Water pans can be used for a variety of purposes with outdoor grills.
Some anglers use them to cool grilled food. Others use them to clean their grills.
Still others use them to wash their dishes after cooking. So, can you use water pan with traeger grill?
Of course you can. Water pan is one of accessories for traeger grills.
You can cook foods with lid closed. This is good for people who want to cook food with steam or smoke flavor without opening the cover.
This is a must for those who cook brisket or pork shoulder with smoke flavor or cook large pieces of meat like loin or brisket. The smoke flavor will penetrate meat more with lid closed.
However, water pan is not designed for cooking large pieces of meat with high heat. If you want smoke or steam flavor on meat while cooking, water pan is a good accessory.
Contents
Can You Use Water Pan With Traeger Grill?
Traeger grills are a popular option for people who want to smoke meat at home.
However, some people don’t own a smoker or live in a place where smoking meat is illegal. Luckily, there’s a workaround.
Instead of smoking meat, people can use water pans to achieve a similar effect. Water pans are metal pans that sit on a Traeger grill.
They hold water, wood chips, and a rack of ribs or chicken. As the meat cooks, it absorbs smoke from the water pan and the wood chips.
As a result, the meat tastes and smells a lot like real smoked meat. Water pans don’t require any special equipment, which makes them a great solution for people who can’t smoke meat at home.
Does Traeger Pellet Grill Need Water Pan?
Many people ask “does Traeger pellet grill need water pan?” When using a pellet grill, it’s important to check frequently for moisture.
If the grill’s firebox becomes wet, the fire will get bigger and produce smoke that ruins the flavor of the food. Therefore, it’s important to use the water pan feature on your pellet grill if your food doesn’t cook well or smoke excessively.
However, some pellet grills don’t require a water pan. If yours doesn’t, then there’s no need to add water.
Should You Use a Water Pan in a Traeger Grill?
In contrast to certain smokers, such as propane and electric models, the Traeger wood pellet smoker doesn’t require a water pan.
Traeger grills are intended to cook with indirect heat, which eliminates the need for water pans in most instances.
While adding moisture to the cooking chamber is always a plus for keeping the surface from drying out, the water in the pan isn’t doing much for the internal temperature of your meat (unless you’re using a pan specifically designed for smoking).
What Does a Water Pan Do in a Traeger Grill?
A water pan in a Traeger pellet grill would offer additional surface area for transferring the heat from the pellets into the surface of the food you’re cooking.
Why Use Water Pan in Traeger Pellet Grill?
Traeger pellet grill is famous among grill enthusiasts.
It is a versatile and efficient grill that allows you to smoke food, grill steaks, bake pizzas, BBQ ribs, and many other dishes. However, Traeger pellet grill has one unique feature that other grills don’t have.
Traeger pellet grill is equipped with a water pan. The water pan helps seal in the flavors and moisture of the food while cooking.
Where Should I Place the Traeger’s Water Pan?
Water pans are often placed underneath the meat being cooked, and with a Traeger, you would either place the water under the grate that the meat sits on, or above the grill grates.
Although this may not be the most efficient placement, it does help seal in moisture and flavoring from the wood chip and water combination below your food, as well as offers another area for the pellets to transfer heat to while they’re burning.
You may also put the water pan to one side of the grill instead of in the center, depending on what you’re cooking and how much space you have available on your grill.
When Should You Use a Water Pan in a Traeger?
When cooking brisket or a hog shoulder that will take a long time, or when cooking ribs that require a longer cooking time than the rest of your meal will normally take, you will most likely want to use a water tray with your unit.
This helps prevent the wood chip from burning out too quickly and helps keep the moisture in your food and the smoke flavors more intact as well.
Using water to trap the smoke also helps keep your pellets from completely burning out while you’re waiting for your slow-cooking meats to finish.
This can also help with flare-ups since water helps put out the flames quicker.
How Do You Keep Meat Moist on a Traeger?
A water pan on a Traeger may help keep meat moist during the cooking process, but there are a few tricks you can do yourself to help keep your meats moist during the cooking process as well.
You should soak your wood chips in water for at least an hour before putting them on the fire. This helps keep the wood moist and provides it with some extra flavor as well.
You can soak your chips in apple juice or even beer for extra flavor if you like.
It’s also a good idea to wrap your meats in foil to keep them moist during cooking, especially if you’re smoking a large cut of meat or several smaller cuts at once.
For a basic spritz, combine 1 part vinegar with 2 parts water and add a pinch of salt and garlic powder for seasoning if desired.
Why Do You Use Water Pan For Your Traeger Smoker?
Moisture From the Water Pan Creates Various Flavors and Fragrances in the Grill
The flavor of grill food depends on the moisture of the water in the pan, which absorbs the flavors of the food cooked on the grill.
Moisture also helps the food cook evenly and prevents it from burning or drying out. Water pans are made of stainless steel and are usually square or rectangular in shape with rounded corners.
Water pans vary in size, but are usually about 15 inches long and 10 inches wide. Some water pans have a lip above the water line to prevent dripping.
They also come in many different shapes and sizes so they’re suitable for various types of grills.
Evaporation of Water in a Pan Produces Moisture in the Form of Vapor
Evaporation of water is a physical change.
Evaporation occurs when water changes state from liquid to gas. The water molecules evaporate from the pan and form water vapor.
The water vapor then rises into the air in the form of steam. Evaporation of water produces moisture in the form of vapor, which is invisible to the naked eye.
On the Heated Components, Water Pans Are Positioned
The heated components of an electric frying pan are positioned at the back of the electric frying pan.
The heated components include the water pan, the cooking surface, and the heating elements. The water pan is in the center of the back part of the electric frying pan.
It sits under the cooking surface and above the heating elements. The cooking surface, which is made of aluminum and stainless steel, sits above the water pan and below the heating elements.
The heating elements are positioned above the cooking surface, and beneath the water pan.
The heating elements also wrap around the sides of the electric frying pan.
The heating elements heat the cooking surface and provide heat to the water pan.
Water Pans Keep the Grills at a Constant Temperature
A water pan is essential for grilling.
It keeps the grill at a temperature, and it keeps the food from burning. Without a water pan, food will stick to the surface and it will be harder to grill it evenly.
Furthermore, the food will take a long time to cook, and it will burn easily.
Without a water pan, the grill will also be hotter than it should be, and the surface will cook the food instead of the grill’s element.
Grilling with a water pan keeps the food from burning and makes it easier to grill it evenly.
Also Read: How Does A Traeger Ignite?
Final Words
A water pan inside a Traeger grill may seem to be an unnecessary feature at first.
The easiest approach to determine if a water pan is good or not is to try it out for yourself and see what you think.
If you’ve never tried using a water and wood chip combination before, you may be pleasantly surprised by the results you get when you try it out.
If you love your meat smoked, but hate the time commitment it takes to smoke it, then the water and wood chip combo may be the perfect thing for you.
If you like it without, try spritzing the pork butt with water or oil instead of adding water to the wood chip tray and see how you like it.
