The charcoal snake method lets you get hours of steady heat from your grill’s coals with the easiest of setups. From setup to smoke, this is how to set up your charcoal grill for low and slow smoking.
The Snake Method is a simple but effective way to get started with barbecue smoking, allowing you to cook for hours without constantly refueling your grill. And while it is most effective on kettle-style grills, it can be easily adapted to other types of grill, too.
In this guide, we’ll look at why the snake method works and show you exactly how to set up your grill using the technique. This is how to do it.
What is the Snake Method?
The snake method allows you to achieve low and slow temperatures similar to that used for smoking but inside a charcoal grill. Although best used in dome-shaped chambers of grills like the Weber Kettle, it can be adapted to work on a variety of grills.
The technique involves arranging charcoal briquettes in a C-shaped ‘snake’ around the perimeter of your grill’s grates, usually about 2-3 briquettes wide and two briquettes tall. Then, you place just a few lit coals at one end of the snake, which will slowly ignite the briquettes next to them, creating a very slow domino effect as the briquettes slowly ignite. Because it’s so slow and contained to just the periphery of the grates, it generates the consistent low indirect heat (sometimes for as long as 12 hours!) we want for barbecue smoking.
The Science Behind the Snake Method
The snake method maintains consistent low temperatures in a charcoal grill through a few key factors. The main reason being that the slow, progressive ignition between a small number of briquettes helps avoid the kind of temperature spike you’d see when adding a large amount of charcoal at once.
It doesn’t end there, though. The genius of the method is that because so much of the igniting between coals happens while the grill lid is closed and the vents are half-shut, the oxygen flow within the grill chamber is limited, further slowing the rate at which the coals ignite.
Also key to the efficacy of the method is the water pan placed in the center of the grill. The water pan acts as a heat sink, absorbing heat from the lit coals and helping to moderate temperature fluctuations within the cooking environment.
Finally, this method relies on briquettes for one key reason: their uniformity. While we often prefer lump charcoal, the snake method works best with briquettes due to their consistent size and shape from coal to coal. This ensures a predictable burn rate and steady cooking temperatures.
How to Set Up for the Snake Method
Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to set up the snake method in a charcoal grill.
What You Will Need
- Kettle-Style Grill: This method was originally designed with the Weber Kettle in mind, but it can also work on grills like the Jumbo Joe.
- Briquettes: The exact amount you will need will depend on the size of the grill you’re using and the duration of your cook. However, 70 is a good starting point. Don’t use lump charcoal here: Their inconsistent size makes them too difficult to work with to achieve the consistent burn rate we want for this method.
- Water Pan: Use a simple aluminum foil pan or drip tray.
- Wood Chunks: Don’t use wood chips or splits here. We want chunks because they offer us a combination of good burn time and compact size.
- Charcoal Chimney: Everyone has their preferred method of lighting charcoal, but I find using a chimney to be the most reliable.
Method
- Starting at one side of the grill, arrange a single line of charcoal briquettes around its inside perimeter. Ensure that each new briquette leans on the one before.
- At this point, light 8-10 briquettes in your charcoal chimney. They will need a little bit of time to light and turn to ember, so now is a good opportunity to do so.
- Next, create a second line of briquettes inside the perimeter to create a snake that’s two briquettes wide. Again, make sure they are leaning on one another and touching the perimeter line of briquettes.
- Next, run another single line of briquettes, this time on top of the snake. Start at the same point you did with your first line, still making sure that each briquette leans on the one before.
- Run this line all the way around the snake, stopping a few briquettes short of the end. This will be where you place your lit briquettes.
- Place 2-3 chunks of wood along the top layer of the snake. Make sure you don’t interrupt the snake; instead, try to place them between the briquettes and the inside of the grill chamber. Place them close to where the lit briquettes will go so that we can generate smoke nice and early.
- Fill the water pan with cold water and place it in the middle of the grill so that the briquettes run around it.
- Carefully place the lit briquettes from your charcoal chimney at the end of your snake.
- Place the cooking grates over the snake. Open the bottom vents and place the lid on the grill, arranging it so that the lid’s top vent can sit opposite the lit end of the snake. This vent placement will help draw smoke from the wood chunks and infuse your food with smoky flavor.
- Let the grill warm up to smoking temperature, about 225-275°F (107-135°C).
- Once your grill has warmed up, set the intake and exhaust vents to half-open. Place your food on the grill grates, placing it in the center of the grates, directly above the water pan.
- During the cook, you will need to tweak the placement of your grill lid slightly to ensure that the exhaust vent is always opposite the lit coals. The snake doesn’t light too quickly, so you should only need to do this every couple of hours at most.
- If temperatures are running too low, open the vents as wide as possible to increase the oxygen flowing through the grill. Ensure you give the grill plenty of time to react, and remember that temperatures do not have to be exact. 225°F is great, but anything up to 300°F is fine. Don’t sweat it.
Quick Tips
- Use dry wood chunks: As the charcoal snake heat, we need wood to catch quickly. The best way to do this is with dry, seasoned wood. Store your wood in a dry place before use.
- Use a digital thermometer: While I have rarely seen the cooking temperatures from a good charcoal snake deviate too much from the 225-275°F range, it can happen. So, the best way to stay prepared is to use a digital grill thermometer so you can react should the temperature start to stray. Use a holder (like this) to keep it in place on the grates.
- Keep the vents wide open: To ensure the best smokeflow through the grill chamber, start with your intake and exhaust vents set wide open. You can set these to half-shut later if running too hot, but it’s best to start with as much air flowing through as possible.
- If the grill is running too hot, shift the lid slightly to let the temperature come back down. If you do this, do so on the side opposite the burning portion of the snake.
- If your charcoal goes out, don’t panic. Simply find the point where the snake has died, and either swap in some freshly lit coals or light a couple of natural firelighters underneath to get it going again.
The Final Word
The snake method is an easy but ingenious way to achieve low and slow cooking on your modest backyard grill. Using just a few lines of charcoal briquettes, wood, and a water pan, you can get hours’ worth of heat needed for smoked brisket, ribs, or pork shoulder.
Have you tried the snake method? Share your tips in the comments below!
