I’m buying a weber kettle today.  I haven’t had a grill in almost a decade (since we moved to the new house that didn’t have a deck or patio) and since I built us a patio last fall, I decided it was time to get another grill.  I wanted either a charcoal or Blackstone and settled on charcoal. Better taste and I can potentially smoke meat in it… something I’ve always wanted to do at home.

I found a good price a good condition Weber Master Touch on FB marketplace.

I was thinking about ordering a spider Grill Venom to be able to do smoking using the snake method.  Worth it, or should I consider something else? It’s not cheap… actually it costs more than the grill, cover, chimney, and coal pans.

I've looked at these a couple times. I smoke on a Weber Kettle most of the year. The snake method works great for pork butts or things that fit in the middle of the grate. That's how I started. Once I started doing brisket, ribs, etc., I got a Slow 'N Sear Original insert and just have a cold side. I have also found that it is pretty easy to get the vents set and not have to touch them for hours at a time. I may only fiddle with them after refilling the Slow 'N Sear until the temp settles again. Holding 250 is really easy and 225/275 are pretty easy as well. I go back and forth, but I think the kettle holds well enough without spending that kind of money. I'll put that money towards a larger gravity charcoal grill/smoker that I can do 2-3 brisket on if desired.

How many times you have to refill a SnS while doing a Brisket?  looks like a 12-lb


I went ahead and ordered the Venom anyways.  I like the idea of being able to set-forget it overnight and such.  I kind of like the idea of turning my two weber baskets into a Bro-n-Sear for free and then making a homemade vortex, too.  I think if I didn't order the venom I'd just buy the SnS and vortex, but they seem like easy to improvise things.

I smoked two racks of St. Louis ribs first thing on the Weber last weekend using the snake method.  I only ran the snake 2/3 of the way around. It took me 3 hours to realize the reason I couldn't the temp over 200F was because the bottom vent I thought was wide open was completely shut.  So my 3-2-1 ribs turned into like 5-1-1 ribs. They were still delicious though.  

I dont have a Weber anymore, though I'm looking to add one back. The venom might help, but I always just did a snake.

I have a ceramic gril) on the back deck that I love. Easy to set and forget. On the front porch, I have a pit boss pellet grill, so its not in the rain. The ceramic is covered though.

For quick cooks its the pitboss, for really good cooks its the egg. I know this didn't help

I forget what that brisket was pre-trim, probably 12-14. I try not to get huge ones. They claim a lot longer than I get, but I probably check it every 4 hours and add charcoal once, maybe twice for a 10-12 hour brisket cook. I did the bro-n-sear with baskets. Even slotted one vertically and bent the tabs out to increase capacity. You might get 3 hours out of it and have to clear the ash out of the bottom or it chokes the coals down. The SnS seemed to at least double the time I could go without checking.

From their website "8+ hours unattended "low-n-slow" (225-250  F) operation with a single charcoal fill; if needed, refilling the Slow 'N Sear  couldn't be easier." That may be close as I do tend to hold between 250-275. Charcoal choice also helps I'm sure.