Snake Method Ribs

siphco · Post by **siphco** » Sun May 03, 2015 12:01 am

Hey guys,

Im going to attempt my first rack of ribs tomorrow using the snake method, just wondering how you guys place the ribs on the grill once the fuse is lit? do I need to worry about direct heat once the fuse has progressed a bit? is there some sort of deflector i should be using?

Thanks!
Simon

gnol · Post by **gnol** » Sun May 03, 2015 1:12 am

If you keep the temp low enough you should be right. obviously try and keep the ribs of the direct heat. I do find that when the snake is stacked it does not leave much room and at times some of the meat is hanging over the coals.
If I'm doing ribs I try and move them around of the fire if it is crowded but when I have cooked large briskets I tend to leave them and they turn out great.

Best pic I could find now. I stacked this snake and just let it burn at temp. Brisket came out pretty good and as you can see it was hanging over the coals.

siphco · Post by **siphco** » Sun May 03, 2015 1:49 am

ok, ill keep an eye on it and try to make sure they are directly over the coals and see how we go.
Thanks mate! Brisket might have to be next on my list haha

Commander Cody · Post by **Commander Cody** » Sun May 03, 2015 10:11 am

siphco wrote:ok, ill keep an eye on it and try to make sure they are directly over the coals and see how we go.
Thanks mate! Brisket might have to be next on my list haha

NO.....NO......

not directly over the coals.......you need to indirect as much as possible. don't for get your water dish.

kevin

Nath · Post by **Nath** » Sun May 03, 2015 4:21 pm

If your using a kettle, I used to just rotate the grill around once in while as the snake burnt. Try and keep the heat indirect. For ribs you could also look at using a rack to stand them up.

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Davo · Post by **Davo** » Sun May 03, 2015 6:11 pm

I'm probably too late for this now as I've been away for 3 days on a very wet motorcycle weekend

anyhoo.....if I'm doing ribs on a kettle, pending number of racks you're doing but i'm asuming maybe 2 racks, possibly 3.

I'd usually make a mini-minion method by using a couple of paver bricks on one side of the kettle that takes up about no more than 1/4 of the space under the food grate...you can zigzag the pavers so the ends overlap....ribs only need about 6 hours anyway for the thickest of them, 4.5-5 hours if they are thinner.
Place as many unlit HB's or charcoal as you can so that they come to just half inch from top of pavers.....these go between pavers and side of bbq.

Lite up about a dozen HB's untill greyed in a chimney (there should still be another room on charcoal grate to lite up the chimney) then pour over the unlit making sure they all sit on top without going over the empty side of the pavers.put empty foil tray on empty side of charcoal grate,, place 2 wood chunks(not chips) directly on the coals, put on grill grate and then lid.....try and get the temp to sit around 225-250F lid temp. when that happens, lift lid and carefully and place the slabs of ribs on the empty side of kettle over the foil tray, then just let it smoke the ribs for about 3 hours. If the temp spikes to over 275-300F, then you need to place a foil tray full of cold water over where the fire is for a heat sink..that'll bring it down.....close down bottom vents to 1/3. The coals will burn down and should give you at least 7 useful hours of heat.

After 3 hours smoked, foil em up if you wish for another after giving it a good prucing of apple juice and apple cider vinegar..about a 50/50 mix in a spray bottle. This will help them steam in the foil and quicken up the cooking time...after an hour, unfoil the ribs and let them go naked for another hour on the grill..in the meantime you could start saucing them at the last 30 minutes......when it gets closer the the last hour (naked) lift up one side and if they are splitting near the bone underneath..they are ready to eat...enjoy!!

Cheers

Davo

siphco · Post by **siphco** » Sun May 03, 2015 7:11 pm

Commander Cody wrote:
siphco wrote:ok, ill keep an eye on it and try to make sure they are directly over the coals and see how we go.
Thanks mate! Brisket might have to be next on my list haha
NO.....NO......

not directly over the coals.......you need to indirect as much as possible. don't for get your water dish.

kevin

Oh yeah thats what i meant! haha. Well they are currently on, sitting at about 230 after the first hour of temp changes. Thanks for your reply Davo I think i might try the minion method another time, im still pretty keen to get a smokenator at some stage too! For this cook im going to try the amazingribs last meal ribs, so no foiling. Ill see how that goes and then can adjust for next time! Should hopefully be done at about 7:30pm! ill let you guys know how it goes

Davo · Post by **Davo** » Sun May 03, 2015 8:10 pm

Siphco

Save your money and buy 2 standard brick pavers....does the same as smokenator only you can fit more coals in for a longer cook...as for the water tray...just a small foil pan with cold water in it....cheaps as cips and will work the same.
Alternatively go to a heater shop and buy 2 fire bricks but pavers are good.

Cheers

Davo

toolman · Post by **toolman** » Tue Jun 30, 2015 4:42 pm

I'm way late for replying to this thread but I have only recently returned to the forum.

I have used the snake method and what I do is fold up a bit of aluminum foil to make a bit of a barrier between the meat and the point of the snake that is burning. This stops the direct heat and the meat burning on the side of the snake.

I hope that made sense.

Dave

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