Steel water Pan

[dbackyard]

I bought a steel bread baking pan, can i use it instead of the aluminum foil ones? Fits nice next to the smoke box but not sure if heat retention would be an issue.

 

[Walt]

Yes

 

[Limey]

I use a stainless steel smoker box from an old gas grill as my water pan. It works fine so you should not have any problems. Most people use the disposable pans mainly to save on cleanup.

 

[NDKoze]

You could. But, I don't see any advantages, unless you don't like disposable stuff and don't mind extra clean up.

For me, I'll stick with my disposables.

 

[LarryD]

I use an old stainless steel frothing pitcher...  I try to not generate any more waste than I have to.  It has been working just fine for me and goes through the dishwasher with no difficulty at all.  Being right next to the element/fire box, I don't really see how it can do much if any harm.  All of the heat it's absorbing is still inside the semi-closed system.  If it were a big issue, the firebox itself would have to be redesigned to be far more minimal.

 

[NDKoze]

It is definitely not causing any harm. If anything, the steel may help heat up the water faster than the tin reusables, but I think the difference is negligible. So, either way will work just fine.

 

[Walt]

I also use a steel pan. To each his / her own.

 

[DivotMaker]

I use disposables.  When I ran out one time, I "appropriated" one of my wife's teflon-coated steel loaf pans (don't think I didn't hear about that).  It was fine for a few smokes, but it lost its coating and rusted in no time.  Personally, I only go disposable now...bought a pack today at WalMart for $.88.  Just to be frivolous, I bought 2 packs!  At a quarter a piece, cleaning a steel pan just isn't worth it!