Does the snake method make bad smoke?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 3 ต.ค. 2024
- One of the most common questions I get from my good smoke bad smoke video is about the snake method. If it is constantly lighting charcoal, does that mean it is constantly putting out bad, off tasting smoke? I had to test it to find out.
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I do the snake method for very long cooks, and often wondered why there was not more smoke coming out of the vents. Now I know. Thanks!
Who knew that preheating the charcoal and evaporating any moisture was the key to how the snake method smoke tastes good? Right on Ryan!
Feels like it helps, but still not as good as continually adding ashed over charcoal from a chimney every 2 to 3 hours.
@@boohoohoohoowhat the hell you are talking about?
@@dinoXAs2 in my limited experience, snake method smoke still leaves a bit of a creosote taste especially over very long periods of time... like 4 hours plus.
But that's just my opinion. Each person has their own level of tolerance for charcoal smoke.
@@boohoohoohoo Why do you use charcoal grill if you don't like the flavour? Snake method won't produce bad smoke because it will dry all the briquettes in the snake before they ignite. The whole point in this method and keeping steady low temperature.
This answers the question in my mind for several years
I use snake method all the time, and have found my ways of getting good clean thin blue smoke. I think the reason for that is I use only wood chips for my smoke instead of chunks. I find chunks give me spikes in temp, plus with chips, I can mix different species and get different combos. I usually put down a layer of charcoal, then sprinkle chips across the top, then put another layer of charcoal on top of that, with another layer of chips sprinkled on top. I have also found that its better to go with just enough coal to get the desired temps with all vents almost fully open versus using too much coal and having to run your vents almost completely shut to stay within the desired range. The latter tends to choke the coal and give a bad smoke, but its also harder to control temp. If you use just enough to get it at desired temp with vents wide open, then temp swings arent really a problem, and the coals are burning more cleanly as they are getting as much air as they can get. This gives you that perfect blue smoke we all want. It doesnt take much to go too heavy on coal, it could be just that one extra layer of coals, and it also depends on what the ambient temp is. Summer I usually go with two coals on the bottom, and one or two on the second layer, plus the chips. During the winter, I usually go with 2 on the bottom, 2 in the middle, and maybe a 1 on top depending on how cold it is.
This comment was very helpful thank you
Thanks, will try the next low and slow with all vents open!
Let the air flow. Make sure coals and wood have plenty of oxygen. If the fuel is choking for lack of oxygen, it burns incompletely and it can emit off flavored gases and even can coat your food with gray soot. If that happens, get the meat off, rinse it, adjust the fire and put it back on. Don’t let your embers sit in ash which can smother them. Keep them on a grate above the bottom of the firebox. Knock ash off occasionally and if necessary, remove it. But don’t be afraid of air. Don’t be tempted to control temperature by closing the intake or chimney. The fuel will use only the iar it needs. It won’t burn hotter once if it getting the air it needs. The way to control temperature and smoke quality is with the amount of fuel, not oxygen.
That is what Meathead says.
FINALLY! Ever since I converted to charcoal, I’ve wondered about this. Lots of research on my part led me to the same conclusion as you (as well as a few ruined, sooty cooks!)
THANK YOU so much for excellent content regarding tips, tricks and techniques. I’ve been waiting for this video for three years! 😂
I’ve smoked on charcoal since 2011. And even though I got good at it, I’ve wondered this exact same thing. You never really stop learning. What’d you use before charcoal?
Propane. I got tired of replacing my grill every few years.
The snake method works as long as you have a beer in hand. It’s simple science.
Set it and forget it... Go fishing...It'll be done when you get home!!
And a cigar
Charcoal briquettes put off some nasty things that I won't ever cook on again. I use lump Charcoal that I make myself instead. Much better for cooking on!
BnB is my choice for briquettes
Been doing my briskets with the snake for years. Works great.
The snake method works well if you are using the kindsford professional 100% natural wood briquettes... been doing it for years on weber and always tastes great... never use the regular briquette nor the easy lit briquettes as they will provide an off flavor...
Works fine with lump too
Great video idea, this is something I've often wondered about. One hack I've found to get even cleaner smoke is to use preburnt charcoal from another cook for later in my chain so its already burnt off the white smoke phase. Another video idea I have for you too is to examine food cooked between gas and charcoal to see if one or the other is healthier from a carcinogen standpoint. My thought is once charcoal is hot its really not giving off anything other than heat. I've really come to love charcoal cooking so much in the last couple of years that my gas grill, Traeger and Blackstone just sit there unused but I have thought a bit about the health factor of charcoal. :-) I'm guessing any extra carcinogen from Charcoal in the food is because Charcoal gets soo much hotter than any other method so you get more seer....but I'm okay with the because it tastes waaaay better. Keep grillin' bro!
