The venting was what I was thinking when I stated "All else being equal". I've noticed that some of the people posting about the snake method leave the vents open.
That's never worked for me, if I don't use the vents, I get climbing temps. One of the reasons I don't use it more often, the minion method is easier to set up, if you have to control the temps using the vents anyway. I also cook too much meat at a time to give up that much space on the cooking grate.:mrgreen: