Pro Q - Frontier - How NOT to foil the water pan
Posted: 10 Sep 2012, 19:10
So I'm on cook number two on my PQF, The first cook I used lump charcoal and struggled to get the temp above 217F with all vents open. A 5 kilo shoulder took 14 hours and three sacks of fuel to bring to 195F internal temp. The fuel cost as much as the meat. 
For cook 2 I filled the basket with Heat beads and poured half a kettle of lit heat beads on top of that. Used hot tap water in the foiled water pan and reassembled the PQF with all vents open. Half an hour later and the temp (at the grate) was 195F and dropping
I went out to the cooker to be greeted by a hissing sound and water dripping from the bottom of the cooker On disassembly of the cooker the coal was almost extinguished and the water pan half empty.
I eventually figured out that the water pan was foiled with three or four layers of cheapo thin foil and the heat had allowed air trapped between the layers to expand, creating a huge bubble that pushed the water out onto the coals, there was also water making its way between the layers of foil that were wrapped around the edge of the water pan and dripping from there onto the fire basket.
I removed the foil, started again and burned for 9 hours at 250 to 260, regulated with just one bottom vent
Lessons Learned - 1. Don't use Aldi Cheapo foil to line water pans. 2. Don't use multiple layers of foil . Bloody heck Heat Beads make a lot of ash. 3. Its probably a good idea to practice a couple of burns when changing fuel or techniques and not when you have guests coming for lunch. Lunch was good, but late!
For cook 2 I filled the basket with Heat beads and poured half a kettle of lit heat beads on top of that. Used hot tap water in the foiled water pan and reassembled the PQF with all vents open. Half an hour later and the temp (at the grate) was 195F and dropping
I went out to the cooker to be greeted by a hissing sound and water dripping from the bottom of the cooker On disassembly of the cooker the coal was almost extinguished and the water pan half empty. I eventually figured out that the water pan was foiled with three or four layers of cheapo thin foil and the heat had allowed air trapped between the layers to expand, creating a huge bubble that pushed the water out onto the coals, there was also water making its way between the layers of foil that were wrapped around the edge of the water pan and dripping from there onto the fire basket.
I removed the foil, started again and burned for 9 hours at 250 to 260, regulated with just one bottom vent
Lessons Learned - 1. Don't use Aldi Cheapo foil to line water pans. 2. Don't use multiple layers of foil . Bloody heck Heat Beads make a lot of ash. 3. Its probably a good idea to practice a couple of burns when changing fuel or techniques and not when you have guests coming for lunch. Lunch was good, but late!