sand?

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tndawg

Smoke Blower
Original poster
Sep 9, 2009
119
12
Thomsons Station, TN
I'm thinking about trying some sand in the water bowl. I understand the whys and what fors, but am confused on the actual sand.

do I use regular sand I can get at Home Depot....or do I need some kind of "special" sand???????

Thanks for your help!!!!!!
 
Regular play sand from Home Depot will work just foil over the top to keep it from getting nasty
 
Any sand will work, or even rocks.
 
Plain old kiddy's play sand...sold in 40lb bags in most home centers will do fine...any yellow/gold colored (washed) sand will work, regardless of grain size.

Eric
 
I take the depot style sand and spread out what fits in my water bowl on a sheet and put in my gas grill at highest setting for 10 minutes or so.Stir it around....Then use for smoking-who knows,could get mexican swine something .........


Can be some nasties in sand-i clean my homegrown veggies/herbs etc like a beeotch!!!

Cleanest/organic dirt can kill you.....storebought sand in the dangerzone....Paranoid i guess...

Good idea to foil top of pan so you can re-use.......
 
True dat! I have lava rock in my ecb's water pan....makes a big difference in how stable the temps are....
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L8r,
Eric
 
In addition, those ceramic briquettes work nicely, and in my Perfect Flame, a single stove brick fits in the pan too.

Washed play sand from building supply stores is what is usually advised.

But that foil will probably fail eventually, and once your sand is grease/drippings soaked, it will be a pain.
Use clean rocks, ceramic briquettes, or a stove brick and they will be a lot easier to clean when they get greasy.
 
GrueLurks
It takes a much, much higher heat to make sand/lava rock/ceramic brick evaporate; as water evaporates at very low heat.
 
Regular play sand or builders sand is good to use in your smoker. Like everyone here said you can use rocks, sand, lava rocks too.
 
What does the sand/lava rock/ceramic brick offer over water? Much more stable and consistent temps.
 
Plus you can still do some smoking in really cold weather with sand, while water will not allow you the higher temps you can achieve with sand. You can also reuse the sand as long as you covered it with foil during the first smoke. Just add some water and stir it around to the same consistency you had to start with. In Florida, we can use playbox sand year round with our high humidity. Though I usually spritz more when using sand.
 
just don't use the sand from the kitty box!
i use bricks in the chip box and water for the drippings.........
 
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