First go at Snake, any tips for next time?

[A Mars Reject]

So I tried low and slow using the snake method today. I set a snake four coals thick just over a third of the way round the coal grate, with a tray of hot water in the centre. I started it off with about 16/17 hot coals from the chimney, left it an hour or so till it reached just over 135C, then put my pork shoulder in.

The snake burned fine, but not as hot as I was expecting, pretty much 117 for the rest of the cook, which lasted about 5 hours (I ran out of time, the snake could've gone on another hour or so, I think). The internal temperature got to 67 by then, and I had to cut things off there. It was done nicely, but I was hoping to get it up to 88ish to finish.

So my questions are:
How do I get the snake hotter? Larger starting fire? thicker snake?
How do I control the temperature with the vents? Since it was cooler than I was expecting, I left the vents completely open pretty much all the time, following the fire with the top vent. I'm primed to expect that the more you close either vent, the cooler it gets, is that still the case with snakes?
What's the clearance on a 22" kettle charcoal grill? I'm practising snake as I'm hoping to do the Xmas turkey in the grill, so how big a bird am I limited to?

As a first go, not too bad, I thought, but could definitely do better!

[austin87]

I'm confused by "four coals thick" because most people stack coals. I like a 2x2 (2 coals on bottom, 2 coals on top). Here's a Coshell snake I set up. It's not as nice looking as others, due to the shape of the briquettes.



Keep all vents wide open. It sounds like you started with a lot of charcoal (10-12 seems pretty standard here) so maybe it has to do with your snake construction.

I don't think a snake is the best approach to a turkey. They are large and you want your temp at least 325 (sorry for Fahrenheit!) or the skin will be rubbery.

Practice with chicken for turkey, they behave similarly but are smaller and cook faster.

Welcome and good luck!

[A Mars Reject]

Ah, cheers, I'm the same as you, 2x2 is what I meant. Maybe I should try and find a small chimney, I have the large size and it was tricky getting a small amount of charcoal evenly lit in that.

Also, this is the UK temperature is about 19C here at the moment in the day, could that be a factor?

What would be better for turkey? I have a hinged grate, set up coal hoppers either side and top them up every hour or so? And if so, do I start them in the chimney before adding, or just pop them on top neat?

[demosthenes9]

I don't know about others, but the degrees in C really messes me up.   Give me a sec to go calc what temps you are talking about..... 

[demosthenes9]

ok, so you started out around 275 and dropped to 242 a bit later.  Ambient temp was about 66 degrees.   2x2 is a little light on the charcoal to run 275, especially given that it was 66 outside.  What happened is the 16/17 hot coals that you started with burnt down and then the 2x2 snake took over and temp  stabilized.   Next time, in similar conditions, you might try running 2x2x1 or 3x2.  You m,ight even go 3x3.

As for the vents, the wider open they are, the hotter you will run AND the faster the snake will burn out.    A 2x2 snake running w/vents wide open can get just as hot as a 3x3 with the vents mostly closed.  The 2x2 will burn out much faster though. 

[TheDude]

I'm confused by "four coals thick" because most people stack coals. I like a 2x2 (2 coals on bottom, 2 coals on top). Here's a Coshell snake I set up. It's not as nice looking as others, due to the shape of the briquettes.



Keep all vents wide open. It sounds like you started with a lot of charcoal (10-12 seems pretty standard here) so maybe it has to do with your snake construction.

I don't think a snake is the best approach to a turkey. They are large and you want your temp at least 325 (sorry for Fahrenheit!) or the skin will be rubbery.

Practice with chicken for turkey, they behave similarly but are smaller and cook faster.

Welcome and good luck!

Without straying too far from the topic... Let's talk turkey. What is the best method? I'd like to add something to the table this year.

[Metal Mike]

ambient temp can & possible elevation difference will affect your temps
135--275
117--243
67 --153
88 --190
19 --66
c - - f
163--325

I have kettle cooked a 7.3 kg turkey on 22 OTS after spatchcocked & some minor grate rotation, a lot of drippings/juice (=mess.)
2 (ugly homemade) baskets of fully lit coals & a full refuel chimney split between them to finish, your results will vary...

[jcnaz]

What would be better for turkey? I have a hinged grate, set up coal hoppers either side and top them up every hour or so? And if so, do I start them in the chimney before adding, or just pop them on top neat?

Without straying too far from the topic... Let's talk turkey. What is the best method? I'd like to add something to the table this year.

Gentlemen, this is my suggestion for delicious turkey on a 22.5" kettle:
http://weberkettleclub.com/forums/grilling-bbqing/turkey-just-because-i-want-to!/msg87858/#msg87858

All credit belongs to @1buckie .

[BC]

Not a noob to smoking but used my kettle for the first time yesterday since picking it up a few days ago. I tried the snake method but could not get the coals to light and that was with several hot coals as a starter. Nooooo idea what I did wrong but the coals I used are a couple years old and are stored in a shed. Could that be the problem? Eventually ended up using a pile of coals off to one side and got the smoke done.(I use a chimney) Temp ranged from 200 to 400 at one point untill I managed to control it with intake/exhaust adjustments and got it to settle at a fairly steady 250 with a few minor spikes in temp. Added a few cold coals at a time to maintain heat. All in all I'm really impressed with the Weber kettle

[CharliefromLI]

Not a noob to smoking but used my kettle for the first time yesterday since picking it up a few days ago. I tried the snake method but could not get the coals to light and that was with several hot coals as a starter. Nooooo idea what I did wrong but the coals I used are a couple years old and are stored in a shed. Could that be the problem? Eventually ended up using a pile of coals off to one side and got the smoke done.(I use a chimney) Temp ranged from 200 to 400 at one point untill I managed to control it with intake/exhaust adjustments and got it to settle at a fairly steady 250 with a few minor spikes in temp. Added a few cold coals at a time to maintain heat. All in all I'm really impressed with the Weber kettle

Longer coals sit around the more likely they are to have been exposed to moisture at some point and that can be a killer. Any slow cooks i always use fresh coals. if i have some older coals i use  them mixed with fresh on high heat quick cooks. A little more forgiving that way.

[MikeRocksTheRed]

@BC - Check out this post I did a few weeks ago.  It should give you a fairly good overview of vents, coal setups, backup options if you snake fizzles out, etc.

[Johnpv]

I'd also recommend getting the mini chimney starter from Weber.   I usually put about 15 - 16 coals into the mini starter, and once they're good dump them on one end of the snake.  With usually like half of them on the snake and the other half off. 

[MikeRocksTheRed]

I'd also recommend getting the mini chimney starter from Weber.   I usually put about 15 - 16 coals into the mini starter, and once they're good dump them on one end of the snake.  With usually like half of them on the snake and the other half off.

Yup!