Thanks for the video tip. Do you know a good way to test for carcinogens?
Using a clean burning charcoal like B&B Briquettes helps a lot!
Sssshhhhhhh don’t tell everybody
Absolutely awesome Ryan! Thank you so much from England for explaining this as it's been bugging me for a while 🙂👍
thanks for doing this! I’ve wondered about this for a long time now. I have a BGE, weber, kettle, and a weber smoky mountain. I’ve done snake on both the kettle and the smoky mountain, as well as the minion method. I always was curious about the admonition to allow Kohl’s to gray over before using is, this would illuminate the bad smoke and VOCs. But this is impossible in both the snake and minion method, so it must be the volatility of those VOCs that are dispersed, after a certain temperature as you say, when the charcoal is warmed. Not so much worried about the wood chunks as I view those as a clean source though, to get those to smolder instead of burn, requires less air supply, so choked down intake and cooler fire. So many variables, but thanks for this. The quest for the cleanest smoke…
Smoldering wood creates dirty smoke.
Quote from Meathead
A cracking video. Informative in a way that 99% of other offerings should learn by. First class
🧐cracking indeed
I cater bar b q for events...pulled pork...ribs..brisket and whole chickens. Use two Weber ranch kettles using the snake method with briquets and a chunk of hickory every 10 inches.We always sell out with no complaints.I think some people just over think simple things!!
You are living the life with two ranch kettles! I agree with you. Briquettes work fine if you do it right. Kudos on the catering business.
@@GrillTopExperience Got those kettles cheap.Been doing this for 40+ years.. Sometimes the screw ups on the rack turn into the greatest successes! Just do what you do and don't overthink it.. It's fun that's why we do it !! If the last bite tastes as good as the first and you laugh out loud you know you nailed it !!
Gotta use lump for burns like this.
Briquetts will make food taste like a smoked shoe.
Cool vid my man
You are right, lump does burn and light cleaner. I've had a lot of people ask this question and figured it was easier to make a video.
the problem is lump is different sizes and hard for beginners to calculate how much to burn at one time. Briquettes make it easier because you just light 10-12.
Lump burn too fast and is meant for high heat cooking
I admire anyone dedicated to spend hours tending their grills for brisket. I have it smoke for about three hours offset with a big batch of charcoal and aromatic wood, then it goes into the oven for precise temperature cooking overnight. Unless your guests eat competition level "Q" on the regular. They will be none the wiser. 😊
This is a great method for brisket. Been doing it this way for years
This was super helpful explaining something that's been bugging me for a while! 😊
Pro Tip, no matter the method, theres always going to be bad smoke, its just less visible if you go slower. IT IS THE SAME as if you use it all in the beginning where you see more of it at once.
I never used the snake method. If I'm doing a piece of meat that takes a long time I use the charcoal basket once the temp starts dropping I light new coals in the chimney and add them.. when it's time to wrap I transfer to my electric oven, it's not taking in any flavour once it's wrapped..
I might try the Snake soon I was always concerned about crap smoke with that method..
Thanks for the explanation.
I do the same it just works best for me..Kingsford is awesome
I guess thats why that happens when I light my chimney too. ie it smokes to begin with but stops before the top levels are lit. Thanks for the experiment Ryan.
This video single handedly explains why I ruined two slabs of ribs using my slow and sear/weber kettle this past weekend. After roughly 4 hours, I added more charcoal (Kingsford Blue Label) to the top of lit coals on my slow and sear. The ribs turned out absolutely atrocious. I should have known better. Thanks so much for this.
Interesting.. I do this and I never have any issues
I’ve used the snake method countless times on my Weber kettle and I always get a good, clean burn.
Great video. I always had issues with the smoke in my WSM. Sometimes I would have to wait almost an hour for some clean smoke. I switched to a Masterbuilt Gravity and it is so much easier and the smoke is clean in about 10 minutes I think because of the vertical hopper and fan.
Big fan of the minion method and using the slow n sear. Never thought about the process but this was an awesome experiment and I’ll keep it in mind in the future!
Lump charcoal is the way to go. I’m not convinced that briquettes aren’t full of a bunch of nasty stuff.
Lump charcoal is meant for high heat cooking such as grilling and searing.... it wont last long enough for smoking and burns too hot
@@Vauv10kComments like this delayed my attempts at low and slow cooking with lump. I finally gave it a try and once skills and techniques are honed, a fairly steady 225 can be achieved. Well worth it in flavor and results. I no longer have a use for briquettes.
