Pulled pork question.

Car Wash Mike

Getting ready to throw on a 8 lb. boston butt. Plan on cooking around 225-250 indirect overnight. Should I use a drip pan filled with beer-water, ect? [p]CWM

WessB

Car Wash Mike,
I would put something in the drip pan...I personally use apple juice but whatever you want to use is fine, it will help keep the drippings from burning up and adding an unwanted taste to the pork...others should chime in with their preferences but I always add liquid..just my $.02[p]Wess

Kansas

Car Wash Mike,
I always use liquid in the pan as well. Beer, water, apple juice - I have use them all, but never found one to be better than the other and because of that, I decided not to waste the beer. Toward the end of the cook the liquid may dry out. I have at times added more, but didn't find it made much difference. How about anyone else.
Kansas

Stogie

Car Wash Mike,[p]Stick with water in the pan..anything else is a waste.[p]As Kansas said, no difference in the taste. Several of us WSMers have tried this numerous times and found no difference in taste as well.[p]Stogie

Spin

Car Wash Mike,[p]To avoid the possibility of burning the collected drippings, I cook the meal over a pizza stone and add no liquid to the drip pan (set on the pizza stone).[p]Even without the pizza stone, the drippings will only dry a bit during the cook. No burning will happen as the drippings from the meal will constantly be provided throughout the cook. You will end up with a pan full of juices.[p]Adding a liquid to the drip pan only makes establishing and maintaining a long term regulated cooking temperature that much harder. The water in the additives will slowly evaporate with the cooking temperature slowly rising as the demand for heat diminishes. Adding a liquid to the drip pan in mid cook changes the demand for heat (you just added "mass"), thus the temperature drops until the added liquid heats to the cooking temperature. The you again begin the slow rise in cooking temperature as evaporation happens.[p]Spin[p]

MickeyT

<p />CWM,[p]I'm with Spin on this one. My setup is the same and my juices never have burned. Nothing but liquid.[p]Yippeeeeeeeeeeeeeee butts are fun.[p]Mick