as a major disadvantage, because of time and the additional resources needed to heat up the water (this includes getting it from your house hot water). Lastly, the cooking temps will never be even throughout the cooker with the waterpan, and cleanup is about as disgusting as changing a tank at a raw sewage plant.

[@jmwinf]

The fire dial is in my shopping cart. I believe the water pan is for person new to the wsm and new to smoking. It will lesson heat flare-ups and give a better experience to a new user. Weber wants people to have a good experience and not be turned off out of the gate. Just my thoughts/2¢.

[@OinkCluckMooBBQ]

James Williams great point! I believe some people think they have to light tons of charcoal like they would for a typical kettle. When I first started I had similar thoughts. The FireDial is definitely for the person ready to take their smoking to the next level! Enjoy it!

[@OinkCluckMooBBQ]

Thanks for watching! Enjoy your purchase!

[@RhinoOffroad]

Thanks for taking the time to compare and contrast the two! It makes logical sense that the Firedial is more efficient as extra energy is required to heat the water. I think the big debate for me is whether the addition of the moisture from said water pan creates a better end-result. If time allows, would really like to see a similar experiment with meat prepared the same way to assess that aspect of the cook (maybe Brisket?) I think it's important to consider since I'm more than willing to burn extra fuel if the result is a more moist and tender meat. Thanks again!

[@OinkCluckMooBBQ]

Wayfaring Aviator good point, I am planning on doing some type of comparison cook. Lining up a judging panel and logistics now. Thanks for watching!

[@hagenmi1]

This is my exact same question. I have no doubt the fire dial is more efficient with heat and burn time, but in the end all that matters to me is moist flavorful meat. I too would rather not deal with the water pan anymore but I have a hard time believing that bathing the food in moist heat doesn’t have a big impact on the final product.

[@fandibus]

Have you tried the test without the water pan or the firedial? I'm curious how it performs without either.

[@vdcg2010]

Thanks for this awesome and informative video, I was on the fence about getting the firedial because I thought anything on the lower grate would over cook or burn, again thank you very much and I will sub you

[@OinkCluckMooBBQ]

vdcg2010 anytime! Thanks for watching! Keep an eye out for a future video showing the other benefits you can gain through this mod!

[@jacobminden1458]

i don’t think you need to do a test. depends on what you want to achieve in your cooks. i use water pan for some things and don’t for others. if going 225 i noticed using water pan its easier to maintain in that range.

[@OinkCluckMooBBQ]

@@jacobminden1458 yes the waterpan is easier to maintain lower temps for people that don’t feel like fiddling with dampers. I do the tests to simply debunk the myths out there. The only time I use a water pan is cold smoking because I’ll fill it with ice.

[@jacobminden1458]

@@OinkCluckMooBBQ nice.. i drilled a hole on side of my WSM and installed a smoke daddy for cold smoking. works great

[@OinkCluckMooBBQ]

@@jacobminden1458 nice 👍

[@b87flst]

I use a garden sprinkler. (take the nozzle off,) can to fill and refill the water pan

[@OinkCluckMooBBQ]

That’s a good idea, but cleaning it out is the major issue.

[@k9m42]

Nice test. Curious if meat on the lower rack would get burn spots since there are openings in the FireDial and the lower rack is very close to it?

[@OinkCluckMooBBQ]

That is a great question! I have not had any issues personally. I think this is an opportunity to do a quick test! I have something in mind!!! Keep your eyes open for the test!

[@robrobbins4906]

I don't want the lower grate to run hotter than the top grate. That would just make it more difficult having to remove the bottom meat first.

[@RaleighSmoke]

Nice video. The conversation of energy when the water changes state from a liquid into a gas causes the need for more energy to be produced to sustain that transfer, thus water means more fuel consumption. The first couple times I used sand instead of water I was really surprised how much fuel I has left after the first few cooks. I just picked up a fire dial. I’m looking forward to trying it it. 🍻

[@OinkCluckMooBBQ]

RaleighSmoke thanks for watching, I had the same experience, before the FireDial I was just wrapping my pan in foil and I discontinued using water. I haven’t used the water pans since the FireDial. I just keep them around for cold smokes (fill the with ice!!!