Ive wondered about this for 2 3 years now thanks for sharing !
I did my first Brisket ever, yesterday, using the snake method. I did 3 1/2 hours unwrapped and another 3 hours wrapped in foil. It turned out great. I put a piece of black Gorilla tape on the top of my Weber and use an IR pyrometer to check the temperature. It stayed consistently between 190F and 205F, the entire time.
Yeah, in my kettle and egg cooker, if i use less charcol via snake meathod and then have the damper more open, to keep the heat up, i get a lot cleaner smoke vs having more charcolit and trying to choke off the oxygen to keep it under control. Im starting to consider an offset charcoal smoker and just feeding in brikettes and wood chunks periodically and keeping the air vents wide open.
Great explanation, I'd like to see what happens if you add the preheated coal to the already burning coals, will that create dirty smoke...
I have wondered this for years! Thank you!
Great work and straight to the point! Looking forward to more experiments!
I find, even though you're correct, the snake method still does produce some off flavours because of what you described. I prefer fully lit, and I will add where/when necessary, pre-lit from the chimney. I've always had better flavour this way.
Yes, we are in the minority. I only use lump that has been lit in a chimney outside of the grill/smoker. I have tried the snake method a few times, and I could taste the difference (not in a good way). However, I think many people don't notice the bitter or "off" favor when they are eating BBQ that has been cooked in a dirty fire, which is why the snake method is so popular.
@@spauldingjones5763 I agree. Maybe they're saucing up the bbq to the point of masking that bitter flavor. Or maybe you and I just have more sensitive taste buds.
Thank you mate. Love the vids, Keep em coming
I don't get it, the snake method "drying out" the briquettes would still cause whatever chemicals are evaporated to come in contact with the food. So how is that any different than the smoke produced by adding fresh charcoal? Maybe slightly better but it's the same principle
I never thought of hanging the grill grate on the side of the grill. Damn. Why have I never thought of that…..
This was a great video with solid advice / Suggestion
Thank you for this. I've always figured that this method would produce harsh smoke because it's constantly lighting fresh charcoal. I never wanted to experiment though, because I'm cheap. Do you have any plans to do a side by side taste test maybe? Snake vs prelit
Hundreds of cooking competitions have been won using this method. Or the minion method side-by-side with every other method. I think it's safe to say this works. The only way to know if it's the method for you is to try it.
Great info, love the snake method, use it often. (hopefully you got to that fence in the background)
would love to see a video comparing the taste of a snake method slow cook via charcoal briquet vs lump charcoal!!!
I mean technically once it hits around 145 , the meat doesn't absorb more smoke and you could just finish in an oven, that way you don't worry about new charcoal
Now I'm hungry 😂 great stuff 👍
Great video! I agree this method is awesome. My last brisket cook I made one big tweak to my process to be more inline with the Mad Scientist BBQ did with his offset.
I intentionally produce dirty smoke in the first couple hours of the cook (I placed small wood chucks on top of the head of the snake) Trust me that was the hardest thing to do since I’m used to clean burning smoke.
The brisket didn’t have any bitterness or dirty smoke smell/flavor but the pork ribs had more of dirty smoke flavor.
One of the joys with smoking meat and BBQ is the trying new things. :)
Have you tried placing the wood chunks under the coals? So far it seems to produce a cleaner smoke. Got that trick from Harry Soo.
Just saw you have a video about my question. Watching now.. :)
Yes! I had the same question after watching Harry's videos.
@@roguetrail9495yes! His smoke theory/guide also got me convinced to put the wood in-between the heat source. Pretty logical coming to think of it...
Using briquettes, I wouldn't worry about by products, if there is any wind that get in there, it blows burned charcoal dust all over your meat, better to use lump coal for low and slow cooking.
Yes, just obviously not near as much as when you first light it or if you add unlit briquettes. It’s because there’s no real fire like in an offset smoker or pellet grill. The charcoal is just slowly smoldering around the perimeter of the grill in a very oxygen deprived environment. When I used Webers I used lump instead of briquettes for better smoke flavor but there’s no denying the difference in the smoke flavor between charcoal smoking in a Weber (or a charcoal smoker), and stick burners or pellet grills.
Great learning for us.....Especially love that last bit about sealing the smoked protein in tinfoil/aluminium, but in a world full of waste, what alternative method could we apply other than using foil? seems like the bbq/smoking is complete and its just the heat we need to complete the cooking.
