"TT" <.> wrote in message ...
>I am considering filling my WSM water pan with sand covered with foil. This
>sounds like a good idea from what I have read, but are there downsides?
>
> 1) If I do this, will it become more difficult to keep the temperature
> down to 250ish?
>
> 2) Will it be necessary to mop?
>
> Thanks,
> Tom


You will find that the temperature of the WSM is much more stable using sand
than with using water in the pan. That said, it also changes much more
slowly too. You may need to adjust your operating technique to compensate
for the increased mass. With water, I used to let my WSM go above 250
before throwing the food on, it would then drop to 250. With sand, if it
goes above 250, it takes a long time to come back down. So now my technique
is to bring the temp up to 200 or so, throw on the food, and let it rise
slowly without overshooting 225-250 or so.

The food I've cooked seems no different to me using sand than using water.
The convenience, however, is great-- no refills on long cooks, no messy
water to dispose of (cover the sand with two layers of *foil* and then throw
the top layer away after the cook- instant cleanup.

If you really want no-hassle long cooks, use the Minion method with sand in
the pan and a Pitminder controller. I've done 18-20 hour cooks with this
setup and literally not had to do a thing but eat when the food was done.

Now, isn't someone gonna tell the OP he shoulda bought a Klamado?