Hi;

Friday, I'm going to bbq a pork shoulder and a small spatchcocked
turkey in my WSMC. I'm going to try using sand in the water tray,
after reading about the technique in this NG.

I have questions though:

How much sand? Fill the water tray?

How long does it take to heat up to and equilibrate at cooking
temperature?

Anything esle I need to know?

THanks a heap.
-Zz

"Zz Yzx" > wrote in message
...
> Hi;
>
> Friday, I'm going to bbq a pork shoulder and a small spatchcocked
> turkey in my WSMC. I'm going to try using sand in the water tray,
> after reading about the technique in this NG.
>
> I have questions though:
>
> How much sand? Fill the water tray?
>
> How long does it take to heat up to and equilibrate at cooking
> temperature?
>
> Anything esle I need to know?
>
when I 1st had a wsm did use sand--especially in the winter--seemed to hold
heat a bit better. Since just covered the mt pan with foil to catch the fat.
If you wnat to use sand would recomend about a 1/2 pan covered with
foil--fire may have a tendency to get hotter then you are used to with water

Buzz

"Zz Yzx" > wrote in message
...
> Hi;
>
> Friday, I'm going to bbq a pork shoulder and a small spatchcocked
> turkey in my WSMC. I'm going to try using sand in the water tray,
> after reading about the technique in this NG.
>
> I have questions though:
>
> How much sand? Fill the water tray?
>
> How long does it take to heat up to and equilibrate at cooking
> temperature?
>
> Anything esle I need to know?

Fill about 1/3 to 1/2 with sand and put foil over the top to keep the grease
out of it. It will take about the same time to heat up as water.

I fill mine to about 3/4, but with more rendering meat on the rack,
maybe a little less is in order. The foil is a must, and do yourself
a favor and use >heavy duty< foil to cover it, not just the regular
foil. If it is full of gunk, you can simply pull off the heavy duty
foil and pitch it as opposed to tearing off the regular thickness foil
and contaminating your sand.

A couple of comments on the sand. Try to get clean, dry sand from one
of the home stores. Don't use dirty sand from the kiddo's box (also
known as the neighborhood cat box) or from a wet source like the beach
or creek bank.
I have read some hilarious comments about those practices, but only
hilarious because I didn't do them.

If you haven't tried sand in the WSM before, you are gonna love it.
My experience has been much less fuel on long cooks, and much less
temp movement than with water. On my last brisket, I went 6 hours
without even looking in, and almost 10 hours without adding fuel. The
longer I can keep that thing covered and working without my attention
the better I like it.

Robert

Edwin Pawlowski wrote:

> Fill about 1/3 to 1/2 with sand and put foil over the top to keep the grease
> out of it. It will take about the same time to heat up as water.


That's been my experience as well. Be sure to used the
washed playground sand.


--
Steve
http://adirondackoutdoors.forumcircle.com

Zz Yzx wrote:
> Hi;
>
> Friday, I'm going to bbq a pork shoulder and a small spatchcocked
> turkey in my WSMC. I'm going to try using sand in the water tray,
> after reading about the technique in this NG.
>
> I have questions though:
>
> How much sand? Fill the water tray?
>
> How long does it take to heat up to and equilibrate at cooking
> temperature?
>
> Anything esle I need to know?
>
> THanks a heap.
> -Zz


If you use water in your pan you have rocks in your head... sand is the
bomb!

Steve Calvin wrote:
> Edwin Pawlowski wrote:
>
>> Fill about 1/3 to 1/2 with sand and put foil over the top to keep the
>> grease out of it. It will take about the same time to heat up as water.
>
>
> That's been my experience as well. Be sure to used the washed playground
> sand.
>
>

I like my natural bob cat sand down in the wash close to my home...
seems to be fine as long as you don't see any clumps.

Sonoran Dude wrote:
> Steve Calvin wrote:
>> Edwin Pawlowski wrote:
>>
>>> Fill about 1/3 to 1/2 with sand and put foil over the top to keep the
>>> grease out of it. It will take about the same time to heat up as water.
>>
>>
>> That's been my experience as well. Be sure to used the washed
>> playground sand.
>>
>>
>
> I like my natural bob cat sand down in the wash close to my home...
> seems to be fine as long as you don't see any clumps.

Whatever floats your boat but you have no idea what may be
in it. I'd recommend following the directions at the VWB site.

http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/wa...sage.html#sand

Fans of sand say it offers some of the temperature control
benefits of water, while eliminating the need to refill the
pan or deal with messy cleanup afterward.

