First smoke!

[smashing]

Well, first smoke on the kettle I inherited from my father anyway. Over all it was a good day. Had some trouble keeping temps up where I wanted it but I won in the end!

Shoulder on pecan and Hickory using the snake method...

What I think I need to do is pull the grill apart and give it a good cleaning. I think there's build up under the ash pan. I also need to replace the charcoal grate. I think my temp issues are do to poor air flow

[Hell Fire Grill]

The important thing is you adapted quickly and got-r-done.

I think if you get your dads ol'grill out of the snow and cleaned up a little we can get you burnin hot & clean in no time.

When you get a chance show us a pic of your lid vent, ash pan & fire grate so we can see what your cooking with.

[smashing]

It's an old Weber ecco. Need to pull the ash pan and scrape out the build up that I'm sure is in there. The coal grate sits below the holes on the ash pan, can't decide if that's good or not.

[smashing]

Here's my intro thread - pics inside....
http://weberkettleclub.com/forums/introduce-yourself/hello-20408/msg207336/#msg207336

[MikeRocksTheRed]

@smashing -  A few tips for snake smoking and temp control that some people will agree with and some people will have different opinions about.

Snake
1.  Since its cold, you might want to stack your briquettes a little more upright so they will burn from one briquette to the next one a little faster.
2.  tight and consistant -  make sure you coals are stacked consistantly and there aren't gaps between coals where it prevents the snake from moving from one coal to the next.
3.  water pan -  Did you have a drip pan with warm water in it?  I've found a drip pan filled with steaming hot water helps keep temps from jumping around as quickly and helps get up to temp quicker.
4.  If you are not getting results still from the above items and the vent items below, you might want to just add another row of coals on top of your snake.  If you are burning consistantly too low, another row of coals should get you where you need and be controllable via vents it if jumps too high.
5.  Make sure your lid vent is over the food you are smoking and that it is generally opposite the lit coals.  With a snake moving as it burns, it doesn't mean to keep moving things, but just make sure the vent is general on the opposite half of the grill.



Vents
1.  I usually run top wide open, but with it being so cold perhaps slightly closed would help keep in some heat (this is the topic I specifically think there will be many opinions on.  Some people like me like to always run the top wide open and control temps with the bottom, while others control via top, or partially close the top then control from the bottom)
2.  Adjust bottom vent in 15-20 minute increments let it settle in then readjust if needed.  If you are running way too cool, its tempting to open the bottom all of the way, but in my opinion you are letting in too much cold air and it's not going to give you the results you are looking for.  Opening the bottom wide open works fine for getting your coals to blaze when doing a hot cook, but for smoking I think wide open hinders the result you are looking for.
3.  Now that I looked at the pics of your grill, I'd shut down the bottom vents that aren't near the lit coals all of the way and adjust only the vent closest to the flames.

[BBQFiend]

Congrats on the first smoke!

[smashing]

@MikeRocksTheRed thanks for the tips. I did use a water pan full of  near boiling water and I used many of the points you posted. Once I tear it down and get her all cleaned up I'll have a better idea of how much I need to tweak my technique

[1911Ron]

How many lit coals did you start with @smashing ?  What @MikeRocksTheRed  said about snake setup is spot on, the more charcoal you use the hotter your temps will be to start with and with cooler temps you may want to start a few more.  One thing to remember about using a water pan is that the water will suck up heat, just another variable to consider.