Sat. night I did the test. I used equal amounts of Kingsford in each WSM (one full chimney + equal leftovers from last cook). My aim was to cook chicken parts at around 300* to see if I could get crisper skin. Since I wanted a higher temp I just over half filled one water pan with sand and put foil on top of it to catch the drippings. In the other pan I put one quart of apple juice and enough water to fill it to a little over half, now I deserved a beer.
I had four chicken breast halves and eight thighs which I brined (2 hours for the breast's, 1 1/2 hrs. for the thighs).
At 6:00 I started the fires and removed the chicken from the brine. Towelled off the chicken and let it air dry 'till 6:30 when I assembled the cookers with all vents open full and had another beer while I prepped the chicken with 'stuff'.
At 7:00 the lid temp on the water WSM was 350* and in the sand WSM I had a polder on the top rack which read hot -oops. I was now stuck with switching the lid probe back and forth. I spread the chicken equally on both top grates and put the lids on. -yup, beer time
I wasn't sure what the sand temp was so I put the lid probe there first. Ten minutes later it read 300*, I switched to the water unit and it was very close to the same. For the first half hour I switched the therm back and forth and both WSM's remained incedibly stable -or was it the beer.
At 8:30 I did my first inside check on the water WSM and found the internal temps to be slightly hotter than the sand. The sand unit was 160* in the breast and 170*'s in the thigh's. I wish I had done my check after the first hour. (what was I thinking, chicken..oven..300*) I sauced 'em, put the lids back on and paced back and forth, to the fridge for a beer, 'cause I felt they should be coming off the grills. Fifteen minutes later I had both top grills in the kitchen to check the temps in a more scientific environment -ya right! The temps for the sand chicken (not a racial slur) were far more consistant, both breast's 160* the thighs were hard to measure but felt done, the water cooked were a little hotter internal, 165* & 170* for the breast's. I had a couple of 'I can't wait' bites and they tasted real good -skin success! I put the chicken on seperate plates and foiled them for a little 10 minute rest -had another beer.
I tried testing for taste and tenderness with friends and there was no clear winner. The skin wasn't like 'grilled' crisp but it was better than anything I've done at 225* even with foiling. The spiced brine was not percectible but the meat was moist and flavorful. The skin was darker and had some crispness that was real good.
All and all, I like the sand. It was a lot easier to deal with, especially clean up, and seemed to cook more evenly. Since I still had lot's of coals left in the two units, I did what any beer thinking man would do, I put the coals together, added some fresh ones and threw on two pork butts with the sand assembly. If yer gonna do a test... The pork that came of the next day was moist and awesome. I'm a converted sandman.
All the best,
Dave
I had four chicken breast halves and eight thighs which I brined (2 hours for the breast's, 1 1/2 hrs. for the thighs).
At 6:00 I started the fires and removed the chicken from the brine. Towelled off the chicken and let it air dry 'till 6:30 when I assembled the cookers with all vents open full and had another beer while I prepped the chicken with 'stuff'.
At 7:00 the lid temp on the water WSM was 350* and in the sand WSM I had a polder on the top rack which read hot -oops. I was now stuck with switching the lid probe back and forth. I spread the chicken equally on both top grates and put the lids on. -yup, beer time
I wasn't sure what the sand temp was so I put the lid probe there first. Ten minutes later it read 300*, I switched to the water unit and it was very close to the same. For the first half hour I switched the therm back and forth and both WSM's remained incedibly stable -or was it the beer.
At 8:30 I did my first inside check on the water WSM and found the internal temps to be slightly hotter than the sand. The sand unit was 160* in the breast and 170*'s in the thigh's. I wish I had done my check after the first hour. (what was I thinking, chicken..oven..300*) I sauced 'em, put the lids back on and paced back and forth, to the fridge for a beer, 'cause I felt they should be coming off the grills. Fifteen minutes later I had both top grills in the kitchen to check the temps in a more scientific environment -ya right! The temps for the sand chicken (not a racial slur) were far more consistant, both breast's 160* the thighs were hard to measure but felt done, the water cooked were a little hotter internal, 165* & 170* for the breast's. I had a couple of 'I can't wait' bites and they tasted real good -skin success! I put the chicken on seperate plates and foiled them for a little 10 minute rest -had another beer.
I tried testing for taste and tenderness with friends and there was no clear winner. The skin wasn't like 'grilled' crisp but it was better than anything I've done at 225* even with foiling. The spiced brine was not percectible but the meat was moist and flavorful. The skin was darker and had some crispness that was real good.
All and all, I like the sand. It was a lot easier to deal with, especially clean up, and seemed to cook more evenly. Since I still had lot's of coals left in the two units, I did what any beer thinking man would do, I put the coals together, added some fresh ones and threw on two pork butts with the sand assembly. If yer gonna do a test... The pork that came of the next day was moist and awesome. I'm a converted sandman.
All the best,
Dave