Line the pan with a layer of wide, heavy-duty aluminum foil,
then fill 3/4 full with *clean, dry playground sand*
(Picture 1). Smooth the sand, then cover with two layers of
wide, heavy-duty aluminum foil (Picture 2).

Discard and replace the top layer of foil after each cook.
The sand can be used again and again, as long as the
drippings do not penetrate the second layer of foil.

Why line the pan with foil before adding the sand? Because
the sand turns as hard as concrete after several uses and is
almost impossible to remove without that layer of foil.

Be aware that sand has the same issue of radiated heat as
mentioned above for an empty pan. However, it takes a few
hours for the radiation effect to build-up as the sand heats.


--
Steve
http://adirondackoutdoors.forumcircle.com

Steve Calvin wrote:
> Sonoran Dude wrote:
>> Steve Calvin wrote:
>>> Edwin Pawlowski wrote:
>>>
>>>> Fill about 1/3 to 1/2 with sand and put foil over the top to keep
>>>> the grease out of it. It will take about the same time to heat up
>>>> as water.
>>>
>>>
>>> That's been my experience as well. Be sure to used the washed
>>> playground sand.
>>>
>>>
>>
>> I like my natural bob cat sand down in the wash close to my home...
>> seems to be fine as long as you don't see any clumps.
>
> Whatever floats your boat but you have no idea what may be in it. I'd
> recommend following the directions at the VWB site.
>
> http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/wa...sage.html#sand


I was getting bored with his video until he suggested the lining of the
empty pan an inch or two off the bottom to prevent burning turkey
drippings... great idea.

This got me to thinking about burning some herbs on the bottom of a
foiled pan (no water, no sand)A guy on the food network was showing how
you can use some old dried herbs to add a unique smoke to food on a
stove top... this maybe something I want to experiment with.. Anyone try
burning some herbs in the cooker? The only herbs i have smoked are
inhaled LOL

Nunya Bidnits wrote:
> "Sonoran Dude" > wrote
> %<
>> This got me to thinking about burning some herbs on the bottom of a
>> foiled pan (no water, no sand)A guy on the food network was showing how
>> you can use some old dried herbs to add a unique smoke to food on a
>> stove top... this maybe something I want to experiment with.. Anyone try
>> burning some herbs in the cooker? The only herbs i have smoked are
>> inhaled LOL
>>
> I grow a lot of culinary herbs. For the most part the suggestion won't do
> much good, since most of the herbs and leaves you grow are fairly twiggy and
> burn right up. However basil, grown over a full season, yields nice woody
> branching stalks (especially if you keep it trimmed when it tries to
> flower). Its almost like a small tree by fall, and you can get some tasty
> smoke from it. It still won't last nearly as long as wood chunks or log
> sections, so don't put it in until you are ready to start cooking. Otherwise
> I found that the dried leaves are basically useless because they burn up
> instantly, (unless wetted which makes bitter smoke). Winter savory grown as
> a perennial will yield some woody stalks after a couple years but the yield
> is far less than basil, and of course you would need to severely cut back a
> great perennial herb that took quite a bit of time to develop.
>
> I suppose you could wrap any of the dried herbs and stalks in foil and get
> more burn time, but I can't see the twiggy stuff or dried leaves holding up
> very long over a real fire, wrapped or not. If I remember on food network
> they have shown indoor smoking using both wood chips in foil, both in the
> over and on the stovetop, and a stainless smoker which is a deep stainless
> container with a fairly deep perforated insert. They put wood chips in the
> bottom, drop in the insert, then put in the food, salmon in the instances I
> have seen with that device. I can't comment on how dried herbs would perform
> in those devices.
>
> MartyB in KC
>
>
It was from the show the next food channel star or something like that..
It was a competition for an on camera cooking demo. The judges seemed to
like the flavor and he just took some old bottled herbs off the shelf.
The judges seemed to enjoy it but yes it was in a stainless cooker.

Marty - I grow a lot of basil, parsley, bay, tarragon and a couple of
others. You always seem to be busy experimenting with new recipes, so
here's something great to do with the basil stalks.

Strip them of leaves and branches and let them dry out a little until
they are stiff. (If they get really dry you may have to soak them
berfore using). Try using them as skewers for fast cooking items like
shrimp, scallops, etc. I did it for company, and it was a real hit.
Now that we are about at the end of the basil season, I'll have a lot
of new skewers on the way!

Robert.

