Jan's cooking a Pork Shoulder

  • when you use the waterpan in the akorn, do you get excess moisture?
    i tried to use it in the keg and i had water dripping from the bottom vent.
    maybe it was just a humid day.

    I rarely use water in a Kamado and never in the Steel Keg, same experience as you.....note to self...water-pan is overkill!

  • I've never used a water tray in my kamado. It's ceramic maybe slightly different from the Akorn but I'd be doing it without water initially. If you want to try water after that, OK but at least you have a reference point to compare with.

    Big Green Egg - Asmoke Pellet Grill - Weber Kettle - Maximus Pizza Oven - Dragon Hibachi - Ziggy Portable - baby kamado - Grillz 2 burner - Cobb BBQ - Converted Gas Bottle Spit - Charbroil Grill2go - Anova sous vide - Digi Q controller - plus Tip Top Temp - Smokeware cap - Grill Grates

  • The main reason for using the top shelf and the water pan was to stop getting the nice shiny new Akorn all messy :D

    We have always used a water pan in the Hark smoker so it seemed logical to use one. As 12x7 said above about putting it on the deflector we thought it'd boil off quickly so just put it on the grill which meant that the pork went on the top rack. Just thinking about it, with the Hark the water pan acts as a heat sink and with the akorn having all that insulated thermal mass holding the heat it probably doesn't need one. Although I have read about the extra moisture helping with smoke absorption?

    It was another good test run for us with the new toy and Jan and I are both getting more confident with it. Learning how to regulate the temp comes with getting more cook time in. So far it's proving to be pretty easy to use.

    The pork was in around 9 1/2 hours. Had to pluck it out with an internal around 185f instead of the 200ish we were aiming at as we had to head off. It was a bit dry which I think will be more about the quality of the meat.

    Anyways, on to our next Akorn Adventure ......Cape Grim Beef Ribs going in today


    Cheers, Wayne and Jan





  • Did the water pan allow you to catch the drippings, thus making gravy possible?



    Traeger - Weber Family Q - Ziggy Twin Burner - Charcoal Grill - Akorn Kamado - Hark Tri Fire - Jumbuck Pizza Oven - Go Anywhere - Asmoke Pellet Grill - Hibachi Grill - Anova Sous Vide x 2

  • Did the water pan allow you to catch the drippings, thus making gravy possible?

    It did catch the rendered fat and any juices that came out. Too much water in there to make gravy unless you reduced it for a looooong time. Just thinking about it, when I emptied out the waterpan there wasn't very much fat floating in it at all. Maybe not much internal fat which could be making a bit of sense on why it was a bit dry? I did trim the rind of the pork but left on most of the fat on.

    Cheers, Wayne and Jan

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