Water and sand

pcpro215 · Jul 25, 2013

Hello all,

In the past, I have used a pan filled with water when smoking my ribs. However, after doing some reading on SMF, I noticed that some of you use sand.

Naturally, this lead me to have a few questions.

So, here they are:

1. I was just going to get a bag of play sand from Meanrds (local home improvement chain). I was wondering if this type of sand would add some kind of funky flavor to the meat?

2. Is adding water to the sand necessary, or is there already enough moisture in it? (I realize that water may need to be added during the smoking process)

Since this is my first attempt at using sand, I was just curious how the seasoned (no pun intended

) users of sand so it.

Thanks!

dirtsailor2003 · Jul 25, 2013

Yep just plain old play sand is fine. You do not need to add any water to it. I smoke all my meats in a "dry" smoke chamber. You will want to cover the sand with foil.

pcpro215 · Jul 25, 2013

Thanx for the reply!

Just curious. What's with the foil cover?

dirtsailor2003 · Jul 25, 2013

Keeps the sand clean.

pcpro215 · Jul 26, 2013

Yeah. The answer came to me about 5 mins after I posted my question.

hambone1950 · Jul 26, 2013

And just to give another alternative , I use a brick wrapped in foil and it works very well as a heat sink.
I foil my water pan and the foil wrapped brick goes in....the smoker chugs along at 250 very nicely.

:grilling_smilie:

ballagh · Jul 26, 2013

My SS commercial fridge smoker I just built has a 1" granite slab in the bottom. Holds heat very well. And super easy to clean. I can shut my smoker down and 2 hours later it is still at 200 degrees. Uses hardly any pellets.

Sent from my Sony Xperia Z

ravenclan · Jul 26, 2013

took my water pan out and just use sand , like it was said above , covered in foil to keep it clean. the water pan is to help keep the chamber up to temp when you open the door to add wood or to just peek at the meat.

after i took out the water my chamber seems to stay alot cleaner and i have plenty of moisture from the meat

bobank03 · Jul 26, 2013

Will this work in any kind of smoker? I have a charcoal ECB and I am also contemplating the switch to either sand or some other sort of heat sink. I sort of like the foiled bricks idea.

dirtsailor2003 · Jul 26, 2013

bobank03 said:
Will this work in any kind of smoker? I have a charcoal ECB and I am also contemplating the switch to either sand or some other sort of heat sink. I sort of like the foiled bricks idea.

Yes it will work in your ECB.

smoking b · Jul 26, 2013

+1 on the sand from me

expat smoker · Jul 26, 2013

So the sand or bricks is only for a heat sink?? I always thought that the water tray was to keep the smoke chamber moist to keep the meat from drying out. Another function of the water tray is to catch the drippings, which can get pretty messy after a smoke and downright foul if you don't discard it the next day.

pc farmer · Jul 26, 2013

Hambone1950 said:
And just to give another alternative , I use a brick wrapped in foil and it works very well as a heat sink.
I foil my water pan and the foil wrapped brick goes in....the smoker chugs along at 250 very nicely.

I use a fire brick in my water pan in the MES.

bama bbq · Jul 26, 2013

I used to use water but someone suggested trying a pork butt with a foil wrapped clay saucer to get the bark I was looking for. I tried it and use it for most cooks now. I rarely use the lower food grate so I place a disposable foil pan below the food on the top grate to catch drippings.

flash · Jul 27, 2013

I use sand mainly thru the colder months. It gives you higher and more consistent temps in your smoker. I get the damp playbox sand and when ready for another smoke, add a cup of water and work it into the sand to moisten it up some. I think it makes the sand denser and keeps the temps more consistent.

ps0303 · Jul 27, 2013

I used bricks today for the first time. It seemed to work out great. I didn't have any sand when I went to start the smoker. I don't think I will be using water again.

bobank03 · Jul 28, 2013

I wrapped an old cobble stone with aluminum foil and put it in my water pan and found that my ECB held pretty good temps at 250 4-5 hours long with minimal attention.

2013-07-27 12.06.08.jpg

bobank03
Jul 28, 2013

2013-07-27 12.10.21.jpg

bobank03
Jul 28, 2013

No more water for me!

mike65 · Jul 28, 2013

bobank03 said:
I wrapped an old cobble stone with aluminum foil and put it in my water pan and found that my ECB held pretty good temps at 250 4-5 hours long with minimal attention.

2013-07-27 12.06.08.jpg

bobank03

Jul 28, 2013

2013-07-27 12.10.21.jpg

bobank03

Jul 28, 2013

No more water for me!

Bob, If you no longer use water, what are you using to keep the meat moist? With my last smoke for the Pork Butt, I soaked Pecan and Cherry Chips in the water pan. I find once the water boils the taste goes in the meat.

mikelikessmoke · Jul 28, 2013

Low and slow naturally keeps the meat moist and tender.

Also steam from the water boiling off disguises the amount of smoke you are actually producing as well as softens the bark to where it never really develops properly.

At least that was my experience before I quit using water in my pan.

kingfishcam · Jul 28, 2013

I have been using foil pans for the meat all the time now. Still get a great smoke, and zero mess. Also makes foiling process easy.

Water and sand

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