And that would be pretty much the point of using water......

As you air cool the brass in your coffee can,the heat migrates to any part of the case that is cooler than the neck/shoulder area and this would be the case body, head and primer pocket.

It'd be much prefered that that part of the case doesn't get softened any more than it is, as it doesn't sufferthe degree of work hardening that the neck/shoulder does. Gaining loose primer pockets or premature case head seperation isn't on the plus side.

You will also gain a more consistantamount of anneal by quenching in water, as brasscan be made several degrees ofsofter by addinga varying amount ofheat or by slowing down the cooling process. It's agreed that the slightblueish hue is the point where we want to be per color change and an imediate quench at that point will stop the anneal process dead in it's tracks giving you a much more consistant neck tension than by air cooling.

Building up hot brass in a metal container slows the cooling process down and lends to inconsistancy and over annealed case bodies, case heads and primer pockets.

In my experience not a better idea.........

I don't use the pan method because I might anneal2 or 300 cases at a time. 'Tis much easier to just fill a 5 gallon bucket and get to it.