quote:Originally posted by Lagrue:
I have always smoked with a backwoods smoker with water pan. Always had great results, but there are times that I can't baby sit the fire. I purchased a sm045 about a yr ago. So far I have very dissapointed with it,as everything I cook turns out very dry. My dad has a cheap master built and his stuff always turns out much better than what I can turn out with my cook shack, he does use a water pan. My owners manual says not to use a water pan, but Im thinking of trying it,as it has come to the point that I don't even want to use it anymore.
The good thing is you've finally have come to the right place to take care of the problems.
If your smoker needed a water pan, I'm sure it would have said so in the instructions,ya know, they have made these smokers for a very long time.
All smokers have strengths and weakness and it is up to the pit master to learn them.
Dryness can be cause by various reasons...meat, preparation, cooking,etc.
If you could give us some details of your methods(time,temp) of your cooks, I'm sure we can get you cooking moist food once again.
Welcome to the CS forum!