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Wok & Sand?

yzzi
yzzi Posts: 1,843
I've seen a couple things on here recently about people filling up their wok with sand. I'm guessing to act as a heat sink, but can anyone enlighten me more on this and what uses it has?
Dunedin, FL
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Comments

  • Focker
    Focker Posts: 8,364
    I used to put sand in my WSM as a heat sink.  Using it now in the wok for the same reasons.  A little bit of security between the food and the fire.  Also, it does not require as much energy/charcoal when baking with a platesetter and stone.  So far, it works.  I may even try a cook with an empty wok?
    Brandon
    Quad Cities
    "If yer gonna denigrate, familiarity with the subject is helpful."

  • do you use just beach sand, or agricultural sand? and how far up do you fill it? 
  • caliking
    caliking Posts: 18,727
    Unless you have a ready supply of sand available, play sand is usually easy to find at HD or Lowes.

    #1 LBGE December 2012 • #2 SBGE February  2013 • #3 Mini May 2013
    A happy BGE family in Houston, TX.
  • Doc_Eggerton
    Doc_Eggerton Posts: 5,321
    W?  Sand hurts my teeth.

    XXL #82 out of the first 100, XLGE X 2, LBGE (gave this one to daughter 1.0) , MBGE (now in the hands of iloveagoodyoke daughter 2.0) and lots of toys

  • Chubbs
    Chubbs Posts: 6,929
    Umm yeah. No clue what you guys are talking about. Please enlighten those of us who are a bottle of wine deep. Thanks
    Columbia, SC --- LBGE 2011 -- MINI BGE 2013
  • Focker
    Focker Posts: 8,364
    edited April 2013

    Another benefit I've found is the dome shape of the wok pushes the heat around the edges instead of blasting a flat indirect stone or platesetter.

    Also brings the grid up higher than a standard setup with the platesetter

    Brandon
    Quad Cities
    "If yer gonna denigrate, familiarity with the subject is helpful."

  • Focker
    Focker Posts: 8,364
    edited April 2013
    do you use just beach sand, or agricultural sand? and how far up do you fill it? 
    I used Playsand from Lowe's, right now the wok and sand weigh 8lbs.  Just enough to fill the bottom of a 16" wok.  Not sure if sand is necessary, but I feel better having a barrier of sand, and air.  A 16" carbon steel wok can be had for $10 and change at thewebrestaurantstore.com.  Much cheaper than a platesetter and covers more area.  
    Brandon
    Quad Cities
    "If yer gonna denigrate, familiarity with the subject is helpful."

  • Focker
    Focker Posts: 8,364
    Chubbs said:
    Umm yeah. No clue what you guys are talking about. Please enlighten those of us who are a bottle of wine deep. Thanks

    @Chubbs,

    Been using the spider inverted with a 16" carbon steel wok with sand as an indirect barrier during pizza cooks and baking. 

    Brandon
    Quad Cities
    "If yer gonna denigrate, familiarity with the subject is helpful."

  • Chubbs
    Chubbs Posts: 6,929
    I got you. Interesting. Been working well?
    Columbia, SC --- LBGE 2011 -- MINI BGE 2013
  • Focker
    Focker Posts: 8,364
    Yeah, pushes the heat to the edges and protects the steel/stone.  Raises the grid higher into the "sweet spot" on the large. 
    Brandon
    Quad Cities
    "If yer gonna denigrate, familiarity with the subject is helpful."

  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,657
    at real high heats it sends the heat fast up into the dome without interference of the flat shape of the platesetter, you can get a blue fireball to hover over the pizza stone. makes it more like a wood fired pizza oven where the dome is hotter than the floor/pizza stone. ive gone as high as 1200 dome temp for pizza with that setup. its my standard pizza setup for really thin crust pizza
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
  • MrCookingNurse
    MrCookingNurse Posts: 4,665
    I was so confused.


    _______________________________________________

    XLBGE 
  • freduc2
    freduc2 Posts: 73
    Me too!
    LBGE, Weber Performer. Located in Franklin County Pa.
  • at real high heats it sends the heat fast up into the dome without interference of the flat shape of the platesetter, you can get a blue fireball to hover over the pizza stone. makes it more like a wood fired pizza oven where the dome is hotter than the floor/pizza stone. ive gone as high as 1200 dome temp for pizza with that setup. its my standard pizza setup for really thin crust pizza

    sold
    Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
  • rcone
    rcone Posts: 219
    Could anyone provide pictures of this setup. 
    "Feed me, or feed me to something; I just want to be part of the food chain" Al Bundy

    LBGE, SBGE, Carson Rotisserie, Blackstone Griddle  

    Milwaukee, Wisconsin 
  • Focker
    Focker Posts: 8,364
    This is the baking steel setup I have been using.
    Brandon
    Quad Cities
    "If yer gonna denigrate, familiarity with the subject is helpful."

