I’ve Got Sand…and Rocks
I’m going to jump into the fray over what you put in the pan in your smoker and tell you that I don’t have water there. Several years ago, I was reading in forums about various improvements and conversions to make to the venerable Weber bullet smoker. This was after my own experience of the hassle involved trying to refill the pan, steam condensing and running down the insides, and the messy cleanup.
After thoughtful deliberation and considering all I’d read, I decided a few things:
- One, the water is functioning more as a thermal mass than a humidifier.
- Two, the less I have to fiddle with my thermal mass, the better.
- Three, the more stable I can make my thermal mass, the better I can smoke meat.
Since I rub and/or inject all my meats, I’m able to contain most of the moisture that’s in the meat. I don’t need a rain storm in my smoker. I also don’t like the prospect of constantly having to babysit my smoker or its setup. Finally, the more I have to mess with the smoker, the more heat loss, the more fuel consumed, AND the more temperature fluctuations.
I bought some sterile sand at the orange box and filled the pan to within an inch of the top. Next, I covered it with two layers of heavy duty aluminum foil, pushed down to conform to the top of the sand. This makes a nice pool to catch the drippings, which I then take up with that foil layer and throw away nice and tidy. I use sand in my Char-Broil electric smoker, and if space permits, a sand pan below my meat and a lava rock-filled pan above my meat in my upright Brinkmann smoker.
If I have room temp meat, I pre-heat my smokers up to thirty minutes. If the meat is still a bit cold, I put it in to warm up with the sand pan. I don’t add smoke to cold meat situations, to help avoid smoke condensing on the moisture that happens.
The results?1- Stable temps that require less fuel to maintain. 2- Very little temperature flux from the times I open the smoker. 3- Much less mess. 4- Meat that is still moist 5- No risk of creosote or numb tongue.
More here.
Filed under: BBQ, Best Smoked Ribs, Smoking Pork Ribs
