First Post & First Smoke Cook

Big M1ke said:

I'm at hour 4 on my kettle as we speak. It took me a few tries but i've gotten the snake method down really well finally. She's been rolling at a steady 230 since i threw the ribs on at noon. I used to worry about temps constantly but now i just check it every hour and give em a spray of apple juice.
The kettle isn't as difficult to low and slow on as people think. Got me a drip pan, couple fire bricks and loaf pan with water on the grate over the coals. I use Stubb's briquettes. Haven't been able to figure out lump yet. I couldn't stay below 300.
Anywho....Those ribs look dead on to me.

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Thanks!

If you get a chance, I would love to see a picture of your setup and hear any lessons you have learned about using the snake method. I was frustrated that I could not get the heat above 215 or so yesterday with all the vents open but I was only using a snake of 2X2 kingsford briquettes. I suppose I could add a 5th briquette and close the vents a bit if the temp gets too high.

Given that I have not yet mastered the snake, I was not ready to go with lump on the low and slow. I have been using Royal Oak and it burns super fast (not to mention the fact that the pieces are tiny and slip through my grate ).