Snake method on the 26" Kettle


 
Kyle in Woodstock

Kyle in Woodstock

TVWBB Guru
I'm doing a brisket on Saturday for Father's Day. Going to use my 26"er. Will be my first low and slow using the bigger kettle.

Normally when I do a brisket on the 22" I just bank the coals to one side, light a small amount of coals and dump on the larger pile along with some wood chunks...and add charcoal as needed. I think some call this the minion method....has worked fine for me over the years, but seems to require a lot of tweaking to keep a good temp.

I was thinking of trying out the snake method on the 26". Any advice for this? I've read to use either 2x2 or 3x2. Wood chunks to start the cook. Water pan in middle with brisket over water pan (hot water in the pan). Seems pretty simple. Tweak vents until I get the temp dialed in.

I recently got a Slow n Sear, but it's not the XL version, so not sure that would be good to use on my 26"
 
Kyle, you've got the general plan down, it will just be a matter of the correct snake stack, and vent settings to hold a somewhat steady temp (I find things fluctuate a bit more in my kettles than the WSM.) I would go with a 3x2 stack if I were going to do this, and I'd be very attentive to adjust the vents as the temp comes up to not overshoot. I've been using 1x2 stacks for low temp bacon and sausage cooks in the 150F range, so 3x2 seems good. I usually use my hatchet to break my wood chunks into 3-4 smaller pieces, then just lay these end to end near the "head" of the snake. It is likely that you will need to replenish coals for a long cook like a brisket, so just be aware of that and where you line up the flaps in your grates to make that easier (or just remove the grill grate and brisket to replenish.)

I've never used a pan of water when I've done snake powered cooks in my 26'er, using the logic that I'm limited on coal space already, forcing those coals to have to heat water, too, seems counterintuitive (can't promise there's any scientific basis for that), but it would give you a more stable heat environment. You'll probably need to attend to the grill more, but what better thing to do on Father's Day weekend?!? :)

Good luck and let us know how it goes!

R
 
I've always found the water tray helped keep the temps stabilized, but that's always been with my 22" and not using snake. I was going to use pre-heated water so think that shouldn't hurt things too much.

Interesting you mentioned limited space. The 26" is a giant compared to my 22"! I don't imagine I'll be hurting for space. Hoping I won't have to add coals, especially if I do a full snake of 3x2, seems like that would last for many hours....but I've only watched a few videos and read a few posts on snake....so all of these suggestions are very much appreciated.
 
I've gotten 8 hours or so off a 1x1 stack in my 26'er, so it's definitely possible to not have to add more coals depending on the size of your brisket, weather, etc. I'd be prepared for it, just in case. Also, if you are going to wrap after the stall, then you can just pull the brisket and pop into the oven if you have any issue with available heat toward the end of the cook.

R
 
1x1 stack seems like so little charcoal. I'm going to run a 3x2 and light the "fuse" with about 15 coals from my mini chimney. If it seems to burn too fast I'll just add coals to the tail of the snake to keep it going.

If anyone has any suggestions I'm all ears. My dad and wife's dad will be coming for dinner so I don't want to screw it up! Plan to start in the morning. I got a 13 pound pork butt/shoulder from Costco. They were out of brisket
 
So 3 hours into the pork butt. I don't know if it's because of the Snake or cooking on the 26", but it's been pretty easy to hold the temp around 250. Going to try and slow it down to 225 the rest of the cook. I'd say I'm about 40% thru the snake with 3 hours, so thinking I'll need to extend my snake to get this butt fully cooked to around 200
 
Rich G said:
Looking good, Kyle!
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Thanks Rich. Internal temp is just under 150. Been holding a steady 225-250 pretty easily. Liking this 26"er!

The snake is burning much faster than I expected. It seems maybe 70% burned and about 5.5 hours into it. Used Kingsford Pro charcoal. Guess I'll just add some coals to the tail of the snake and let it keep going.
 
Kyle in Woodstock said:
Thanks Rich. Internal temp is just under 150. Been holding a steady 225-250 pretty easily. Liking this 26"er!

