Sand. How much?

After seeing T-Roy Cooks' experiments comparing water, sand alone and sand & water I want to try using sand in my water pan. Can someone who has sand in their 22.5" WSM please tell me how much to buy? Do you fill the water pan with sand and then foil over it to keep grease drippings out of the sand or do you let it drio and replace the sand periodically? I was thing about buying a water pan cover from eBay and putting that above the sand.

Advice and suggestions will be gratefully received!

David

I would not put sand in my WSM, if I was paid a dollar per grain to do so. All you need to do is line your diffuser (bowl) with foil, so that it doesn't get all greasy during the cook. That's all you need to do

David, I am pretty new at using the WSM but have had good luck with the pan filled 2/3rds with sand. I then use foil over the sand to keep it from getting nasty. I bought a 50lb bag of quikrete play sand at lowes and used about half the bag.

Chuck... I'm with you !

I'm with Chuck and Bob. I don't see any real reason to use sand. More mass for more stable temps? Eh. It'll run stable enough without. It's just BBQ, a little variation in temperature won't hurt anything. Keep it simple!

Using A Water Pan In Weber Smokers: When To Use It, What To Put In It And How To Clean It

I don't encourage anyone to use sand in the WSM, but I tried it years ago and it's OK. I also did some measurements of cooker temp while cooking two chickens using water, sand and an empty pan, and you can see the results and charts here:

WSM Temperature Tests

Part of the fun of this hobby is trying new things, and if you think sand would be fun or good to try, then by all means do it.

Unfortunately, I have no clue how much sand you'll need in that 22.5" water pan. However, I'd suggest lining it with foil first, then add the sand, compact it by hand, then cover with a couple of layers of foil on top...you don't want grease in the sand. Then maybe put some kind of pan on top to catch the grease.

But see, to me, just describing the sand and foiling and grease catching pan...it's more work than is necessary. I see so many pros at BBQ competitions just use an empty foil lined pan and they produce award-winning 'que on the WSM. But it's all part of your own journey, your own preference, and your own fun!

My thanks to all for their replies. As Chris said, it is part of the fun to try new things!

David