RockPyle wrote:
> With St. Patrick's Day coming up, Corned Beef went on sale at the
> local meat playground (Cattleman's Meats in Taylor, MI). A buddy and
> I went Friday to pick up a couple of corned briskets and I also got a
> hunk o' shoulder.
>
> So today I woke up bright and early to make pastrami and pulled pork.
> I have a Brinkmann Square vertical smoker with a Home Depot Stainless
> grilling wok as my firepan and today was the day I was going to forego
> the water in the pan and switch to sand.
>
> It was a remarkably positive switch. I bought some playsand and
> filled the water pan to about 1 inch from the top, covered the pan in
> heavy duty foil and put a pie pan also covered in HD foil over the
> middle.
>
> When I fired up the coals, I left the bottom vents at 1/4 open, where
> I usually run the unit with water in the pan. As it stabilized, it
> was up around 300*F, so I closed the vents all the way (but it is
> still not very well sealed). What a difference! The temperature
> stayed between 260* and 275* and the coals lasted *forever*! I added
> much less fuel than usual over the cook, and not having to add water
> was really nice. I had a quicker than usual cook as well, 9 hours to
> 194* on the pork and 188* on the brisket. I expect to spend less heat
> heating water, but I'll keep an eye on future cooks to see if they
> really get quicker (my usual brisket/pulled pork time is 11 hours).
>
> I am a believer in sand in the pan now! I expected more drippings in
> the pie pan, but was happy to wrap the foil up and discard cleanly.
>
> I am taking pics, and may find a way to post them.
>
> Time to go eat!!!!
>
> Rock

Hi Rock,

I have a Brinkman Gourmet bullet smoker and switched to sand on the
expert advice of my AFB gurus. It is far superior to the sand, however,
I found that I had to lessen the amount of sand as the temperature was
getting too high. I now know just how much sand I need to maintain the
temperature I want in the smoker.

Congratulations and if there is any leftover pastrami, I'd be glad to
help you out with it.

--
Janet Wilder
Way-the-heck-south Texas
Spelling doesn't count. Cooking does.