Using the #2 as a steamer?

V

va_rider

New member
So, I'm about 2/3 of the way done on my first pastrami. I brined/debrined, last night I smoked it.  The final step is steaming it to 203°... I've looked into several methods of steaming it, and had about settled on doing it in the oven on a rack with a water pan underneath and foil on top.

But, last night, I got to thinking about just using the smoker to steam it. Putting a foil Lasagna pan full of water on a rack right above the burner, and not using any wood. Perhaps even putting the pastrami 2 spaces above the pan, with foil across the top of it there.

Thoughts?
 
Unless the water pan is on the box I don't think you will get steam, just evaporation.  And even then it might be a risk I wouldn't take after all your work.

 
SuperDave said:
Unless the water pan is on the box I don't think you will get steam, just evaporation.  And even then it might be a risk I wouldn't take after all your work.
Click to expand...

Let's say that I put the lasagna pan on the lowest rack above the "firebox" and fill it with boiling water from a kettle... Think it would create steam then? On all of my normal smokes, I put the "Sasha Flavor Saver" water pan hanging above the burner, suspended from the bottom of a rack, and it gets hot enough to boil/steam, even if I start with cold water in the pan.

I was talking to a buddy in CO who makes pastrami regularly, and this is about the setup he uses. He just tosses this into the oven at 225 with foil over the top of the whole setup. I don't see how putting it in the smoker would be much different. I guess I could do a dry run with just a water pan in the smoker, no wood, and see if I get steam coming out of the top. An added bonus might be that it'll clean the smoker a bit during the steaming process.

IMG_0599.jpg


 
a "competitior" of Smokin-Its offers a ss water container that hooks to the racks to help add moisture (I don't know about steam) to the smoker..........

I found this on Yahoo Answers:   'Steam' is formed when water Vaporises at its boiling temperature.
This is 100°C at standard atmospheric pressure (1.0atm).
Water will also boil at higher and lower temperatures depending on the surrounding pressure. (Increased pressure, increases boiling point and decreased pressure decreases boiling point).

However, water also forms steam-like 'Vapour' at lower temperatures by a process called 'Evaporation' which can take place at any temperature. Even in Winter, a pool of water will slowly disappear as it evaporates.
 
Why not put a roast rack in the foil pan with a 1/4" of liquid and seal the pan with plastic wrap and foil?  This is how I steam my pastrami and it can be done in the oven or smoker. 

Ahhh, your buddy is on the same page as how I do it.
 
smokeasaurus said:
a "competitior" of Smokin-Its offers a ss water container that hooks to the racks to help add moisture (I don't know about steam) to the smoker..........

I found this on Yahoo Answers:   'Steam' is formed when water Vaporises at its boiling temperature.
This is 100°C at standard atmospheric pressure (1.0atm).
Water will also boil at higher and lower temperatures depending on the surrounding pressure. (Increased pressure, increases boiling point and decreased pressure decreases boiling point).

However, water also forms steam-like 'Vapour' at lower temperatures by a process called 'Evaporation' which can take place at any temperature. Even in Winter, a pool of water will slowly disappear as it evaporates.
Click to expand...

I have this - Offered by Smokin-It.  http://www.smokin-it.com/Miss_Sasha_p/sasha.htm
 
Aaron, I think your setup will work great. 225 is 225 no mater how you get there. The water will steam. If you are worried about the heat you could leave the wood box off and get straight burner action.
 
BedouinBob said:
Aaron, I think your setup will work great. 225 is 225 no mater how you get there. The water will steam. If you are worried about the heat you could leave the wood box off and get straight burner action.
Click to expand...
There is just way more efficient ways to do it.  225 is 225 box temp yet the internal temp of meat never gets to that temp, why would you assume water will?  How long will it take in hours to get to that point?  Steaming shouldn't be a big pan of anything, IMO. 
 
Here's where I'm confused Dave. An oven is essentially the same thing. Cooking chicken in a 350 degree oven, the box temp is 350. It's, like the smoker, not a sustained 350. It swings back and forth; and the meat temp never gets to 350.

So, 225 in the smoker is the same as 225 in the oven. It's all box temp. In the oven, I can't get the water pan as close to the heat source as I can in the smoker, also, the source of the heat in my oven is more spread out. My buddy does his in the oven, so I know that it'd work, but I can't really see the downside/disadvantage of doing it in the smoker. Like you say, 225 is 225. If water will create steam in a 225 oven, it should create steam in the smoker, especially with a smaller footprint on the heat source.

In any case, I'll try it, most likely with an empty box first, and report back.
 
Hope you prove me wrong and it works.  Steaming pastrami is done correctly in a confined space like a sealed pan.  I feel like the open pan (with steam) will create humidity in the oven or the smoker and not really provide the steaming effect.  But I could be wrong.  Smoking experiments are what makes us all better though so interested to see what happens. 
 
Aaron, what if you put a pan, like the size of the steam tray/drip pan, that we use for the drip pan, directly on the bracket that holds the smoke box?  Remove the smoke box, and it would sit close to the element to get the best heat?  Then put your meat on the lowest shelf, with a foil cover?
 
Update:
While I've got the smoker parts in the dishwasher this morning, I decided to check on the whole concept of : will it make steam?

So, following Tony's advise, I put the foil pan directly over the heating element after removing the firebox.  I set the rheostat to 235 and hoped for the best. About 10 minutes later, I've got a plume of steam coming out of the top of the smoker. I opened the smoker to take a look, and it's definitely steaming its little heart out.

So, here's the plan. I'm going to use this steamer configuration, with the water pan directly over the heating element. I'll put the meat on a rack right above that. The next rack up, I'm going to cover completely in foil to create a "roof" over the meat to help trap the steam.

But, I'm expecting this to work rather well.
 
Yeah, this is going to work well. I got curious and opened the door. Steam poured out, as if I was opening the dishwasher mid-cycle. The amount of steam coming out of the top is greater than the typical amount of smoke that comes out during a smoke session,yet the steam doesn't seem to make it out the door as easily.
 
Cool, Aaron!  I thought sitting the pan right on the smoke box rails would be the ticket!  Can't wait to see the finished results!
 
It's happening....  It's amazing how tightly you can seal this box up with a rack covered in foil. On the dry run yesterday, I was able to get about 2.5 hours out of the water pan, so I'm probably going to have to add more water at some point. Or, depending on when the water runs out, I may let it go without a refill to let the bark firm back up.
 

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