I never do a snake method, so want opinions. Two leaning rows on the bottom, one on top. Had some leftover pecan chunks I threw on at the beginning.
Ill start it in a couple of hours. Tips are appreciated.
by kppaynter
8 Comments
blarneyrubble07
Do you have a drip pan?
ahhhwhereditgo
100% use a…9×11? Size pan for drippings. Fill it with an inch or so of water. Fits right inside a ring up to 3/4+ around (enough for 8-10 hrs of smoking). Also acts as a slight heat deflector. Keeps the sweepers for cleaning out nice and smooth too.
I’d also maybe split the large chunk and use the first half immediately at the start of the snake and add a 3-4 inch gap to the second chunk. I usually dump my first piece of wood after the 10 briquettes I start in the chimney start to ash over in the chimney for 5 minutes or so
It’s already a small cooking area so huge amounts of wood aren’t needed. The wood itself is the one anomaly which will cause drastic swings in temp with the snake method as well.
So basically wood chunks half those size spread 3-4 inches apart for the first 1/3 of the snake. 10-12 briquettes to start. I leave the first 8 or so (4 deep) single layer and overlap with the lit ones. 2×1 holds 225-275 pretty easy.
RoundingDown
I make the briquettes a bit more vertical. I can get nearly 12 hours out of a snake with a 2 by 1 setup.
pincolnl1ves
Get it settled that 250, then add meat
jkalber87
You might want to space out the wood chunks a tad farther apart. If they are too close there is a chance they will ignite together and cause temp spikes. Here is a picture of how I usually do it.
I’ve done this exact snake a couple of times. I find it harder to hit temps because there’s not enough fuel burning at one given time and the wind takes away alot of the heat out of the kettle.
Next time I’m smoking I’ll use double stacked vertically
GovernmentLow4989
I think you want a fatter snake, you want to spread your wood out a little bit more, and you probably want to add a drip pan. It would work though
Naked_in_Maine
Perfect but I prefer wood chips. More uniform smoke.
8 Comments
Do you have a drip pan?
100% use a…9×11? Size pan for drippings. Fill it with an inch or so of water. Fits right inside a ring up to 3/4+ around (enough for 8-10 hrs of smoking). Also acts as a slight heat deflector. Keeps the sweepers for cleaning out nice and smooth too.
I’d also maybe split the large chunk and use the first half immediately at the start of the snake and add a 3-4 inch gap to the second chunk. I usually dump my first piece of wood after the 10 briquettes I start in the chimney start to ash over in the chimney for 5 minutes or so
It’s already a small cooking area so huge amounts of wood aren’t needed. The wood itself is the one anomaly which will cause drastic swings in temp with the snake method as well.
So basically wood chunks half those size spread 3-4 inches apart for the first 1/3 of the snake. 10-12 briquettes to start. I leave the first 8 or so (4 deep) single layer and overlap with the lit ones. 2×1 holds 225-275 pretty easy.
I make the briquettes a bit more vertical. I can get nearly 12 hours out of a snake with a 2 by 1 setup.
Get it settled that 250, then add meat
You might want to space out the wood chunks a tad farther apart. If they are too close there is a chance they will ignite together and cause temp spikes. Here is a picture of how I usually do it.
https://preview.redd.it/6ojo5us7wtgf1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=182aa670b606d0315f279a8aab55c0bbfcbb5330
I’ve done this exact snake a couple of times. I find it harder to hit temps because there’s not enough fuel burning at one given time and the wind takes away alot of the heat out of the kettle.
Next time I’m smoking I’ll use double stacked vertically
I think you want a fatter snake, you want to spread your wood out a little bit more, and you probably want to add a drip pan. It would work though
Perfect but I prefer wood chips. More uniform smoke.