Adding humidity

[RustyJake]

I know there are a couple of camps on this, those that use a water pan and those that don't. Kind of like wrap/no wrap, fat cap up/down, etc. This isn't posted to create a debate of using it or not. This is more to those that use one and maybe feel they want to get a more humid smoke environment.
I have tried using a reptile humidifier and it does inject a bit of moisture via vapor. But this comes at an expense and possibly an alteration to get the tube into the smoker.
The simpler solution, a highly absorbent towel soaked in water laid into the drip pan with the edges of it out of the pan. Fill the pan with water and cook as normal. You can also use a sponge sitting up in the water to achieve the same thing.
I used a 'sham-wow' style towel and filled the pan with 8 cups of hot water. Over the 9 hours of actual cook time, I refilled it once as it had depleted the first 8 cups. Added another 8 cups. At the end of a 9 hour cook I had approximately 1.5 cups left from the 16 cups used.
Again, this isn't trying to sway anyone to using a water pan or not. It is just giving an option to increase humidity while smoking for those that are interested.

 

[Timmy]

Sooo, what does the extra humidity supposed to do? I’ve never used on in my Traeger.

 

[RustyJake]

One of the main things is helping with moisture retention in the protein being cooked. When the air inside the smoke chamber is moist, it doesn't allow for the meat to sweat off as much moisture. It can push through the stall without losing a lot of it's moisture.

Does Humidity Affect Smoking Meat? - GrillSimply

These are the most important ways that humidity affects smoking meat, some you can eliminate and some that you can use to your advantage.

grillsimply.com

It seems more important in sausage cooking. But the water/moisture retention in butts and briskets would be good.to keep inside rather than evaporating away on longer cooks

 

[Timmy]

Interesting, I might have to try this this winter. Now that I have the 3 rack system I actually have room for a drip pan now. Thanks!

 

[RustyJake]

Interesting, I might have to try this this winter. Now that I have the 3 rack system I actually have room for a drip pan now. Thanks!

You cook so much protein (with their own moisture) at the same time that you may already have a humid smoke environment just from that alone

 

[RayClem]

If you think the outside of the protein is drying out, there are two ways to add extra moisture. One is to add a pan of water, beer, apple juice, apple cider vinegar, etc. The second is to spritz the protein with a spay bottle filled with the same liquids. Personally, I like a mixture of 1/3 water, 1/3 apple juice, and 1/3 ACV.

Generally, doing this is more necessary if you are cooking smaller pieces of meat where the surface area is large compared to the mass. It probably is not needed with fatty pieces of meat.

I do spritz baby back ribs while they are smoking low and slow. With lean chicken breasts, I find that basting is a better option than spritzing. I like using Alabama white sauce (mayonnaise based). Experiment with various methods and see which works best for you,

 

[RustyJake]

Adding humidity to higher levels can help offset convective evaporation from within the meat, thus leaving you with a protein that is more moist than one left to cook in a dry environment. By opening and closing the lid of a smoker to do anything, including spritzing, allows for temperature drops and for any humidity you have built up from cooking to escape the cook environment. Adding moisture to the outside of the protein can help, but it evaporates fairly quickly in a dry smoking environment.
Some people wrap their briskets and pork butts and ribs and other meats. This in effect slows the convective evaporation by creating a high humidity cooking environment. Introducing humidity to the cook chamber can assist with pushing through the stall without the need to wrap. All about options and different methods of achieving a better end result.
With any BBQ or smoke cook, do what works.best for you and what you know works.

 

[RustyJake]

A rudimentary experiment. But the end result in moisture retention between the control butt and test butt us promising

And yes, the guy is nuts for cutting into his grill, so many other options