First ever smoke on my Performer -- Wings then Ribs

I recently made the jump to charcoal (Performer) and am cooking with charcoal for the first time in my life. I've been on it for about a month now, with about 10 or so cooks on it: chicken, pork chops, burgers, dogs, and steaks. One of the reasons I got the Performer was the ability to also smoke, so I did my first smoke last weekend: wings and ribs.

I started around 10:30a with the thought to have the wings for lunch and the ribs for dinner. I used the snake method and threw some mesquite chunks on top for the smoke. The wings went great, but I struggled with temps the last 1.5 to 2 hours for the ribs. I'm not sure my snake was constructed well enough of I just couldn't get much more than 6 hours out of the snake. How long do typical snakes last? The wings took 1hr 45 mins and the ribs were about 4.5 hours with the 2-2-1 (well .5) method. All were delicious though!







I did 2 racks of ribs, the pic was after I had already shoved one of them into my gut

Did you use a water pan and if so did you preheat the water? Cold tap water will burn up the snake quicker. How big as your snake? If a 2x2 doest last long enough you can try a 3x3 or 4x4 if you have room.

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Len Dennis said:

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Fixed it, apparently Google Photos don't play well here.

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Tyson said:

Did you use a water pan and if so did you preheat the water? Cold tap water will burn up the snake quicker. How big as your snake? If a 2x2 doest last long enough you can try a 3x3 or 4x4 if you have room.

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I did use a water pan and boiled the water before pouring it in The snake was 2x2 and it probably took up 1/3 to 1/2 of the bowl, I'll have to give a 3x3 a shot next time. Thanks for the tip.

Eric;
You chose one of the finest grills in the Universe. I LOVE my Performers! That's a great lookin' cook!

Welcome to the forum!

Keep on smokin',
Dale53

Awesome cook!

When I sold guitars, people asked what was the best they could get, then I asked how much money were they willing to spend. If they had enough they bought a really fine instrument which would last for years!
You just bought an instrument you will play for many years to come, learn as much as you can about set up and it will all work out perfectly!
It will take a little bit of learning curve but, you're off to a good start!