Problem With Snake


 
JRAiona

JRAiona

TVWBB Gold Member
I'm smoking some sausage and and using the snake method in m 18.5. Here is a picture of it.

I put 2 briquettes side by side then half way aroud did another layer of 2 side by side briquettes for when I was going to increase the temp from 130 to 180. I lt 4 coals in my chimney and laid them on one end but the ring would not light as it went along. I wound up having to light 5 more briquettes and put them on top of the unlit and as the cook progressed had to stir them to keep the rin going. Did I do something wrong? Can anyone offer some insight?
 
You may have done the same thing I did last time which is light the snake from the wrong side. For instance, the way you stacked yours you wanna light it so it burns counterclockwise so that as the briquettes burn they fall into the next briquettes not away. Just a guess. You might need more briquettes to start. Maybe you need more open vents.
 
X2 on which end of the fuse to light. I also run another layer next to the charcoal ring. You can control temps with the vents.
And don't forget the smoke ring
 
Dustin Dorsey said:
You may have done the same thing I did last time which is light the snake from the wrong side. For instance, the way you stacked yours you wanna light it so it burns counterclockwise so that as the briquettes burn they fall into the next briquettes not away. Just a guess. You might need more briquettes to start. Maybe you need more open vents.
Click to expand...

Wow Dustin, I didn't even think of that. The thought of possibly using more briquettes did but your observation about which end to light makes a lot of sense. I also used my Guru DX2 and don't know how much that plays into it. Thanks so much.
 
I hope not, I do a lazy snake formation using baskets upside down and coals dumped around them.

IMGP0956.JPG
 
I don't have a WSM, but I use the snake method on my OTG. Can't say whether my method will transfer to your smoker, but here is what I do.

When I lay the coals, I make sure that they overlap, not just sit side by side. I want there to be as much contact area from one coal to the next as I can get. I don't trust heat transfer from a coal not touching to ignite the next one. I lay out a bed 3 briquettes wide around the circumference of my kettle on the coals grate. I place chunks of wood (pecan, hickory, oak, mesquite . . . whichever I've chosen for the meat I'm smoking) about 6 inches apart along the entire loop. I want there to be hot and smoking wood throughout the cook and find that this works for me. I use chunks of wood, not chips. Chips burn too fast and give too little smoke IME. After the chunks are placed, I come around the perimeter again with 2 briquettes atop the bed of 3 being sure to surround the wood chunks on all sides - including the top - with briquettes. I have been successful burning the snake both clockwise and counterclockwise, but I usually light it to burn clockwise. If the briquettes are in proper contact, I find it doesn't matter. YMMV. After the fuel is laid and ready to ignite, I place a 9" (I think) aluminum foil pie pan in the center of the fuel. Just before adding the meat to the chamber, I fill the foil pan with hot water. I find that cold water drops the temp that I have carefully tried to control; so boiling hot it is.

I keep a large Weber chimney filled with unlit at the kettle. I also have a small, no-name chimney that I keep to light my starter coals. Six to eight coals over a tuna can half-filled with rubbing alcohol lit with a butane lighter will have red embers with a gray ash in less than 5 minutes. If I ever find I need to re-ignite the snake, I can repeat that in a very short time. The large chimney full of unlit is just in case. Of course, I keep two 55-gal. galvanized trash cans filled with my supply purchased during the sales periods. I have a smaller can (30-gal, I think) that I keep my bagged wood chunks in. I can always go to those stores if necessary, but I've only had to do that when I used a 2-briquette base.

With a bed of 2 briquettes topped with a single briquette, I found that the charcoal burned too fast. I could not get a smoke to last 12+ hours; so I added additional fuel. My longest smoke with the snake without adding fuel was 16 hours. Humidity, wind, ambient temperature and the fuel itself cause the time of burn to vary. To control temp, I try to control air flow. When I light the snake off, I usually close my bottom vent to a quarter to a third open and my top vent about a quarter open. Of course, I put my cooking grate in the kettle after lighting the fire and place my cooking chamber probe (Maverick ET0733) either in the little sprung holder or put it through a potato or potato slice. I place the top on the kettle. After 15-20 minutes I can usually get a decent reading of temp and adjust vent openings. On occasion I have used too much coal to start the snake causing the early temps to spike. If that happens, I just take of the top off. Sometimes, too, a chunk will burn especially hot and spike the temp too far above my maximum alarm. Taking the top off is a good way to bring it down. I usually set my limits between 220 and 260 and ask the Maverick to tell me if I get outside the range.

I try to place the chamber probe about halfway through the snake length. As the fire nears it, the temp will rise. I expect this to happen and use insulated gloves to move the probe back to the starting point. The coals there will have burnt up. This measures the chamber temp more accurately, IME. This placement also lets me know when the snake is about to burn out because the heat will spike. Depending on IT of the meat and what I"m cooking, I might briefly remove the cooking grate to add more coals or take the meat off and finish inside in the kitchen oven. Usually when doing chooks (yard birds) and fatties, I have to separate coals to stop the cook before the whole snake burns up. I keep a short-handled, small garden hoe to rake coals. With butts and briskets, I usually have to add more coals or bring it to the kitchen. When I do butts I never do just one and usually do 3 or 4.