Nunya Bidnits wrote:
> > wrote in message
> ...
>> Marty - I grow a lot of basil, parsley, bay, tarragon and a couple of
>> others. You always seem to be busy experimenting with new recipes, so
>> here's something great to do with the basil stalks.
>>
>> Strip them of leaves and branches and let them dry out a little until
>> they are stiff. (If they get really dry you may have to soak them
>> berfore using). Try using them as skewers for fast cooking items like
>> shrimp, scallops, etc. I did it for company, and it was a real hit.
>> Now that we are about at the end of the basil season, I'll have a lot
>> of new skewers on the way!
>>
>> Robert.
>>
>
> Good idea! Unfortunately the average hard frost around here is late
> October/early November, but the basil usually dies much sooner, when it hits
> about 34-36F with a bit of wind. So everything is frozen up around here, but
> come midsummer I should be able to give that a try.... putting it in my
> recipe folder!
>
> Never had much luck with bay, tried it from bedding plants a couple times.
> But I got the impression that it would make a pretty healthy woody stalk if
> it would just grow for me. The other one that seems to hate this location is
> cumin.
>
> thanks!
>
> MartyB in KC
>
>

look for a laurel tree. (same thing)

On Dec 14, 11:33 pm, "Nunya Bidnits" > wrote:

> Never had much luck with bay, tried it from bedding >plants a couple times. But I got the impression that it >would make a pretty healthy woody stalk if it would just >grow for me. The other one that seems to hate this >location is cumin.

Like Shawn said, try a laurel, or bay laurel plant. I got mine as an
old ugly one for $4 in a 5 gallon pot at the nursery at the end of
their season a few years ago. It is still in the pot, and you can't
kill it. It has survived our 100+ degree summers, our droughts, and
even two ice storms last year. It is a pretty plant, and likes its
pot, and makes more bay than I can use.

You know, I never thought about growing cumin. Around here so many
Mexican/latin dishes use it, that I always have on hand. Have you
actually harvested and ground the seeds before? THAT seems like a lot
of work.

I tried that growing coriander. Chinese parsley (from one species or
another) is used as celantro around here in South Texas. But when it
goes to seed, it makes a little round ball, and is the seeds are
called coriander. I like both, the bite of fresh celantro in sauces
and on tacos, and the perfume of toasted coriander on pork.

But getting those damn seeds and drying them was a pain. And then
getting enough to do anything with was worse. The Chinese market has
them fresh and cheap, so I eat the celatro and buy the coriander.

Don't know how many seeds it would take to make a bottle of ground
cumin up...

Robert

wrote:
> On Dec 14, 11:33 pm, "Nunya Bidnits" > wrote:
>
>> Never had much luck with bay, tried it from bedding >plants a couple times. But I got the impression that it >would make a pretty healthy woody stalk if it would just >grow for me. The other one that seems to hate this >location is cumin.
>
> Like Shawn said, try a laurel, or bay laurel plant. I got mine as an
> old ugly one for $4 in a 5 gallon pot at the nursery at the end of
> their season a few years ago. It is still in the pot, and you can't
> kill it. It has survived our 100+ degree summers, our droughts, and
> even two ice storms last year. It is a pretty plant, and likes its
> pot, and makes more bay than I can use.
>
> You know, I never thought about growing cumin. Around here so many
> Mexican/latin dishes use it, that I always have on hand. Have you
> actually harvested and ground the seeds before? THAT seems like a lot
> of work.
>
> I tried that growing coriander. Chinese parsley (from one species or
> another) is used as celantro around here in South Texas. But when it
> goes to seed, it makes a little round ball, and is the seeds are
> called coriander. I like both, the bite of fresh celantro in sauces
> and on tacos, and the perfume of toasted coriander on pork.
>
> But getting those damn seeds and drying them was a pain. And then
> getting enough to do anything with was worse. The Chinese market has
> them fresh and cheap, so I eat the celatro and buy the coriander.
>
> Don't know how many seeds it would take to make a bottle of ground
> cumin up...
>
> Robert

Idea, dig up the roots, and clean and dry them. Better flavor than the
seeds. At the end of the season, harvest the roots.

Nunya Bidnits wrote:

<snip>
> I forgot to mention earlier, but rosemary also yields some nice woody stalks
> if it gets mature enough. I can now get rosemary varieties that are hardy
> here for several seasons before some really severe freeze kills them off.
> They give up some great woody stalks which also make some tasty smoke.
>
Huh. Never thought of that. I've used the woody stalks as kabob
sticks, though.

My oldest rosemary plant made it through 5 winters. The sixth winter I
got all conscientious and raked away all the dead leaves and spent
foliage in the side garden and the poor thing croaked, probably due to
lack of insulation.