The snake is burning much faster than I expected. It seems maybe 70% burned and about 5.5 hours into it. Used Kingsford Pro charcoal. Guess I'll just add some coals to the tail of the snake and let it keep going.
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Yep, the 26" is my workhorse these days, though I've never done a butt or brisket in it. I had a feeling you would need to reload on the snake at least once, but, hey, what else do you have to do today?!? :)

R
 
Kyle in Woodstock said:
Internal temp is just under 150. Been holding a steady 225-250 pretty easily. Liking this 26"er!
The snake is burning much faster than I expected. It seems maybe 70% burned and about 5.5 hours into it. Used Kingsford Pro charcoal. Guess I'll just add some coals to the tail of the snake and let it keep going.
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at 150º internal, you've got a ways to go if your final temp is gunna be 200ºF... you haven't hit the stall yet.
did an 8lb'r last weekend and it took 13 hours at 255º
 
Jim Lampe said:
at 150º internal, you've got a ways to go if your final temp is gunna be 200ºF... you haven't hit the stall yet.
did an 8lb'r last weekend and it took 13 hours at 255º
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Planned on eating it for dinner. I suppose if it's still a ways off 200 then I could wrap and put in the oven, though I've never did the oven part before. Always grinded it out on the kettle.

Really surprised how close the lid thermometer is to the probe thermometer I have on the cooking grate next to the butt. It's almost dead on

If I go the oven route....any advice? Wrap in foil and put in oven, what oven temp? Low like 250?
 
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Kyle in Woodstock said:
Planned on eating it for dinner. I suppose if it's still a ways off 200 then I could wrap and put in the oven, though I've never did the oven part before. Always grinded it out on the kettle.

Really surprised how close the lid thermometer is to the probe thermometer I have on the cooking grate next to the butt. It's almost dead on

If I go the oven route....any advice? Wrap in foil and put in oven, what oven temp? Low like 250?
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Order Pzza?
Suppose you could do the oven... never tried it before

at 185-190’, smoked pork can be sliced... create some Cuban sammies....
 
Crap. Guess I'll wrap and throw in the oven and see what happens. Think snake might be good for ribs, but minion is the way to go for pork butt. It's no where near 200
 
So a day later, I'll say the snake method made it pretty easy to maintain a consent temp between 225-250.
I think snake would be excellent for ribs. Not so much with a 13 lbs hunk of pork.

Luckily I didn't have to order pizza! Oven saved the day. Plus I had my Performer fired up and made some killer queso to buy myself another hour while the butt finished in the oven. FYI, I wrapped in foil, and cooked at 350 for about 45 min. The bark was still crisp and meet was juicy.
Before putting it in the oven it was on the kettle for about 11 hours.

Couple other things, I tried not to peak at the meat very often, but when I did, it was very easy to spin the grate around to keep the meat away from the lit part of the coals. Also really makes me want to invest in a KillaGrilla grate with the big single flip side....that'd make adding coals during a cook much easier. The stock grate does flip open, but its a small opening.
 
Kyle, late to the party here, but I think you did a great job managing that cook. I think once you have the bark you want, there is nothing wrong with wrapping and finishing in the oven. Harry Soo preaches that technique quite often, "BTUs are BTUs", when it comes to finishing it off. Snake method is great for some things as you say, but not for everything. I have had good luck using a snake with pork butts on my Performer, but I suspect the 26" is a different ballgame.
 
KE Quist said:
Kyle, late to the party here, but I think you did a great job managing that cook. I think once you have the bark you want, there is nothing wrong with wrapping and finishing in the oven. Harry Soo preaches that technique quite often, "BTUs are BTUs", when it comes to finishing it off. Snake method is great for some things as you say, but not for everything. I have had good luck using a snake with pork butts on my Performer, but I suspect the 26" is a different ballgame.
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Thanks KE, it got a little hectic towards the end of the cook. Wife thought I was insane to wake up on Father's Day at 5:30 just to throw meat on the grill! Haha. It started raining pretty hard towards the end of the smoke, luckily I noticed the dark clouds rolling in and setup an umbrella to keep the kettle dry. Pulling the pork butt off the grill solo while it was raining was interesting.

I've smoked quite a few butts on the Performer. I suppose maybe it cooks faster on the Performer because it's a smaller area to heat vs the 26" kettle. Like all cooks, I learned something new....start the butt the night before. It's easier and less stressful to wrap and keep it warm in a cooler vs panicking to get it finished right before dinner time.
 
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