Learn How to Smoke Barbecue – What is a Water Smoker?

There are a few types of different styles of barbecue smokers for making smoked barbecue. The first is the offset smoker. With this type, the fire box is on the side of the smoke chamber, and the meat sits on grills inside the smoke chamber and is subjected to low heat (approximately 235 degrees) and wood smoke. The second type is the Kettle type smoker (an example of this is the well loved Weber Kettle that everyone owns, or at one point in their life has owned.) The third type of smoker is the vertical type. In the vertical type, the fire is built at the bottom of the smoke chamber (picture a large cylindrical object, like a large garbage can), there is a pan over the fire which contains wood chips that when heated will provide additional smoke. Above this pan are racks that the meat sits on while smoking, and above the meat is a tight fitting lid that has some type of ventilation system for smoke flow release.

This is the second article in a series of three by Jim Hess on the subject of smoking.

A water smoker is a type of a vertical smoker. A water smoker, in addition to the pan with the smoking soaked wood chips, has a pan of water which sits directly above the wood chip pan. This pan is filled with water. The water in this pan helps keep the meat moist during the low and slow cooking process. As the fire burns, it heats the liquid in the water pan, which causes water vapor to mix with the smoke and help keep the meat moist during the cooking process.

To learn more about smoking meat with a water smoker, get the free report here, http://www.bbq-jim.com Jim Hess is an expert article writer and reviews e-books about barbecue cooking and alternative energy systems.