OK the snake is set, got some apple, cherry and mesquite chips on for the start (no idea on amount so didn't add too much). Currently mucking around with the Maverick and the pork is out of the fridge to come up to ambient.
I usually work with 1/3rd bottom vent open, top about 50% open.....the idea is not to give the coals too much air which is drawn up from the bottom vents then passed through the hottest part of the fire to eventually find the top vents....it's on ongoing vacuum thing happening.
If you find your temp spiking, this can simply be controlled by placing a small foil tray of cold water overtop where the hot part of the coals presently are.....the water acts as a heat sink plus puts a bit of moisture back into the cooking chamber. top up water about 90 minutes and move to the hottest part of the fire as it burns around for even temp.
Water also blends well with smoke and enables the smoke to penetrate the meat better....that's why water smokers such as WSM and ProQ are so popular and create an authentic BBQ result with fantastic smoke rings.
The smoke.....what you're looking for is NOT lots of smoke...that's bad for you if it's billowing out in huge grey clouds.....what you want to see is the THIN BLUE LINE almost invisible with a bluish tinge......that is what you aim to achieve.
Learn to trust the kettle.....it's a very forgiving cooker....don't keep opening the lid to check......just a quick glance every 90 -120 minutes to check waterpan and maybe to rotate the meat.
Yeah.....with the snake, it's possible that you might find your meat very brown closest to the fire because the snake moves relatively slow, you might need to rotate the meat to the other side sometimes to even the browning.
Crack a coldie or 6 and relax mate...it's your birthday.....don't stress!!
Update: pork on at at 11pm, temp starting to hold stable at 235ish. Bit of up and down with the temp as there is a bit of a breeze tonight so may close the top vent a little more and call it a night.
Went to bed around 3am, woken by the low temp alarm at 4am so made some adjustments. Woke up at 7:30am to find the snake had died so just added some more lit beads. Meat currently at 120F.
But really it shouldn't have gone out that quick...i've had more than 12 hour burns from my snakes....maybe somwhere in the snake you had a broken link where the coals weren't touching?
Also if theres a overnight breeze, close the bottom vents more...not the top...you might've suffocated the coals.
Must have been the breeze, it was quite windy for most of the night. Snake is barely at the halfway point so I can complain. Been 12hrs now and meat is sitting at 167f, I have guest's coming over from 5pm so I'm pretty happy for a first attempt.