I still think lump tends to give a better taste
You are always thinking , bro..... someone called the fired dept on me , thinking my house was on fire when I was only grilling chicken on charcoal .. OH man .. some people .. I was bull s**t
Yikes and I had my old neighbor ask me if I was burning wood when I was BBQing meat I seasoned
Great video again bud... thanks.
Brilliant video. I was sure it would make bad smoke. Thank you for proving otherwise.
You have to wait 45 minutes once you light it before you put your brisket on and you'll have clean smoke. The heat of the kettle will cure the briquettes
GREAT INFORMATION!!!!! THANKS
Same goes for any wood chunks you’re going to add. Preheat them
I don't know why, but lighting it counter clockwise seems to burn better??? 😮
Yes, but only in the northern hemisphere. The southern hemisphere burns better counter clockwise. Subscribe for more tips I make up in the comments section.
Interesting presentation, actually pretty good, what’s wrong with some white smoke up front say some ribs that will be on a little while for some smoked flavor. I’ve done many different ways and have determined the cleaner the smoke the less flavor like what a pellet grills achieve. Not puffing smoke but pretty much see thru.
Hmm, I hadn't thought of this before but it makes a lot of sense. Does that white smoke not form bark well either? Last week was my first time using the minion method on my grill for beef ribs and it didn't form bark really at all even after 4+ hours despite the temperature being 250 F. I think perhaps not letting the grill get up to temp before placing the meat in was the issue. It eventually did get bark but it was closer to 7 hours before it did. I figured given the 8+ hour cook, preheating the grill was not necessary (and I didn't want to open the lid either) but next time I will do that. Regardless, I appreciate the analysis.
Good job as usual on the video. Did you have a windstorm?
Not any more than usual. The backyard neighbor has to coordinate replacing the fence with three different neighbors and some aren't ready. If the posts were on my side I would have swapped them out.
I’m so scared of messing things up with the dirty smoke so I exclusively smoke with lump charcoal and use briquettes for hot and fast. If I smoke for around 3-4 hours ie ribs, I usually get a full chimney fully lit then choke it down to 250F
me too, snake method with briquets giving me a bit sour offputting smoke taste. switching to lump charcoal next.
Used this method to smoke a brisket. Temp stayed at 300 and took 4.5 hours to cook
Thanks very helpful. Please remember thought that most countries use celsius so it would be handy to include that rather than me having to get the conversion app out. :)
Using the snake method how would you smoke a whole turkey say around a 15 pound bird and how many briquettes and how long will those briquettes will burn until the bird is fully cooked?
Can you make video about using intake and outtake vents to control temps? Some people say to keep WSM top vent fully open and then control temps with the bottom vents. But is there a better way? Would keeping top vent more closed (and open the bottom vents more) keep the heat (and smoke) in and result in a more fuel efficient cook (with more smoke flavour) ?
I guess this principle can be generalised to any smoker whether it be a kettle or offset smoker.
I leave the bottom wide open and the top one half way...burns225 to 250 with no worries! A lot of it has to do with weather conditions.. Hot and humid is a pain in the ass.Cold and crisp makes it burn hotter...just depends.
The more open your cooker is, the more oxygen the charcoal is exposed to. More oxygen = more heat & shorter burn. That’s why you can sear food over the coals when the lid is completely off, but the ambient heat inside the cooker will be completely released. I’m not sure if closing the top vent will create more smoke flavor, as I’ve seen conflicting information in response to this question. Some say full throttle pulls more smoke over the food while others say creating less space for the smoke to escape will surround the food with more smoke before it escapes through the vent. I’ve been trying to experiment with this myself to find out the answer.
And don't add smoke wood that still has bark on it. I burn mine off by adding it to the top of the chimney during light-up. That way, you can cut and save your own fruitwoods if you have that access.
Good info!
Looks like you need a new fence.
What happens to the petroleum? Aren't you supposed to wait till briquettes are Grey. I do this method but I use lump charcoal.
I find if u use a good charcoil to begin with. No blue bag, I like orange bag
That was money ✊🏾
Great video! One question @grilltopexperience about adding wood chunks though. Do we need to worry about clean vs dirty smoke when it comes to the wood chunks specifically, or just the charcoal? That is, if we throw wood chunks on top of the start of the snake, should we wait for clean smoke before putting on the meat? And do the other chunks of wood follow the same pattern of charcoal in that it heats up etc and therefore doesn’t release bad smoke when it finally catches? Or is all smoke from wood chunks good smoke? I ask because I did some ribs a few weeks ago and noticed some puffs of white smoke later in the cook (presumably from a chunk of wood catching) after having burned a fairly clean fire otherwise. My ribs were ok but definitely had a not so pleasant taste in there, so wanted to tweak my technique on the next one. I wasn’t sure if it was charcoal or wood chunk related, or both. Any tips would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!!
