Brisket, bottom grate and sand

[John Mason]

Just pondering the sand vs. water in the pan issue.

I did a cook with a brisket on the bottom (first and only brisket I've tried) and three pork butts on the top grate. I used sand in the pan and the bottom of the brisket was kinda dry. I was thinking maybe if I'd used water in the pan in that situation it wouldn't have dried out so much, but being so close to the heat of the dry sand gave me a new definition of the word "bark".

Another thought, I didn't do anything to the brisket during the cook, like baste or flip. My problem is what to do with the top grate if I take it off to access the contents of the bottom grate. So I rarely use the bottom grate.

Anyone have experience using sand for some cooks and water for others? And what to do with the top grate when accessing the bottom?

 

[Tom Raveret]

i usually take the lid off of one of my kettles and move it over there for the few seconds I'm either flipping turning or mopping my bottom grate meat

 

[Jim Minion]

John
Sand does radiate heat unlike water so you need to plan for it. If you don't want to flip during the cook then cook fat side down.
Jim

 

[Jim_W]

John, I tried the sand pan this past Sunday. I lost my temp control right away. I should have done my homework before trying it. I have since found out that I will need to start out with fewer lit coals (using MM) than with water. Also need to start with bottom vents closed and adjust to RAISE temps rather than starting with vents open and trying to LOWER temps. I will use a bit more sand next time. I only had half a pan (weber water pan) of sand. I might try my (brinkman coal pan) half full next time. This should give me a larger heat sink to work with.

Regards, Jim

 

[Kevin Taylor]

John.....

When cooking in that configuration...butts on top of brisket....that is a great time to cook your brikset fat side down......just like Jim mentioned.

You have the protection of the fat cap underneath and the top of the brisket is on auto mop via the butts.

Perfect conditions.

More and more cooks are experimenting with flipping the brisket so the fat side is down at some time during the cook.

 

[John Mason]

Thanks everyone! Dumb me, I didn't even think of dragging my kettle over and using it for a temporary top grate holder, Doh!

I'll try a couple more briskets - one with the fat side down and one with water in the pan and see how they turn out.

Nothing better than a good excuse to do more BBQin' experiments. And at my level, they're all experiments! LOL /infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif

 

[Dave Lewis]

I use an old metal TV tray to set my top grate on when I want to access the bottom grate. Its easier to cart around than my kettle.

I use sand for everything except brisket. Briskets are hit and miss with me and I want all the help I can get to keep that bugger moist. So, I stick with water when cooking a brisket. Others may disagree and say that the water in the pan does nothing for the internal moisture of the meat, and they may be right. But using water can't hurt and it may help, so I stick with water for briskets. Sort of my own superstition I suppose.

 

[Doug D]

I just use my chimney to set the top grate on if need be, but I can usually deal with most things thru the access door. In rare cases, I sometimes use tongs to spin the bottom grate around to get to things on the opposite side, although care must be exercised not to upset the water pan.