Pellet Fan
Pit Talk -- Comments and Questions Regarding These Pellet Pits => GMG => Topic started by: Jon515 on November 03, 2017, 11:51:47 PM
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Does anyone else sometimes add a water pan when doing a long cook? Maybe its me, but sometimes it seems my pit will dry things out a little too much if I'm not careful.
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I don’t know if it makes a difference but I do, it helps hold the pit at a steady temp.
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I do too. Certainly doesn't hurt anything.
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Thanks for the replies, one more question. I have been using the bowl from my Bradley, the only problem is I also have a Br6 system and if I don’t have much room. Would something the size of an empty soup can in the back corner have the same/similar effect as the larger bowl?
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The larger the surface area of the pan = more evaporation..A "loaf pan" doesn't take up too much space and should be worth a try.
Any body of liquid will act as a heatsink as well.
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I use a throw away aluminum bread loaf pan in the GMG and two half loaf pans in the Traeger. I don't throw them away, of course. The half loaf pans can run out of water at extended high temps.
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I put my meat on top of a water pan
Lamb and a chook on the go here
And hi from Australia btw
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I don't, but I also know it cant hurt!
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I picked up two narrow, cheap loaf pans tonight. I'm going to give those a try, one on each side of my ambient temp probe I keep in the back of my pit.
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I use a water pan in my FEC-120. Mostly I use it to collect the drippings from the meat.
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I don't, but I also know it cant hurt!
+1 :pig: :bbq:
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Might you be smoking the meat too long?
It seems to me that you'd certainly want to cook it long enough to render the fat and break down the collagen. But I wouldn't think it would be dry at that point. There'd be moisture from the fat and something like gelatin from the collagen.
I don't want to put a water pan in with the stuff I'm smoking because I don't want to waste pellets by boiling water away. The water will be a 212°F cold spot in my pit and it'll be sucking up heat energy.
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Might you be smoking the meat too long?
It seems to me that you'd certainly want to cook it long enough to render the fat and break down the collagen. But I wouldn't think it would be dry at that point. There'd be moisture from the fat and something like gelatin from the collagen.
I don't want to put a water pan in with the stuff I'm smoking because I don't want to waste pellets by boiling water away. The water will be a 212°F cold spot in my pit and it'll be sucking up heat energy.
My thoughts exactly. BUT... I have read where the pan of water helps create bark on some cuts.
Sadly. I have little space for a water pan of any size when cooking. I will attempt to spatch cock a small turkey and report back in a couple weeks. Hopefully it will fit in me Jr.
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Here are the cheap pans I found and am trying, they fit perfectly behind my BR6(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171105/8fc0f02f2d949a1feb523338f4971b34.jpg)
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
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Since I use a 3" stove pipe elbow for my down draft, I have enough room to set a small loaf pan of water to set in that area. I always use a water pan for any cook.
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The two loaf pans in the back seemed to make a difference. It was windy and cold and my pit held temps very well (3rd party to internal sensor) I was pretty happy with the results. Thanks everyone for their responses, I am still learning so I really appreciate it!
Jon
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Doesn't hurt, but what does it do? Never used one and I can make some of the moistest brisket you have even had.
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I think the biggest thing it did was help hold temps.
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I think the biggest thing it did was help hold temps.
Please help me understand how it will help hold temps.
The pit is trying to maintain some temperature while the water's at 212°F (or whatever the boiling point is at that elevation). At the same time, thermal conduction will cause the heat in the pit to flow to the cooler water in an attempt to reach thermal equilibrium. But the system will never reach equilibrium because the water will never get above 212°F. Additional heat applied to the water will not raise the water’s temperature, it will just increase the boiling rate.
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I'm not a scientist so I can't confirm that was the only factor, nor did I measure every corner of my pit at designated incrimates. I think it had to do more with when I would open the lid on a cold windy day the recovery time was less, similar to putting foiled, heated bricks in the pit. I had my temp set to 225, I wish I would have saved the graph. I could be wrong, like I said no official study, just my gut reaction.
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What about cooking/smoking BELOW the boiling point?
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I think it had to do more with when I would open the lid on a cold windy day the recovery time was less, similar to putting foiled, heated bricks in the pit.
Oh, sure! There was a mass of 212°F material that would have transferred heat to the pit air and helped the pit warm back up after opening the door. I didn't consider holding temps after opening the pit.
Thanks.
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What about cooking/smoking BELOW the boiling point?
Well, I guess that the pit and the water will reach thermal equilibrium. The water would then evaporate at a fairly high rate and create a humid interior. Of course the fan would blow that humid air out, replacing it with somewhat dryer air from the burn pot. I say somewhat drier air because burning wood creates water vapor, even if it's dry wood.