Skeptical about offset smokers with a water pan until a guy in Waco proved me wrong
Always figured water pans were a crutch for guys who could not hold steady heat on a stick burner. Then I watched a pitmaster in Waco run a 14 hour brisket on an old 250 gallon offset, pan full of water the whole time, and that bark came out perfect. He said it keeps the cook chamber humid so the meat does not dry out on the back half. Tried it myself on my own rig twice since then and the flat stopped curling up on me. Anyone else run water in their offset or is that just a Texas thing?
Water pans in offsets remind me of how my grandpa used to keep a coffee can of water in his old charcoal grill. Same idea, just smaller scale. It seems like the old timers figured out things by just cooking a ton and paying attention, and then we come along years later acting like we discovered something new. Humidity in the chamber makes sense when you think about it, it is basically the same reason a lot of backyard guys wrap in foil or butcher paper partway through. The cook chamber is just a little oven with air moving through it, and dry air pulls moisture out of meat fast. Texas guys have been running offsets for generations so it tracks that they would land on this before the rest of us.