Yes, wood chunks put off bad smoke when they first light too. It's not as bad as charcoal, but it is noticeable. You'll probably see some change in smoke when the snake lights some wood, but it'll be fine as long as the wood isn't wet.
@@GrillTopExperience thanks so much for the quick response! I’ll keep this in mind for my next low and slow cook. Great content, keep it coming!
I find my wood gives off bad smoke when lighting on the snake.
Get a Lodge cast iron grill the hell with Weber!
snake is for amateurs. heavy gauge offset, proper collector, and lowered smoke stack is how you get championship style bbq.
Harry Soo won many competitions with a Smokey Mountain. You can beat your local BBQ restaurant with a lot less.
Is the snake method good for turkey rotisserie?
I want to use more natural lump charcoal for the grill. Does this still apply?
The snake is good for smoke as long as the flow stays consistent. I used to think white smoke was good so i would find myself constantly taking the lid off to let the chunks catch a flame 😂🤦♂️
That was me too. Tastes and methods mature over time.
Completely honest question: why is kingsford so popular? I’ve read the label there are some gnarly ingredients like silica and borax, how is it safe to cook with that?
It is available anywhere and is super consistent, which is why I use it for my videos. You mentioned Borax, which doesn't burn. Not everything in the briquettes end up on your food.
What type of charcoal is best for this method?
Does this also apply to lump charcoal?
Time to fix that fence
All nonsense. Light, blue smoke is for offset smokers that are burning real fires. Kettles, eggs, WSM, etc. don’t work the same way. You don’t want thick white smoke light a freight train, but some white smoke doesn’t mean bad smoke. If smoke smells good it will taste good.
Your mom smells like smokes and she doesn’t taste good
Sure they do. The weber kettle is the most versatile grill on the market. It's all about how you set it up. I don't have problems getting light, blue smoke when smoking on my kettle. As you are correct, offsets and weber ect don't work the same way, that doesn't mean you can't achieve light blue smoke and smoke on it.
Not for me.
In the past I start out with a chimney full .
Then when I add some new charcoal it makes smoke that's no good.
When it's time to add coal, I make a new batch in the chimney+ add red hot coals.
Much better
To each his own way
@@peteprizzi8508you probably use briquettes 😂 they are full of chemicals… use lump it won’t put a bad flavour in what ever you’re cooking
Tbs or light blue is not just for offsets. White smoke, no matter the fuel source, indicates a dirty fire. Its not hot enough to burn volatiles off. Charcoal is nothing more than charred wood. Even 100% natural briquettes will still produce white smoke at the beginning of a light, and so will lump since both are from wood.
Hello. I hope all is well. :)
what i find is it doesnt give me the temps i need
Don't forget that you should have your meat on the opposite side of actice side of the snake.
I add wet wood chips that make it taste so good 👍
i used this method in my weber with a butt and it turned out perfect.
Briquettes use actual coal and tar in making the briquettes. That's the nasty ass smoke that come off of them.
Thats anice thanks.
Ya might wanna mention thus dont work with match light!!!!
Man, you cut this vid off quick, where's my 10-15 seconds at the end so i can give like, before it jumps to next vid in q? ;) Good stuff though, thanks!
Thanks for sticking around! We do crazy things for the algorithm. People are busy and bounce as soon as things wrap up and it makes a big difference on a shorter video like this one.
Dude, your fence 😮
Hey Ryan the same applies to drum smokers?
Great question. The UDS uses the minion method and works the same way. Once you have clean smoke it should stay that way.
Dude your fence is falling down.
All this coming from a dude using green wood...WITH BARK,mind you!! 😂
I hate to disappoint you, but those wood chunks were well over a year old.
You could have fixed your fence in the time it took you to start cooking. Smh…
Stack them together nice and tight.....soak in fluid and let stand for a good 15 minutes. Light and let burn until all coals have turned white. Then shake grill tobsoresd coals evenly. It isnt hard. No need to try and reinvent the wheel people
That's a hot take.
Where can I find that bbq utah shirt?
The red one with Utah in the Q? I made that one custom. It's a pretty niche shirt :)
Fix you’re fence fam”
It's been fixed for a year. It took a while to get three neighbors to agree and then it was over a month delay to get the parts and the fence guy to fix it. :)
His snake isn't set up correctly. Weird.
You'll taste lighter fluid in your food that way.