Made for the Weber Smokey Mountain, the Snake Maker is an interior wall for setting up coals in either a Snake Method pattern or for the Minion Method, and we even use it to cold smoke. The Snake Method acts as a slow burning fuse to help regulate cooking temperature and time while reducing temperature spikes. It is recommended for cook times up to 7 hours where temperature control is crucial. Set your coals up around the outside of the Snake Maker to where they almost connect again on the other side. Light one end and let it slowly burn to the other.
The Minion Method uses more coal than the Snake Method and is an ideal method for when you have an anticipated cook time of over 7 hours. With this method, set your Snake Maker in the middle of your cooker and surround it with coals. Then add hot coals to the center of the Snake Maker and the unlit coals will start to catch through the perforations.
For cold smoking, we fill the Snake Maker with wood chips and top the chips with one lit charcoal briquette. The WSM22 size will provide a billow of smoke for an hour and the WSM18 size will smoke for about 45 on one fill.
The Snake Maker measures 5 inches in height and the WSM22 option measures 4.5 inches in diameter while the WSM18 option measures 3.5 inches in diameter.