Rant: I laughed at my neighbor's snake method for ribs, now I feel stupid

So my neighbor Bob told me he uses a charcoal snake method on his cheap kettle grill for ribs. I thought he was nuts because I've always used my offset smoker with hickory chunks. Last weekend I tried it myself with 2 racks of St. Louis ribs and a 6 hour cook. The bark was perfect and the meat came off the bone clean, way better than my usual effort. Has anyone else had to eat crow after swearing by one method and trying another?

3 comments

3 Comments

karen3611mo ago

The snake method actually creates a more consistent temperature curve than most people realize... I've tested both setups with probes and the snake holds 225-250 for hours without any fiddling. The offset smoker gives you that direct smoke flavor but you're constantly chasing temps unless you babysit it the whole time. Maybe the real secret is using wood chunks buried in the snake instead of just charcoal... gives you that long slow smoke without the work.

west.richard1mo ago

Good question actually, how did you arrange the wood chunks in there? I tried the snake method last month and just laid chips on top of the charcoal but they burned up too fast. Neighbor told me later you gotta bury them DEEP inside the snake so they smolder instead of catching fire. That smoke flavor difference is the whole reason I stuck with my offset for so long. Did you put them in a specific spot or just mix them throughout? Because I'm starting to think the snake method might actually beat my offset if I can figure out the smoke delivery part.

max_torres441mo ago

Read somewhere burying a few chunks inside the snake's center really locks in that slow smoke.