Snake method inconsistency

Differences in charcoal, dampness, width differences of the snake, outside temperature, wind, barometric pressure can all effect how the charcoal burns.

Lump, or briquettes? How are you stacking them?

Absolutely the outside temperature alone can affect burn times. All those other factors mentioned by IamMadMan can come in to play, but, temperature alone can do it. Simply put, you have to burn more coals to stay at a certain temperature when the outside is colder. The issue with any thin walled cooker.

In a huge irony, a BGE or insulated cooker does the opposite, they get more efficient with colder air (within reason). The denser air has a higher oxygen content, and fuels more efficiently, as long as you are not losing heat along the way.

I usually get real good results with the snake method on my 22" Weber using KBB, however the kettles are more susceptile to temp changes with wind and outside temps, as well as the other conditions madman mentioned. You didn't mention if you were using briquettes or lump, that would certainly make a difference.

KC

Totally a wild guess but if you just use the bottom vent to control temps it will sometimes take off on you. The top vent is more effective

Yeah, colder will affect things some...so will damp / rain.....see here....

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=192745

Took a long time & extra coals, but boy i think stuff comes out better in damp conditions.........


Maybe try out a thicker coal pack & pinching down the vents a little more......more available fuel to start out with,, less air coming in, same resulting cook temp but longer burn.....

I've seen some folks make up an expanded metal ring to then be able to stack a bunch of coal in.......just make sure you have a lower airflow & are running smooth at the start......sounds like youi have monitoring, so it might take one more try checking it a bunch before you get it sorted out......

As much as I love my kettles, I know they are not cookers that can be left unattended for long periods of time because so many factors go into their burn times.

Because of this I cook hot and fast on my kettles. Normally between 300-325, sometimes as high as 350. I get a good nights sleep, wake up early and crank out a brisket or pork butt in under 6 hours, ribs in 2-4 hours, and chicken right about 1 hour mark. I can get a full cook and add some sides/appetizers with 1 snake, as well as make sure that I don't ever run out. All it takes is checking on the snake each time I rotate my lid.

hominamad said:

I've always read about people having great success with hot and fast. I've just been too afraid to try for some reason. It just goes against everything they teach you in brisket school. But I will have to try that for my next one. What's the best target temp for hot and fast?

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No need to fear the HnF. A lot of the best joints have cooked above 300 for decades. It's just new to us backyard guys who have always been told LnS is the only way. I have cooked briskets as high as 380 with no issues. My cooker likes to run right around 315 so I don't fight it. I get lots of sleep now. Nothing wrong with LnS but I sure don't miss losing my sleep.

Go ahead & run your ring all the way around...........if you don't happen to burn it all, just break the chain...........



I added here, but this was a big piece....15-1/2# after trim.....








What you've got loaded is about where I might start for a rib cookup........

hominamad said:

I've always read about people having great success with hot and fast. I've just been too afraid to try for some reason. It just goes against everything they teach you in brisket school. But I will have to try that for my next one. What's the best target temp for hot and fast?

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your brisket school needs a new teacher lol

hominamad said:

I've always read about people having great success with hot and fast. I've just been too afraid to try for some reason. It just goes against everything they teach you in brisket school. But I will have to try that for my next one. What's the best target temp for hot and fast?

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aawa gave that info in his post. 300-325, up to 350. I agree and cook the same way.

pjtexas1 said:

No need to fear the HnF. A lot of the best joints have cooked above 300 for decades. It's just new to us backyard guys who have always been told LnS is the only way. I have cooked briskets as high as 380 with no issues. My cooker likes to run right around 315 so I don't fight it. I get lots of sleep now. Nothing wrong with LnS but I sure don't miss losing my sleep.

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Totally agree. I really prefer LNS for butts but it is completely a matter of choice. I can tell the difference on ribs and brisket, but don't have strong opinions--it's different not better/worse. Dreamland in Tuscaloosa does ribs at 400 or so and they're pretty darn good

Start by getting your packer brisket ready. Pull it out.



Trim it pretty aggressively. I remove a lot of the hard fat from the deckle on both side and trim the fat cap away to 1/4-1/8 inch. You can see i got a little too close in a few spots but that isn't a big deal.



Rub it down. I prefer a medium coating as opposed to caking it on. I personally use kosher salt, butcher ground pepper, and if I'm feeling fancy a little bit of lawry's season salt and granulated garlic.



Then I go get the kettle ready. I set up a ring of fire that goes majority of the way around the charcoal grate. I do a 2x2x1 ring and start it with and a few wood chunks and then get 10-12 charcoals lit till they are ashed over and add them to the end.



I add them to the end of the snake and then place some foil in the middle area. The foil serves 2 purposes, to catch drippings and to draft the airflow through the coals vs through the middle of the charcoal grate.


let the kettle get up to temp and putting out thin blue smoke, then place the brisket in. With the 2x2x1 snake with 10-12 lit coals you will cruise right around 300-325 degrees.



After about 4-4.5 hours check the color. If it is where you want it, wrap it. If you want a darker bark let it go longer. This is where I wanted the color of my brisket to be, maybe a little darker.


You can wrap it in either butcher paper or foil, it doesn't matter to me. I use foil because I have it on hand. I also don't wrap by time or temperature, solely by the color of the bark. I have never made a brisket that comes out like pot roast when I do my method.

At the 5 hour mark, probe the thickest part of your flat. If it is probe tender, then pull it, if not let it go 30minutes and then probe it again, rinse and repeat till brisket probes tender. The longest I have had a brisket take at this temperature has just under 6 hours.

After you pull it from the smoker, undo the wrapping on it for 15-20minutes. This will vent off the heat to stop carry over cooking while resting. After the 15-20minutes, wrap tight againt and allow it to rest for a minimum of 1 hour, but prefer 2-4 hour rest.

Slice against the grain into pencil thin slices and enjoy.

Aawa, that is one beautiful brisket. To me, that's my color target for briskets, meat, and ribs. I don't prefer meteors...

THoey1963 said:

Aawa, that is one beautiful brisket. To me, that's my color target for briskets, meat, and ribs. I don't prefer meteors...

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Yep, I agree. Nice color. I too am not a fan of meteorites.

aawa - looks purrrrfect. Is that piece of foil a new wrinkle in your style?
If so, well conceived. Did not see it in your older post about your ring method.
(which is in my bookmarks)

a friend of mine made some slices when I wasn't looking!

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kill him!