Ditto, on my 22”. I start by placing a disposable round aluminum pan in the center, filled with water and a lemon or two if my tree has any. Then I stack the briqs around the perimeter of the kettle. It’s something like a 2-2-1 stack, although I have done different stacks and all seem to work. Just make sure the briqs are tight and evenly spaced. I then place some wood chunks along the top of the stacks similar sized to the briqs every 5-6 inches or so. Make sure you leave enough place from the start of the snake to dump 10 or so hot coals on one end so the snake only can go one way. The nice thing about a snake like this, is that you can conceivable add to it continuously. 8-10 hours seems about right for the 22” kettle. I usually aim for 250 degrees and it hovers around their pretty well. It won’t be exact like something with a temp controller, but decent enough. For something like pork butts, this works surprisingly well. Briskets are really too big to fit on a 22”, and I don’t have a 26”. Once humming along, you really shouldn’t have to touch it. Vents are maybe a quarter open on the bottom if memory serves me right. Maybe half open at the top, but I haven’t done it for awhile, and don’t remember. It’s not hard dialing it in though.
