Best charcoal arrangement for an unattended cook?

unzippy · Jul 11, 2013

Hello all
I'm a keen bbq-er from London, England.

I'm after your collective advice for the charcoal setup in a Weber kettle for an overnight cook of a pork shoulder for the creation of pulled pork.

I've successfully done it before during the day adding a few extra briquettes every hour or so, but now want to try over night.

Minion seems only really suitable for smokers, will it work in a kettle given I'm cooking indirect and won't have a lot of space?
Snake method?
Some other that I'm unaware of?

Thanks in advance, Dave

IrondeQuer · Jul 11, 2013

I have set up a ring of charcoal around a cast iron skillet in the past (idea courtesy of landarc) and it ran for hours while cooking a brisket flat.

I'll post the link if I can find it or you can search below.

IrondeQuer · Jul 11, 2013

Some ideas here:

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=129246

code3rrt · Jul 11, 2013

I've used this set-up and gotten 10-12 hour burns with it.

Have fun!

KC

unzippy · Jul 11, 2013

Thanks for the replies :icon_bigsmil

Code3rrt, what was the purpose of the brick in the middle?

DeepElemCue · Jul 11, 2013

+1 for snake

2dumb2kwit · Jul 11, 2013

unzippy said:
Thanks for the replies :icon_bigsmil

Code3rrt, what was the purpose of the brick in the middle?

I do some like that, so I can use a drip pan that is a little bigger. The four corners of a rectangular drip pan can hang over the charcoal, if you sit it up on a brick. (Or inverted pie pan........or cast iron skillet.......)

I used the "snake" method last weekend. I used 2 briquets wide by 2 briquets deep, with a gap between the ends about like the one in code3's picture. I left the top vent all the way open (but one hole is blocked by my thermometer.) and the bottom vent about 25% open. It held around 275 (at the top of the lid.) for 11 hours.

Seefyre · Jul 11, 2013

+2 for the snake. My brisket smoke last weekend lasted 12 hrs with this arrangement.

Good luck!

slammmed · Jul 11, 2013

+3 for snake

jrbab · Jul 11, 2013

Great pic - don't even need a description of what to do, Code3rrt!
Small things like that are a big help to us newer folks. Thanks - yet
another reason this is such a great place to come for advice....
jb

El Ropo · Jul 11, 2013

I'm cooking a 9.5 lb packer brisket (after trimming) in my kettle as I type. My charcoal setup looks almost identical to code3rrt's, only I got mine burning clockwise lol.

7 hours in, and the ring is about 2/3rds burned, but I've been trying to keep it up between 275-300, so it's burning a bit faster than if I were keeping it down around 230-250.

I'm confident the brisket will be done before the coals burn out. It's truly set and forget though.

Best charcoal arrangement for an unattended cook?

unzippy

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IrondeQuer

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IrondeQuer

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code3rrt

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unzippy

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DeepElemCue

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2dumb2kwit

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Seefyre

Take a breath!

slammmed

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jrbab

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El Ropo

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