Pat McCreight
TVWBB Pro
I own a stoker and normally use an empty, foiled water pan when running stoker-assisted cooks. I use it to create indirect heat and catch drippings. I have a piedmont pan set up that I use for non-stoker cooks.
I start all cooks with the minion method. Lately, the WSM is coming up to 250+ right away, even when I have 25 pounds of meat on. It hovers around 250 with the bottom vents closed (top open) for a couple of hours and then settles down. Once it settles, the stoker maintains excellent control until I run out of fuel.
Should I use a filled water pan, piedmont pan, clay saucer etc to control the heat? I imagine that it would use a lot more fuel this way, but I wouldn't have to deal with the initial overshoot so much. I can get 16 hours on a load of royal oak briquettes, so I don't normally need to refuel.
So, how do you configure your water pan when using your guru or stoker?
I start all cooks with the minion method. Lately, the WSM is coming up to 250+ right away, even when I have 25 pounds of meat on. It hovers around 250 with the bottom vents closed (top open) for a couple of hours and then settles down. Once it settles, the stoker maintains excellent control until I run out of fuel.
Should I use a filled water pan, piedmont pan, clay saucer etc to control the heat? I imagine that it would use a lot more fuel this way, but I wouldn't have to deal with the initial overshoot so much. I can get 16 hours on a load of royal oak briquettes, so I don't normally need to refuel.
So, how do you configure your water pan when using your guru or stoker?