Andy Wasserman
TVWBB Fan
I have used The Snake method of lighting my charcoal several times now with great results. I have used this method specifically for rib cooks, as I have consistently been getting 6.5 to 7 hours of cooking time at 235 to 250 degrees. The advantages to this method have been:
1) Easier to keep cooking temps at 250 or below, especially with a totally empty water pan.
2) Very efficient use of charcoal (using Kingsford blue bag).
I sometimes find I get temperature spikes using the minion method, especially if I put in too much lit charcoal at the beginning. Using the Snake Method seemed easier to control when starting with 15 to 20 lit briquettes.
Here's how I loaded the charcoal ring prior to placing 15 or so lit briquettes on the end closest to where I placed the wood chunk:
Here's how the charcoal looked after 3 hours as I was getting ready to foil the ribs:
After 1.5 hours in the foil and 40 minutes unwrapped to finish them off, here are the results of this cook which lasted just under 6 hours. I still had another 80 minutes of temps above 235.
I'll definitely use this method again for cooking ribs, or anything else that I want to do low and slow that cooks for 6 hours or less. I'll still use the minion method for longer cooks.
By the way... the ribs were great!
1) Easier to keep cooking temps at 250 or below, especially with a totally empty water pan.
2) Very efficient use of charcoal (using Kingsford blue bag).
I sometimes find I get temperature spikes using the minion method, especially if I put in too much lit charcoal at the beginning. Using the Snake Method seemed easier to control when starting with 15 to 20 lit briquettes.
Here's how I loaded the charcoal ring prior to placing 15 or so lit briquettes on the end closest to where I placed the wood chunk:
Here's how the charcoal looked after 3 hours as I was getting ready to foil the ribs:
After 1.5 hours in the foil and 40 minutes unwrapped to finish them off, here are the results of this cook which lasted just under 6 hours. I still had another 80 minutes of temps above 235.
I'll definitely use this method again for cooking ribs, or anything else that I want to do low and slow that cooks for 6 hours or less. I'll still use the minion method for longer cooks.
By the way... the ribs were great!