  • rcone
    rcone Posts: 219
    Thanks
    "Feed me, or feed me to something; I just want to be part of the food chain" Al Bundy

    LBGE, SBGE, Carson Rotisserie, Blackstone Griddle  

    Milwaukee, Wisconsin 
  • yzzi
    yzzi Posts: 1,843
    Very interesting, thanks for sharing this.
    Dunedin, FL
  • tazcrash
    tazcrash Posts: 1,852
    @Focker, ok, I get the wok, get the sand, I guess my question is why the copper T's, unless it's just to get a bit higher.....into the dome 

    Bx - > NJ ->TX!!! 
    All to get cheaper brisket! 
  • Skiddymarker
    Skiddymarker Posts: 8,522
    Finally a good use for a wok on the egg! (just kidding) As a propane burner wokker, I could never understand the use of a Wok on the egg, some folks really like it. This is a neat idea that appears to be an "adjustable" plate setter. 
    Delta B.C. - Whiskey and steak, because no good story ever started with someone having a salad!
  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,657
    my setup is a little more heavey duty, its a tank end, but it works the same. it works better than a platesetter at high temps. i dont put an air space any more, my stone sits right on the sand

    image

    this shows how hot and how fast the heat rises, yes there is a pizza in there
    :D now dont open that dome while im making pizza

    image
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
  • tazcrash
    tazcrash Posts: 1,852
    edited April 2013
    Jeez, how do you get it out? 



    ^:)^


    Bx - > NJ ->TX!!! 
    All to get cheaper brisket! 
  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,657

    tazcrash said:
    Jeez, how do you get it out? 

    you just have to go for it and you have to do it three times because it needs to be rotated 180 once during the 53 seconds for the total cook. gloves, tin cloth jacket. oh, and your shaking from the adrenalin rush the whole time
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
  • travisstrick
    travisstrick Posts: 5,002
    Fish, you got pics of the sand in use? I can't quite wrap my brain around how thus works.
    Be careful, man! I've got a beverage here.
  • BigWader
    BigWader Posts: 673
    @fishlessman I'm guessing that egg has no gasket whatsoever! :ar!

    Toronto, Canada

    Large BGE, Small BGE

     

  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,657
    this is the only pic that i have that somewhat explains it and i dont put the grill in there anymore, just fill to the top with sand and sit the stone on the sand. when it gets up to about 1200, 1000 degree gage wrapped around, you can look thru the top and see the blue flames hovering above the pizza like a broiler. my egg sits in a hill so i can get far enough above it to look down into it. the pies i was cooking were thin, 3 to a dough ball. i dont know why with all my pics i dont have the setup in the egg in my collection. its set on the spider legs down

    image

    image

    this is what an old dirty egg looks like afterwards

    image


    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,657
    i should put a warning in here

    THE DOME BANDS EXPAND AT HIGH TEMPS AND THE DOME CAN FALL OUT
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
  • Black_Badger
    Black_Badger Posts: 1,182
    @fishlessman That after pic is amazing...

    I was asking about sand in a drip pan last week as a way to prevent flares and also deflect direct heat. With that in mind, do you use this setup for anything aside from pizza? Do you reuse the sand? 

    Thanks for this thread, it's a really good one.

    Cheers -
    B_B
    Finally back in the Badger State!

    Middleton, WI
  • i should put a warning in here

    THE DOME BANDS EXPAND AT HIGH TEMPS AND THE DOME CAN FALL OUT

    Centex can confirm this. My pizza looked like the @mickey charcoal chicken wings we ordered out that evening. Prett hard to open a 1200 degree egg without a handle or bands attached :).
    Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,657
    @fishlessman That after pic is amazing...

    I was asking about sand in a drip pan last week as a way to prevent flares and also deflect direct heat. With that in mind, do you use this setup for anything aside from pizza? Do you reuse the sand? 

    Thanks for this thread, it's a really good one.

    Cheers -
    B_B
    its the same sand for the last several years, i figure its now sanitized
    :)) i dont use it for anything else but with all the xtra heat mass it would be good for bread baking, alot better than the platesetter would be
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it