# Sand/water/lava rock as thermal mass



## Ringer (Sep 30, 2021)

I know this has been asked before but I've not seen it asked in reference to being used in a custom rf smoker.

If one wanted to stabilize and maintain consistent Temps inside the CC which media would you choose for a stick burning rf?


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## indaswamp (Sep 30, 2021)

I would use sand. But cover it with aluminum foil.


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## ravenclan (Sep 30, 2021)

I used sand in a pan covered with foil. Now I use firebrick covered in foil. The brick is easier to clean after you are done cooking and I had numerous times where the sand got "wet" from cooking and had to throw it away and get more.


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## Ringer (Sep 30, 2021)

ravenclan said:


> I used sand in a pan covered with foil. Now I use firebrick covered in foil. The brick is easier to clean after you are done cooking and I had numerous times where the sand got "wet" from cooking and had to throw it away and get more.


Does the fire brick perform as well as the sand?


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## JJS (Sep 30, 2021)

Are you building a smoker or modifying an existing smoker?

My big smoker I put a plate from burner box to opposite side, put fire brick on that and build a drip pan to go above that with a spigot out the bottom of the smoker. It stabilized the temp perfectly but took WAY longer to heat up


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## Ringer (Sep 30, 2021)

JJS said:


> Are you building a smoker or modifying an existing smoker?
> 
> My big smoker I put a plate from burner box to opposite side, put fire brick on that and build a drip pan to go above that with a spigot out the bottom of the smoker. It stabilized the temp perfectly but took WAY longer to heat up


I have built this smoker already. I was going to line the rf plate with some but it sounds like I don't want to add too many or it will never heat up.

Also this is for a long cook I have coming up. 4 brisket, 5 butts.


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## indaswamp (Sep 30, 2021)

Good thing about a heat sink like sand or fire brick is that you can preheat over the flame, them move to the cook chamber to speed things up.


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## ravenclan (Oct 1, 2021)

Ringer said:


> Does the fire brick perform as well as the sand?



Ringer,

Yes it does and I think better then the sand.


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## Ringer (Oct 1, 2021)

ravenclan said:


> Ringer,
> 
> Yes it does and I think better then the sand.


So how much of the reverse flow plate would you cover?

It will take 60 -  4.5 x 9 bricks to cover the entire plate.

Start with 30 to cover half?


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## ravenclan (Oct 1, 2021)

Ringer said:


> So how much of the reverse flow plate would you cover?
> 
> It will take 60 -  4.5 x 9 bricks to cover the entire plate.
> 
> Start with 30 to cover half?


Ringer,

think I would start with just ten to fifteen  first. All the bricks are for is to help steady the heat. Also if you use too many it will take the smoker longer to heat up.


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## Ringer (Oct 1, 2021)

ravenclan said:


> Ringer,
> 
> think I would start with just ten to fifteen  first. All the bricks are for is to help steady the heat. Also if you use too many it will take the smoker longer to heat up.


Perfect, thanks!!


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## Ringer (Oct 1, 2021)

ravenclan said:


> Ringer,
> 
> think I would start with just ten to fifteen  first. All the bricks are for is to help steady the heat. Also if you use too many it will take the smoker longer to heat up.


So I have a really good friend that runs several funeral homes in my area. He gifted me 16 huge ceramic fire bricks leftover from his crematory build.

I have outlined my hot spots below in red. Where would be the best location for the fire brick? The Temps run 25-30 degrees hotter in the red areas.


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## ravenclan (Oct 4, 2021)

Ringer said:


> So I have a really good friend that runs several funeral homes in my area. He gifted me 16 huge ceramic fire bricks leftover from his crematory build.
> 
> I have outlined my hot spots below in red. Where would be the best location for the fire brick? The Temps run 25-30 degrees hotter in the red areas.


I would put them over the hot spots first to try and dissipate  the hot spots first. I placed them in my smoker to see what would happen as far as temp and also to get rid of the hot spots. no hot spots equals a better cook and less worry.


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## Ringer (Oct 4, 2021)

ravenclan said:


> I would put them over the hot spots first to try and dissipate  the hot spots first. I placed them in my smoker to see what would happen as far as temp and also to get rid of the hot spots. no hot spots equals a better cook and less worry.


I will do this first. I'm hoping the effect will be 2 fold: eliminating hot spots and holding gathered heat in the CC longer.


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## Ringer (Oct 6, 2021)

Well, tomorrow is d day. Of course it's supposed to t storm tomorrow afternoon...

I put empty pans on top of the foil wrapped bricks. The pans take up most of the room between the bricks and the grate now. 

I did try to leave a little space between each pan so I hope It doesn't mess up the flow...


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## ravenclan (Oct 7, 2021)

Ringer said:


> Well, tomorrow is d day. Of course it's supposed to t storm tomorrow afternoon...
> 
> I put empty pans on top of the foil wrapped bricks. The pans take up most of the room between the bricks and the grate now.
> 
> I did try to leave a little space between each pan so I hope It doesn't mess up the flow...



Any pics?


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## Ringer (Oct 7, 2021)

No meat yet but the fire is on


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## Ringer (Oct 7, 2021)

Sorry here


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## Ringer (Oct 7, 2021)

All on, brisket dropped at 1 eastern and butts at 2.

Temps should settle in at 275 which is a little hotter than normal but I'm ready for this bad boy to be over. 

Don't get me wrong I love doing this or I wouldn't have put the time in to build a custom rig. I just have a ton going on and I committed to this month's ago.


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## ravenclan (Oct 7, 2021)

Ringer,

Did you do a test run to check your temps?


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## Ringer (Oct 7, 2021)

Not with the bricks.

It's holding steady around 250 to 275 it crept up to 300 once but I'm not concerned. When I put the 8 butts on it dropped to 200 but an hour later it got back up in range.

I'm going a little hotter than normal to speed things up a bit.

I'll open it up and do a meat probe to see where I'm at on Temps around 7 or so. Once it all hits 165 I'll wrap it in paper and finish it off.


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## ravenclan (Oct 8, 2021)

PICS!!!


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## Ringer (Oct 8, 2021)

ravenclan said:


> PICS!!!



These were taken as it went on and again mid cook. 

I didn't take any finished pictures as I'm not the one slicing or pulling. 

Went on at 1 pm yesterday, finished at 430 this morning, no wrapping until it was finished.


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## ravenclan (Oct 8, 2021)

Ringer,
That looks outstanding!!!


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## Ringer (Oct 9, 2021)

Tha


ravenclan said:


> Ringer,
> That looks outstanding!!!


Thanks, pardon the hack job on the slicing. I wasn't present for that. I'm told it was a hit and everyone loved it. Thanks to everyone for coaching me along the way.


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## 1MoreFord (Oct 9, 2021)

I'm not sure fire bricks or sand over/around your hot spots are the answer.  In the short term yes because it will take longer to heat up but in the long run they will get just as hot as the original hot spot and remain hot longer.  I'd put water pans in the hot spots since water pans were originally used to control temps in water smokers and not to introduce extra moisture as the ole wife's tales go.


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