Which bowl is best for running a snake?

[1buckie]

@Kneab

Good lookin' pork right there!!!!


I tried to get good pictures of the vent pile-ups a few times.....the large 26" is at such an angle that the ash falls right thru....








...this was Blue K's which is what was on hand at the time.....much more ash than Stubb's, but it still works OK....
I've heard of WSM people using a skewer to "pull" or knock the ash out the vents while the cook's going on.....done carefully, you won't have a cloud of stuff swirling up around the food.....

With a helicopter vent, you can just sweep careful & slow like & that clears it.....

This came out fine, even with a re-load.....

[HankB]

I can run a snake with my copper with a one touch using a 2x2 snake for 6 to 7 hours with no problems.  This is probably because I keep both vents wide open.  It always gives me a rock solid 250 degrees.   

This is key. You control temperature either by regulating air with the vents or regulating fuel. The point of the snake is to regulate via fuel so all vents should be wide open (or at least the bowl vents.)

As others have mentioned, different charcoal may produce different results. I usually use KBB and that seems to have more binders in it than others such as Stubbs. Perhaps that keeps the ash intact so it doesn't drop down and block vents. Something else to try might be to crack the lid and get air in that way instead of using bowl vents.

[Garvinque]

I did a two by two on my Jumbo Joe doing a 4.5 butt ran for about 6 hours!