Sand No, Aqua Si

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My experiment of replacing water with sand is over. During a cook yesterday the temp was at 330 with all bottom vents closed. I dumped the sand and replaced with cool water. Temp stabilized at 260.

Perhaps different grades of sand have different heat absorbing qualities? I was using horticultural grade - kind of sharp.
 
Never heard that complaint from sand users before. Using cool water rather than hot certainly helped bring down the temperature. I would be interested in other details of the setup-- how much charcoal and what kind (briquet, lump); cooker in full sun or shade; the outdoor temperature at the time; new WSM or one with 10 or more usages?
 
Don't give up after one try!

Consider the other factors Doug D mentions.

Try running the WSM in the shade. I use a patio umbrella in a makeshift stand I fabricated. Did you use the Minion method or all briquets burning first? If the latter, try using fewer briquets. I had the same problem on the first runs with sand in my modified kettle (like a large WSM). I have yet to fire up my new WSM. /infopop/emoticons/icon_frown.gif I know, I know, I will soon. I fired up my aunt's WSM though, with sand in the pan. Worked great! Minion method, little over 1/2 ring of briquets and 9 1/2 hours steady at 240F.

I've found the sand to be especially helpful on long runs - no water to replenish and terrific temp. stabilizer.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> I would be interested in other details of the setup-- how much charcoal and what kind (briquet, lump); cooker in full sun or shade; the outdoor temperature at the time; new WSM or one with 10 or more usages?
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Doug -

I followed the instructions in the cooking section for the "Salmon - Brown Sugar Rub" recipe.

Charcoal was Kingsford briquettes. Used one full Weber chimney full of lit coals plus about one half of unlit coals that I let ash over before putting the cooker together. The cooker was in full sun, but I'm about a quarter of a mile from the beach in northern Cal - the sun here isn't very intense. Outdoor temp was probably in the low 70's and it was kinda breezy. Cooker is new with 3 previous cooks on it. And I put in 4 good-sized chunks of apple wood.

By the time I got around to replacing the sand with water I'd taken about one half of the lit charcoal out of the chamber. The cooker temp still wouldn't come down. To reiterate, the bottom vents were closed.

I'm not giving up on sand entirely; I don't relish replenishing water in the wee hours! But until I've mastered temp control with water I won't be using sand.

The salmon, btw, was good but I've made better on the grill with alder chips.

Thanks for the reply.
 
I think more unlit coals then lit coals like the minion method would solve your problem. I've only used my WSM once so far for ribs. But I've smoked a couple of pork shoulders on my 22.5" Weber kettle using the minion method. And this was with sand above the coals. It worked great. I was able to keep a grate temp of around 230f this way.
I have not used sand in my WSM yet. I will when I get around to buying some. The thought of having to refill water is not to appealing to me.
 
My take is that the combination of new cooker and not a lot of meat to absorb heat energy were the probable culprits. If your cook was only going to take a couple of hours, and your probably-not-too-sooty-yet WSM interior was reflecting heat back in to the cooker rather than conducting it out, you probably could have gotten away with firing up with just 3/4 to 1 chimneyfull.
 
David-

I've done lots of cooks with sand, and one thing that I've noticed is that you need to be more careful about controlling the temp on the way up. If you let that mass of sand get heated up to 300?+, you'll have a bear of a time ever getting it to come down.

I now use the "Lazy Minion" method.... Fill charcoal ring to top with unlit lump. Use MAPP gas torch in three spots to get coals going. Assemble cooker. Add meat at 175?. Add smoke wood to charcoal chamber. Start shutting vents at 200? (usually close one at this point) until temp stabilizes at about 230? or so depending on your target.

I have never tried the "traditional" method of firing up the WSM as Chris describes in many of his How-To's, but I would bet this was your problem with the sand method. Give it another try with the Minion method, and make sure you do your vent adjustment on the way up, not after you hit or exceed target temps.

BTW, I'm just on the other side of the hill from ya in Redwood City.

Good luck!

Rich G.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> I've done lots of cooks with sand, and one thing that I've noticed is that you need to be more careful about controlling the temp on the way up. If you let that mass of sand get heated up to 300?+, you'll have a bear of a time ever getting it to come down. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>With the bottom vents closed I don't know what else I could have done to keep the temp down. I'm coming to the opinion that the recommendations for how much charcoal to use are too high for my WSM; it seems to be super-efficient.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> BTW, I'm just on the other side of the hill from ya in Redwood City. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Did you know that Redwood City was designated as having the best weather in the US by the govt?
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Did you know that Redwood City was designated as having the best weather in the US by the govt? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>I think that was back in the '50s. I fear that they aren't testing it again for a reason.... /infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif

As far as temps in your WSM, I'm at a loss except to recommend the Minion Method for firing it up. That gives you the opportunity to have the cooker assembled as it comes up to temp, and to close down the vents before you get all that charcoal lit. Then you just allow enough oxygen to maintain your target temp, and to let the fire burn down through the rest of the charcoal througout the cook. I have had no problem getting 16-18 hours of consistent 230-250 degree temps from my WSM this way.

Have a foggy day! /infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif

Rich
 
Dave,

I'm here in SF, almost at Daly City. I'm not as close to the ocean as you but my neighborhood gets its share of wind and fog and we probably cook under similar conditions.

Anyway, a FULL chimmney is a lot of heat.

For overnight Minnion cooks I fire up a half chimmney, and rarely use all of it.

For shorter rib cooks, I use the most of the half chimney load.

My experience is that too much initial heat spreads too quickly over your unlit coals. I've had cooks where not even cool water works -- I've had to start shutting down the top vent too to snuff the fire out to a manageable point.

This is all with water, mind you. Haven't tried sand yet.

Try using fewer hot coals. Sometimes it takes your cooker longer to come up to temp, but for me it's easier to bring the temp up than it is to cool it back down. Particularly in our foggy/breezy conditions.
 
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