Update: my uncle told me to skip the water pan on pork butts, 3 cooks later I get why he was half right
Back in the 90s my uncle ran a pit out near Waco and he never used a water pan on his offset, just let the meat ride. I tried that on my last 3 butts and the bark came out great but the flat end dried out every time, so he was right about the bark and dead wrong about moisture. What people keep messing up is thinking it is all or nothing, either pan or no pan. Now I run a dry pit for the first 4 hours then set a foil pan of water on the far side and the bark stays crisp while the meat stays juicy. Anyone else land on a middle ground like that, or am I just splitting hairs here?