I'v been thinking about adding a water pan the the PG500 on my next rib cook, and began a little online research. Consensus seems to be--well no real consensus. I did find one guy who also uses a PG500, and I believe I will give it a try on my next rib cook.
One of the topics I found mentions water pan compared to crutch which the poster seems to think is a micro environment that replicates the water pan in a way.
Post is below. Makes sense but figured to get a consensus here if there is such a thing in the BBQ world. The poster makes a statement in a later post that he did use the water pan in a later rib cook and will continue as the ribs cooked faster.
I hadn't thought about it, but this makes sense.
The "new" heat entering the pit will–
The meat's moisture may be less likely to evaporate if the pit interior is at or near 100% humidity. The result being more heat energy used to raise the meat's IT.
I suppose that doing this requires more heat input, so we'd burn more pellets.
I suspect that the same thing could be accomplished by creating a micro-environment in which to cook the meat. Wrapping the meat in aluminum foil and including a few ounces of liquid to raise the humidity in the micro-environment would accomplish the same thing without the water pan and the requisite additional heat input.
Apparently, that's the genesis of the Texas crutch."
One of the topics I found mentions water pan compared to crutch which the poster seems to think is a micro environment that replicates the water pan in a way.
Post is below. Makes sense but figured to get a consensus here if there is such a thing in the BBQ world. The poster makes a statement in a later post that he did use the water pan in a later rib cook and will continue as the ribs cooked faster.
"As a general rule, I don't feel the need for any water pan...
However, I used one once, put it on the right of my direct cooking area while I smoked a full packer brisket. That was the only time I ever cooked a big hunk of meat that never really stalled. Apparently the increased humidity slowed or stopped the evaporative cooling that causes the stall. I will do it again, but haven't really cooked another brisket since then, so I can only speculate that if I do it again, the same results will occur. The brisket turned out very nice, lots of bark and cooked faster than any other brisket I've ever done without wrapping.
However, I used one once, put it on the right of my direct cooking area while I smoked a full packer brisket. That was the only time I ever cooked a big hunk of meat that never really stalled. Apparently the increased humidity slowed or stopped the evaporative cooling that causes the stall. I will do it again, but haven't really cooked another brisket since then, so I can only speculate that if I do it again, the same results will occur. The brisket turned out very nice, lots of bark and cooked faster than any other brisket I've ever done without wrapping.
I hadn't thought about it, but this makes sense.
The "new" heat entering the pit will–
- Maintain the pit's internal and metal temperature
- Vaporize the water in the pan
- Vaporize the water in the meat
- Increase the meats internal temperature
The meat's moisture may be less likely to evaporate if the pit interior is at or near 100% humidity. The result being more heat energy used to raise the meat's IT.
I suppose that doing this requires more heat input, so we'd burn more pellets.
I suspect that the same thing could be accomplished by creating a micro-environment in which to cook the meat. Wrapping the meat in aluminum foil and including a few ounces of liquid to raise the humidity in the micro-environment would accomplish the same thing without the water pan and the requisite additional heat input.
Apparently, that's the genesis of the Texas crutch."
Comment