[@ahrapattoni]

Dude i love your music....... And another one

[@OinkCluckMooBBQ]

You should try my bbq! 🎤😂🚨

[@michaelallen6712]

With the fire dial, drippings would fall through the holes in the dial and land on the coals, right?

[@OinkCluckMooBBQ]

Michael Allen yes sir! Creating an amazing aroma. Some drippings will also hit the plate making a similar effect.

[@enyceofnyc]

Thanks for the video testing! Which fire dial? Stainless or regular?

[@OinkCluckMooBBQ]

I use the regular FireDial and they have been used a lot!

[@keithatkinson7649]

Love the channel name 😂

[@nicholasgregory2522]

I’ve used my fire dial twice now and have trouble with keeping my temps under 250. Did a brisket last night before I went to sleep woke up 7 hours later and it was up to 300. No bueno. Any advice?

[@OinkCluckMooBBQ]

In sorry I never saw this comment! First I only start with a few lit coals (nothing more than 12). Second I won’t use lump coal as it tends to burn hotter (of course I’ll switch it up if I need hotter temps for different proteins or if it is in the middle of winter). Adjust your dampers down once your smoker gets settled into your ideal temp. I also recommend some type of wireless thermometer, and lastly at least get a seal around your door if you don’t have the lavalock door installed. Thanks for watching, I know some time has elapsed but feel free to let me know how you progressed!

[@johnabrams8729]

Do you place the firedail where the water pan is usually located?

[@tsandphotog]

Yes

[@davidbalentine2110]

Who cooks at 270? I cook at 225. My WSM, used with H2O, sits at grill temp 225 with minimal fuss; while I have cold beverages. Nice, moist, tender, smoky ribs.

[@OinkCluckMooBBQ]

Well I cook at 270, as well as a lot of other people in Barbecue. I also get moist tender juicy and smoky ribs, chicken, pork, and brisket. Have fun with your gross waterpan!

[@SonicBoomC98]

I cook at 275. I like the flavor and bark I get at that temp. My last 4 cooks I used no water pan at all, so I'm going to experiment with going back to a lower temp

[@wait4dl]

@@OinkCluckMooBBQ not ok with the snide remark!

[@OinkCluckMooBBQ]

@@wait4dl 🙄😬🫢😉😂

[@millenialbroadcast]

I didn’t know DJ Khaled had a BBQ channel

[@OinkCluckMooBBQ]

millenialbroadcast 😎🤫

[@KennisTheMenace84]

Right

[@yannickleg431]

What is the thickness of the firedial? No deformity due the high temperature?

[@OinkCluckMooBBQ]

Yannick Legardien the thickness is about a 1/16th of an inch. I have been using this since January of 2019 and I have not seen any signs of weakening or warping. I know people who have been using it longer, and have yet to hear of any warping. This even includes people who have placed it directly over the coals when using hanging racks.

[@shumardi1]

I would like to see several temp probes across the grill surface to show how even the temp is.

[@OinkCluckMooBBQ]

Jeff thanks for watching and the feedback. I was thinking of placing multiple probes but I only had access to a total of 8. I thought it would be best to run them simultaneously in order to have the same variables in the environment. However if you check the 7:27 mark in the video I highlight the probe port temperature, this will show you the temp at the outer most end of the smoker and will provide insight to the variation across the grate. I hope it was helpful.

[@alistairhodge833]

What size mountains are you using?

[@OinkCluckMooBBQ]

Alistair Hodge the ones featured in the video are 22” (I own (3) 22” and (1) 14”). Thanks for watching!

[@ronl384]

Be a lot better if I could hear you a little better.

[@juicekrewe8490]

DJ KHALED!!!! LOL I SWEAR U LOOK LIKE HIM

[@OinkCluckMooBBQ]

Ebon compton you are right, along with Jonah Hill!

[@daveverbiak4424]

Um, you did a test with no food, the only thing that matters is the food, just saying

[@OinkCluckMooBBQ]

Check out the other video “The Cook Test!” where I cook two shoulders in equal weight!

[@socomon69]

LOL for the spaceballs reference.