It's my understanding that it is easier to control airflow - therefore temperature - on a WSM; however i think the basics I've talked about will give you a good starting point.

I hope I was not too verbose. It turned into a rather longer post than I thought it would be.

Good luck!

rh
 
Bob Correll said:
You didn't get all of the K sides facing up. :p
Click to expand...

As usual, your reply slayed me, Bob!

This "snake method" was new to me and at first, I didn't know what the heck Dustin meant but rather immediately started thinking of what vents were open and where the wind was coming front. Looked at the picture a couple of times and all of a sudden, it finally clicked and I saw what Dustin meant about which line of coals is stacked "on top" of the other rather than under another layer. I hope no one is saying "duh..." at this point!

Obviously this method is meant to light the coals gradually but I wondered about the significance of the shape (as opposed to minion, say) even if you're smoking sausage. Can anyone enlighten me as to the reason for its use? Or :confused: direct me to some FAQs I should have read...

Addendum: I just read an adjacent message in which it was mentioned that the snake method is good at keeping temperatures low. Anyone care to comment on their success in this regard, especially in comparison to the Minion method? And what about using more than a double row of charcoal -- does that defeat the whole purpose of this method?
 
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Happy to amuse you Michelle :)

As far as I know the snake, or fuse, method was first posted by kettle users wanting a slow long burn time for butts etc.
It saves from adding coals throughout the cook.
Or single file stacked for a long low smoke on things like bacon.
I haven't tried it on the WSM.
 
Michelle in New Orleans said:
As usual, your reply slayed me, Bob!

This "snake method" was new to me and at first, I didn't know what the heck Dustin meant but rather immediately started thinking of what vents were open and where the wind was coming front. Looked at the picture a couple of times and all of a sudden, it finally clicked and I saw what Dustin meant about which line of coals is stacked "on top" of the other rather than under another layer. I hope no one is saying "duh..." at this point!

Obviously this method is meant to light the coals gradually but I wondered about the significance of the shape (as opposed to minion, say) even if you're smoking sausage. Can anyone enlighten me as to the reason for its use? Or :confused: direct me to some FAQs I should have read...

Addendum: I just read an adjacent message in which it was mentioned that the snake method is good at keeping temperatures low. Anyone care to comment on their success in this regard, especially in comparison to the Minion method? And what about using more than a double row of charcoal -- does that defeat the whole purpose of this method?
Click to expand...

Howdy, Michelle!

Snake vs Minion: Here are my thoughts.
In the Minion method, a few lit coals are placed in the center of a pile of unlit coals. Lit coals gradually light other coals in a more or less circular growth pattern of lighted coals. Heat starts out slow but increases over time as more coals are fired in the pile. This method has its place in the toolkit, but it has the drawback of having a central hot spot more or less for the duration of the cook.

In the snake method the heat circles the center of the cooking surface in a slow but steady progression. Yes, where the heated coals are burning, there is a hot spot; but it doesn't last for very long, then it progresses around. If meat is placed more or less at the center of the cooking chamber, the heat gradually encircles it without having one part exposed for too long.

If I used an offset smoker with charcoal, I would certainly use the Minion method because I would not worry about a continuous hot spot; but I don't. I smoke on a Weber OTG and I want the chamber heat to be fairly constant but the location of the heat source to vary - if that makes any sense. IOW I think the Minion would be appropriate for indirect heating and smoking, but the snake is better for slow, direct cooking.

As far as temp control is concerned, IMO the snake is easier to keep low because the amount of heat is controlled and kept low by having only a relative few coals burning at any one time. IME Minion grows over time to make a hotter fire which is more difficult to control.

Just my 2¢ worth.
 
as Hutch has pointed out, the snake should be successful starting it in either direction
When I lay the coals, I make sure that they overlap, not just sit side by side. I want there to be as much contact area from one coal to the next as I can get. I don't trust heat transfer from a coal not touching to ignite the next one. I lay out a bed 3 briquettes wide around the circumference of my kettle on the coals grate. I place chunks of wood (pecan, hickory, oak, mesquite . . . whichever I've chosen for the meat I'm smoking) about 6 inches apart along the entire loop. I want there to be hot and smoking wood throughout the cook and find that this works for me. I use chunks of wood, not chips. Chips burn too fast and give too little smoke IME. After the chunks are placed, I come around the perimeter again with 2 briquettes atop the bed of 3 being sure to surround the wood chunks on all sides - including the top - with briquettes. I have been successful burning the snake both clockwise and counterclockwise, but I usually light it to burn clockwise. If the briquettes are in proper contact, I find it doesn't matter.
Click to expand...
I also use a 3 coal bed with 2 atop to achieve a consistent 250ºF in a 22" kettle... here I start it with about 10 to 12 lit coals...
for a lower temp of say, 130 to 150ºF, I use a 2 coal bed and one coal atop and about 7 to 10 lit coals.

I've only used the snake once in the 22"WSM and my charcoal was helter-skelter in order for 250ºF without a waterpan in place.
 
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