First Ribs using snake method in my Master Touch. What did I do wrong?

[nvandyke]

Hey all.  New Master Touch owner here.  Had her since my birthday in February.  I've cooked a LOT of food on it this summer.  But this weekend I set out to do my first "low and slow" on a rack of ribs.  I got some good advice from this forum.  I was going to use my charcoal baskets for a low and slow on my first set of ribs.  EVERYONE advised me to do the snake so that's what I did.  I kept track of my progress and here's how it went:

Setup:  15 minutes to set up and get the starter coals going.  I did a 2x1 snake and lit 8 coals to start with.  Sprinkled a few hickory/apple chips on top of the first few inches of snake since that's all I had.  Drip pan half filled with boiling water under the meat.  Bottom vent about a 1/4 open, top vent slightly cracked (see pictures).  Cleaned out all the ash from the bottom before hand so I knew the "old ash" wouldn't choke my vents closed.  Outside temp about 70 degrees, grill sitting in the sun.  Wireless temp probe at grate level, next to the meat, away from the coals.

Hour 0-2:  Temp came right up to 225 and literally sat right at 225-228 for the entire 2 hours.  I didn't go out and look at it, touch it, nothing!  It was unbelievable.  I was ecstatic!  Could not believe how regulated the temp was. Took the ribs off and wrapped them (forgot to take a picture at this point.  Remembered when i had the foil all closed up and it wasn't worth undoing all that work).  In the wrap was some pats of butter, some brown sugar, and a splash of Dr. Pepper because that's what i had laying around.  Wrapped them up tight, put them back out for another 2 hours, meat side down. 

Hours 2-4:  Now at this point is where the trouble began.  I had left the grill open when i wrapped and could tell the coals had stoked themselves a little with the increased airflow.  I put the lid back on and over the course of the next hour the temp climbed to about 275.  I went out a couple of times and just barely bumped the top vent open slightly to let some heat out.  No dice.  I tapped the bottom vent slightly more closed but could see it was still open about 1/8.  Tapped the top vent open slightly more (maybe to 1/4).  Went back inside and decided to wait it out.  At about the 3 hour mark I lost 40 degrees in a matter of 10 minutes.  270 down to 230.  Back outside, tap the top vent more closed to try to keep the heat in, tap the bottom open.  Between hour 3 and 4 i slowly lost temp down to 215.  By this time it was down to 60 degrees outside, and the sun had gone behind the house so was no longer on the grill.  At this point i was wondering if my snake had stopped working or something.  I was ready to pull them and unwrap anyway so I did that.

Last hour:  I left the grill open when i unwrapped, lit 4 more coals and added them, rearranged the rest of the snake a little bit, blew on the coals to make sure they were still nice and red at the start of the snake.  Sweet Baby Rays on the ribs, and closed everything back up.  Temp did not want to get above 220.  I even resorted to opening the bottom up about 1/2-3/4 thinking maybe more air in the bottom will feed the coals and heat this thing up!  It never really happened though.  I didn't get the bark i was hoping for because there wasn't enough head to caramelize the sauce, but they still tasted good.  A little...and I mean a little...tougher than I had hoped.  But I'm attributing that to the lower heat throughout than i hoped.

So...a couple of questions:
1.  From your experience, how much does ambient air temp and sunlight affect the internal temp of the kettle?
2.  Does the "density" or arrangement of the snake make a big impact on the "travel" of the heat?  I tried to arrange them nice and neatly for even and consistent travel.
3.  Would a 2x2 snake tend to hold a higher temp (250ish) than a 2x1?
4.  Any tips for lowering/raising temps on the fly without causing such wild swings in short time?
5.  Should have been so nervous about being at 275-280?  Whats the "max temp" where i should start getting worried?


Pics:
1. Precook with some mustard and rib rub
2. My 2x1 snake setup
3. After adding chips and lit coals
4&5.  Initial vent settings
6.  Post-wrap
7.  Finished product

Thanks in advance everyone.  You can buy a "precooked" set of ribs from the store and throw them in the oven and they're done in 30 minutes.  Even with the struggles I must say this is a lot more fun and rewarding!

