Sluggy Posted July 29, 2018 Share Posted July 29, 2018 Today I got around to using my planned water pan replacement, as promised I have preliminary results. Today I cooked a £15 supermarket brisket and my version of bacon bombs on my wsm using a stainless plate instead of the standard water pan. I chose stainless tread plate as I thought the extra ridges would ensure against warping... so far so good. This is a foil lined cake tin nearly the same size as the metal plate which I sat this directly on top of. This is the brisket I cooked using the above setup. Not the best picture, sorry. This was heavily rubbed in a balance of salt, pepper, garlic, onion and paprika. Sliced up but literally pulled apart and as far as I’m concerned it was the best brisket I have ever done. These are my version of bacon bombs consisting of beef and pork mince and a blend of spices and ghee along with a lump of cheese for the centre, wrapped up in streaky bacon. The foil package is black pudding. All in all, no regrets on the plate whatsoever, if anything it was much easier to hold temps and cleanup was a doddle. The only real difference I noticed today was I needed to close the vents a little more but seeing as I got a 10 hour cook at 120c at the rack from a 4kg bag of heat beads with heat left over I’m not complaining. Considering the weather in Peterborough today has been wet and windy I’m happy with my decision. 8 Racks of ribs tomorrow nomnomnom. Could have got better pics and whatnot but me, beer, bbq and F1 limits my functionality somewhat. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smokin Monkey Posted July 29, 2018 Share Posted July 29, 2018 Sounds the the Mods have been worth it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Icefever Posted July 30, 2018 Share Posted July 30, 2018 How did you cut checker plate??? We have it as a cat walk on the artics and it's smegging thick. Why change from a water bath?? To a flat plate...I thought using water kept it moist inside the stove? Ice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sluggy Posted July 30, 2018 Author Share Posted July 30, 2018 Bought it ready cut from e-bay 3mm thick for £45. I think it depends on what’s being cooked, this is not a permanent replacement just another option. As for moisture, I’ll have to see how it goes for various meats. I often freeze joints to defrost in a brine solution as I believe the defrosting actually pulls in the brine much better than a plain soak or injecting. With that done I probably don’t need extra water for the cook just maybe a spray bottle for the odd spritz. Gonna do ribs today so shall be interesting to how they go. Bear in mind they will be wrapped at some point so why the water pan. Keeps things interesting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Posted July 30, 2018 Share Posted July 30, 2018 (edited) I try not to wrap it (unless) it is ribs maybe where i do what ever I feel at the time) I like, Sure it takes longer but that is ok. Spritz bottle works well, Like I did with the pacific pork roast, pineapple juice and mustard spray every hour at Smokefest18 Edited July 30, 2018 by Justin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Icefever Posted August 4, 2018 Share Posted August 4, 2018 On 7/30/2018 at 8:20 AM, Sluggy said: I often freeze joints to defrost in a brine solution as I believe the defrosting actually pulls in the brine much better than a plain soak or injecting. (Just catching up on a bit of reading) Where does this come from??? I've never seen this before, have you do a side by side trial??. Ice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wade Posted August 4, 2018 Share Posted August 4, 2018 Freezing and thawing the meat will result in it losing up to 3% of its water due to ice damage to the cells. Theoretically the loosened cell structure could result in more "intercellular" space being formed - into which the salt/flavours in the brine could diffuse. I have not seen anything published to confirm this though. In unfrozen meat the brine will generally cause the meat to absorb water over time - From studies I have done with pork, this is ~6% in 7 days and 10-12% in 14 days. I am not sure how much is taken up over just a few hours though - maybe someone would like to test this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sluggy Posted August 4, 2018 Author Share Posted August 4, 2018 No clue on the science bit, I’ll leave that to the smart guys ? I often defrost meat in brine as I’m convinced it does a better job than a plain soak, maybe a really long would work better but I’m too lazy for that and usually only make a decision on what I’m cooking the day before. Another favourite is to rub the meat up before freezing and when it defrosts in the standard way it definitely pulls in more flavour, to my reckoning anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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