Filling the SnS insert

[Finster]

Question for those that use briquettes for low cooks on a kettle...
do you load the briqs in an orderly fashion, or just pour them in?
Smoking more chex mix this morning. Lit 10 briqs in the corner of the SnS like usual. Dumped a few handfuls more in once the starter briqs were good and hot...
had vents set the way I normally do, and was running about 300ish in the dome. All good for the first hour or so, but when I came back about 25 minutes later, dome temp had spiked to over 500...
I have no clue what happened. When I took the lid off, instead of the normal slow crawl of the fire moving from one end to the other, almost the entire basket was engaged. 🤷‍♂️
Any chance this could be because the briqs were too loosely loaded allowing for more airflow?
Would compacting the briqs tighter together help keep temps down?
Is this an indication that cleaning my kettle yesterday was a mistake?

[Panhead John]

I just pour them in, not patient enough to arrange them in an orderly fashion. But instead of the lit briquettes starting them, I use a tumbleweed in one corner with a few briquettes on top of the tumbleweed. With B & B I’ve gotten an easy 6-7 hours in the SnS. What charcoal were you using?

[Finster]

Was using up some Kingsford Pro I have on hand. Was too lazy to walk to the garage to get a new bag of Cowboy....lol

[bbqLuv]

With a 6-to-7-hour cook, how many burgers do you cook? A week's worth, 1 or more months' worth? 😯

[SheilaAnn]

Finster go check out my thread about KPro briquettes….. I feel ya, brother!

[Jerod Broussard]

You got too much air going in. I pour all in, take out those for the chimney. If your vents are set appropriately your lid is leaking.

[Finster]

So, it is a clear indication that cleaning the kettle was a mistake...lol.
I put binder clips on the lid to help seal it.
Odd that it was fine for an hour or so, then all of a sudden spiked.

[Attjack]

Dump them in and go. To me that's the main benefit of a SNS. The downside is it takes more babysitting of the vents than a snake does.

[Finster]

Snake was my go to before getting the SnS. This is not the first time using the SnS for doing this. First time temps have spiked like this

[rickgregory]

Without pics it's hard to tell what happened but I've seen things like this when I have too many unlit coals in contact with the lit coals, resulting in too many lighting at once and so on.

So now I pay more attention to how evenly coals are spaced and how many are in contact with the initial lit pile. But I don't manually stack them or anything like that.

[McFlyfi]

I say this.

[Rod]

For low and slow, I dump in all that I am going to use together. Then put a starter in the corner. I don't wait until they all ashed over. Just until there is a good glow. Then I put the lid on leaving all vents wide open until I get close to target temp. Then I close the bottom vent completely and set the top to about half depending on wind. Then let the Fireboard and fan do all the work.

[jfmorris]

Pour them in!

[djl]

Dump in. Put a starter in the corner or put lit charcoal on top

[JeffJ]

I dump them in. Kingsford Pro burns hot and fast and it may be your culprit here.

[WillTravelForFood]

Reading the SNS instructions, things seem unclear. It shouldn’t, but it is

if we are reading correctly….

• put 12 briquettes in one corner of the SNS on top of a fire starter.
• light the fire starter, wait til those 12 briquettes are well lit

then it’s not clear to a casual observer

• dump a pile of unlit briquettes to fill the remainder of the basket. The photos suggest piling the unlit cubes on the other side of the SNS rather than cover up the lit bricks . We are assuming just pile ‘em in there.

how does the SNS not heat up a bunch of briquettes vs the snack method where you know only 4/6 bricks will be burning at a time?

To Confirm: we just scatter wood chunks on top of the charcoal pile, it scattered throughout the charcoal?

sure, half the fun is figuring things out. But we are a few years out from the last time we charcoal cooked, so any advice is good advice.

[hoovarmin]

Pour them in.

[rickgregory]

Reading the SNS instructions, things seem unclear. It shouldn’t, but it is

if we are reading correctly….

• put 12 briquettes in one corner of the SNS on top of a fire starter.
• light the fire starter, wait til those 12 briquettes are well lit

then it’s not clear to a casual observer[LIST][*]dump a pile of unlit briquettes to fill the remainder of the basket. The photos suggest piling the unlit cubes on the other side of the SNS rather than cover up the lit bricks . We are assuming just pile ‘em in there.

I pile them in there with some touching the lit coals but not on top of them. You want the same thing as the snake method does, for the lit coals to light the coals next to them. IF you pile them on top of the lit coals too many will light and the temp will go up too high.

To Confirm: we just scatter wood chunks on top of the charcoal pile, it scattered throughout the charcoal?

You can do that or embed the chunks.

[McFlyfi]

I agree with this too. Unlit briquetes next to, not on top of, your original lit pile.

[WillTravelForFood]

I pile them in there with some touching the lit coals but not on top of them. You want the same thing as the snake method does, for the lit coals to light the coals next to them. IF you pile them on top of the lit coals too many will light and the temp will go up too high.

Maybe we are overthinking things? Still sounds like even if a few are touching the lit ones to start, wouldn’t the rest all be subject to burning up if they’re on a giant pile anyway, even if it’s on the far side from where you started?

[rickgregory]

you don't pile the you spread them more or less evenly in an arc across the SNS.

[Rod]

Definitely over thinking. I'm the worst at that, but like I have learned for ME, a handful in the corner until there is a glow and then dumping in the unlit beside the lit (none on top of the lit) and putting the lid on to promote "as one dies it lights the next". It takes a bit to get that balance of "clean smoke" and temp leveling.

[FireMan]

I number each briquette with a white sharpie, then put them in groups of 8 accordingly. That way I have 4 & 1/2 groups which is the ideal # to work with. I then address the groups as to which gits lit first on down the line. When they are half lit, that’s 2 & a 1/4, things get a little tipsy but fire management is an acquired art so as to effect the malliard reaction of the food one is desiring to cook. Allowing for appropriate time & proper computer graph, optimum munchy of the food is acquired. This worked fer me.

[SheilaAnn]

🤣🤣🤣🤣👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

[Philotius]

Well, I guess I gotta go get a white sharpie now!!

[Panhead John]

I’ve found that whiteout works better. I also like to leave my coals overnight in my dehumidifier chamber before a cook. I then stack them one by one until I’m about 1/2” from the top of the SnS, carefully allowing 1/4” of space between each briquette. That’s with using B & B. Kingsford calls for approx. 1/8” between coals. If I start early enough, I’m usually eating around 10pm.