Backup/clone question

I just updated my late 2013 MBP to Ventura — after a few false starts that I suspect were due to my trying to install it on an external ssd ( the installation restarts kept reverting to the internal drive), it’s working great! I was unsuccessful at first when trying to put it on a freshly formatted empty volume on the external ssd, but after I created a partition and formatted that as Mac journaled, it worked

Now the backup question. I’m leaving the internal Mac drive as Big Sur (for now). It’s no longer showing up in finder but I know it’s there. I’m assuming it’s incompatible with Ventura, so not worried about the disappearance.

I’d like to duplicate the fresh ssd Ventura setup ( just in case). Can I use superduper or CCC to clone my new Ventura partition? If so, does it have to be sent to a Mac journaled partition on another external vs an APFS volume or can I put it on an APFS volume?

Time Machine is offering to back up, but I’d prefer to make a bootable clone on a different drive. I haven’t migrated applications and files to it yet, so it’s a pretty basic set up. Unfortunately, the partition on which I installed this is fairly small, so I would like to move things to a bigger drive ( and still have the existing installation as an emergency bootable backup.)

Perhaps I’m overthinking it. Would I be better off just setting up another OCLP installation from scratch rather than trying to clone my ( seems like a new Mac!)setup. I suppose another option is to use OCLP to update an already cloned copy of my Big Sur Mac drive, but everything I’ve read seems to suggest a fresh install is best.

Author: @Artwire