[kettlebb]

End product looks great.

You are way over thinking it brother. Most do when starting out. Don't be so bent up on maintaining 225 for 8 hours. Be content if you can stay in a temp range like 225-275 for 8-10 hours. Those fluctuations won't really do anything you'd notice to your food and if you spend all your time worrying about the temp then you aren't HAVING FUN COOKING.

If you want 225 for 8 hours, use your oven but I promise it won't taste as good.

Great job with the snake!


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[Dc_smoke309]

Those ribs look tasty!  Kettlebb is right. Don't let temps drive u crazy . Set back grab a beer and let it do its thing !!!


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[JEBIV]

yep, like kettlebb says, fluctuations will drive you nuts if you let it, wide target range and have fun

[Hell Fire Grill]

You should be able to run the snake with all the vents wide open, then make small adjustments with the lid vent to cool it down if needed. The more the lid vent is open the hotter it'll get.

Dont worry about 50* temp variations, just adjust the cooking time accordingly (guesstimate).

Foil is a bark wrecker, it steams the meat and can make good ribs mushy, and fall apart. A little tug on the bite insures you haven't overcooked them and all the porky goodness is still inside the meat.

I cant tell you how many bricketts it takes to adjust the heat...the snake was developed using lump charcoal.

[Hell Fire Grill]

No water in the drip pan. The steam is counteractive to the snake. Water reservoirs help regulate the heat but the snake dont need steam to regulate it...the size of the snake/fire is the regulator.

[Dc_smoke309]

I quit using a water pan a long time ago .


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[HoosierKettle]

+1 for everything said so far. A 2x1 with both vents at half on a mild to warm day yields 250ish and that's perfect in my book for low and slow. Trying to maintain a 225 temp is tough and unnecessarily extends cook time. Try ribs several ways until you find what you like. Try shooting for 275ish for 3 hours with an occasional spritz and no wrap. 

This method usually has the vents set at half bottom and wide open top vent.


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[effinUker]

I'm gonna disagree with @Hell Fire Grill a little - keep your top vents wide open, and control temps with intake. You have to have clean exhaust or the food might end up with soot on it.

And with pork - a counterclockwise snake. ALWAYS counterclockwise. Clockwise is for beef. @1buckie teaches this in his lessons.

[hawgheaven]

I'm gonna disagree with @Hell Fire Grill a little - keep your top vents wide open, and control temps with intake. You have to have clean exhaust or the food might end up with soot on it.

Mucho agreement. I always have the top vent wide open, and use the bottom vents to control the temps. You need that exhaust! 

[HoosierKettle]

I've never had any adverse results closing the top vent to 1/4.  The only time you could get soot closing to 1/4 in top is if you had a raging fire. Contrary to popular belief, it doesn't hurt anything to utilize the upper vent under normal cooking conditions imo.

Closing all the way does cause problems

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[HoosierKettle]

However, leaving the top vent wide open is good advice and is a safe choice. 


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[SMOKE FREAK]

Closing the top vent will not increase temps but will smother your fire...Leave it at least half open or more and control your temps with the bottom vents...

[Hell Fire Grill]

Guys I think its important to remember that were dealing with a charcoal fire about the size of a pint jar, and a few chunks of wood, not a flaming hardwood fire in a real BBQ pit.

The lid vent can be utilized A LITTLE without significantly altering the smoke flavor, after all were adding wood in a controlled manner to get more smoke flavor. If you need to close it half way its time to break down the fire or use the other vent.

Theres no doubt that large temp swings are best controlled with the intake when your grilling, but you aint grilling with a snake and you aint gonna get 60-70* over your target temp if your snakes not to fat.

If it does dont worry about it, drink a beer and relax, and cook the ribs hot & fast.

[SmokenGrill]

Don't sweat the small stuff. Burning requires oxygen . Exhaust has little of it.

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