Hey folks, going to be doing my first low & slow, a rack of spares, on the new SnS kettle tomorrow. The SnS site's description of how to do that shows getting a dozen briquets going first in one end, and then the second pic suggests those are spread along the bottom of the insert prior to adding a chimney of unlit coals on top to then burn slowly via vent management.
But I'm pretty sure I've seen video and descriptions of the first dozen coals being left right where they're at, and adding the chimney of unlit coals into the remaining space, and let the fire work its way across the insert. In both instances, wood chunks go on top of course.
I leave the burning ones in a pile and add the new ones adjacent to the pile at approximately the same height. Same as you described in your last paragraph.
It sure seems to make sense that leaving the lit coals alone, sitting at one end, and adding unlit in the rest of the space would make for a more gradual burn. Piling fresh coals on a horizontal layer of lit coals would light them all at once, and they would then burn from the bottom up much faster, it seems to me. Thinking I should trust my intuition here...
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Yep, pile for low & slow, since you want the snake effect.. If you're doing hot & fast, say for burgers spread 'em. Or when cooking at 325+ for chickens, spread a half chimney of unlit and add a half chimney of lit on top, those are a couple instances when you'd spread.
Pile for low and slow. What you do NOT want to do is have the pile light a bunch of other coals at the same time. That causes the temp to shoot up and you need to choke off the air etc. Basically, you'er using a minion effect where the coals that are lit light the coals right next to them and so on.
Also, start with the vents closed to about 1/4 and then slowly open if you need to. On my weber, it can take 30 minutes for the kettle to move from the high 100s to 250 or so where I like it. But if you open things wide to start, it's easy to overshoot as well.
Final point - don't chase temps and when you do make changes, wait 10-15 minutes to see the effect.
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