Having problem with the snake methog

[James Lake]

I'm trying....notice trying to use the snake method to make some jerky, here is my initial setup, I'm using or should I say trying to use trader joe charcoal.

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I put two pieces of lit charcoal on the front of the snake did my setup and eventually put the door back on. The temperature this morning was in the mid 60s and there was no wind at all. After 30 minutes the temp got up to 100 but started dropping. I pulled the WSM apart and started over. This is what I saw when I pulled the WSM apart.

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This time I used 4 pieces of Kingsford and brought the wood chunk closer. I also hooked up my ATC, yep I blew my grill.

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The temp got up to 130 within 5 minutes, I knew this was because the wood was burning. The temp got as high as 155 and held steady for about 40 minutes, after 40 minutes it started dropping again and I was going to wait it out waiting for the snake to hit the next wood chunk. The temp dropped to 115 and I pulled the WSM apart again.

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Now I'm not a happy camper at all, I emptied out all of the charcoal, no I didn't put it back in the bag, it's sitting in my performer, not like it's going to burn or anything. I started all over using Kingsford and still using the ATC, I don't want to try too many changes at once. It's been about 40 minutes and the temp is at 154.

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[JimmyE]

Looks like you have a single layer there, try stacking a bit. Either one over two, or two over three.

 

[Mike Cosgrove]

Try using 6 briquettes to start it, although 4 should have got it going, so it has to be the Trader Joes.

 

[James Lake]

Mike you were correct, I emptied out the entire ring and used KFB and it worked perfectly. The snake burned at approximately 150 for 7.5 hours until the jerky was done and I still had some fuel left over.

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[Mike Cosgrove]

Glad I could help, let us know how the jerky turned out.

 

[James Lake]

Mike, new post is coming.