Dustin Dorsey
TVWBB Hall of Fame
Something that Donna Fong said in either the Q&A on in response to a question in this got me thinking about this. She mentioned wet bulb temperature. For instance in Texas BBQ (or really in any commercial setting) they are cooking a lot of meat on the pit, and therefore the wet bulb temperature will increase because of all the humidity produced from all that meat. Here is a pretty decent article explaining what this means and how it applies to the stall.
http://www.scienceofcooking.com/why_is_humidity_important_in_cooking.htm
The gist of it is that humid air conducts heat better. That stall occurs due in part to evaporative cooling but also because wet meat cooks at the wet bulb temperature and one the surface dries(also forming that delicious crust some of us crave), the meat is more effected by the dry bulb temperature. On a dry North Texas day I've been experiencing some absolutely wicked stalls lasting sometimes 6 hours. Wrapping overcomes this so well because in the enclosed environment you have essentially 100% humidity and the wet bulb temp = dry bulb temp. What Donna mentioned is the reason many Texas BBQ place don't have to wrap is they are cooking enough meat that the wet bulb temp is higher than if a regular joe like myself is cooking one brisket on my WSM.
I guess my question is, especially in a dry environment, should we revisit the water pan? I, like most folks on this forum, and even Harry Soo and Donna Fong just wrap the pan in foil. There idea is that they are going to wrap once they've got the crust they want (which makes total sense.) My temperature control doesn't suffer at all. Some, such as Enrico, use a separate pan and only apply moisture during a portion of the cook and wrap with butcher paper. These are just some thoughts I've had. I like the idea of not wrapping but when I don't wrap at all, in all honestly sometimes the crust is TOO much. I can barely cut through it to slice the brisket.
http://www.scienceofcooking.com/why_is_humidity_important_in_cooking.htm
The gist of it is that humid air conducts heat better. That stall occurs due in part to evaporative cooling but also because wet meat cooks at the wet bulb temperature and one the surface dries(also forming that delicious crust some of us crave), the meat is more effected by the dry bulb temperature. On a dry North Texas day I've been experiencing some absolutely wicked stalls lasting sometimes 6 hours. Wrapping overcomes this so well because in the enclosed environment you have essentially 100% humidity and the wet bulb temp = dry bulb temp. What Donna mentioned is the reason many Texas BBQ place don't have to wrap is they are cooking enough meat that the wet bulb temp is higher than if a regular joe like myself is cooking one brisket on my WSM.
I guess my question is, especially in a dry environment, should we revisit the water pan? I, like most folks on this forum, and even Harry Soo and Donna Fong just wrap the pan in foil. There idea is that they are going to wrap once they've got the crust they want (which makes total sense.) My temperature control doesn't suffer at all. Some, such as Enrico, use a separate pan and only apply moisture during a portion of the cook and wrap with butcher paper. These are just some thoughts I've had. I like the idea of not wrapping but when I don't wrap at all, in all honestly sometimes the crust is TOO much. I can barely cut through it to slice the brisket.