Pit Barrel Cooker (PBC) Appreciation Thread

Rib Rub said:

Little different news to report. The cooker seemed to be dying out temps dropped to 212. Butt has been on since 11am and still is not done. Internal temp is 180. Now I looked in and the coals are almost gone. I gave them a stir and temps are only getting to about 170, I mean I don’t think I am going to have enough to finish this thing. I mean WTF, why am I am having such a hard time with this thing? The coals seem to only burn in the middle and the outside coals are never touched. I filled the whole basket to the top?? This thing is going in the trash.

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Sorry your not having the results you want.

Is the charcoal you are using all from the same batch? I know it is not probably from the same bag but is it from bags you bought at the same time? If so I would go get a new bag of charcoal.

I light mine by filling the basket as full as I can without going above the grab handle. Then I pour half of a large webber chimney in on top, half on each side of the handle, leaving a spot for my hand. I have gotten well over 10 hours on the PBC and I am always running 300+.

I get your frustration that you feel like it is not performing as advertised. I think you are in your own head now. It will put out awesome food and will run a long time on a load of charcoal.

Rib Rub said:

Little different news to report. The cooker seemed to be dying out temps dropped to 212. Butt has been on since 11am and still is not done. Internal temp is 180. Now I looked in and the coals are almost gone. I gave them a stir and temps are only getting to about 170, I mean I don’t think I am going to have enough to finish this thing. I mean WTF, why am I am having such a hard time with this thing? The coals seem to only burn in the middle and the outside coals are never touched. I filled the whole basket to the top?? This thing is going in the trash.

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Man, this does sound baffling. Never had anything remotely like what you’re describing. You’ve got a few experts on the case here. Before discarding the thing you might want to give Noah a call—he’d help you. And of course immense knowledge right here if you want to walk through it on the PBCAT—lots of advice and experience at your fingertips happy to give you assistance.

@ Rib Rub man i think you must have some bad coal or something , i routinely throw a pork butt on let it run for an hour or 2 then go to bed come back 6 or so hours later to find the pbc purring along , seriously i have done this at least a hundred times probably more , probably a lot more , then wrap or pull or make any adjustments i need to make , and sometimes that means running an additional hour or 2 , so yeah i am thinking bad coal

@Rib Rub- That's really bizarre. I've hung 5 butts, just under 40 pounds of meat, for 7.5 hours and still had @270* when they were done. (Made the local high school football team pretty happy). It was raining pork fat in the barrel and it never stumbled. I use Stubb's instead of KBB, but I doubt that it made that big of a difference. I wouldn't trash it yet. Chalk it up to "learning curve",
get a new bag of charcoal, grab an adult beverage, relax, and hit it again. All will be fine.

Thanks for the replies guys! I was bent out of shape last night as one could expect. The grill was working great and doing its thing and then when it hit 163 I wrapped and came out an hour later and the temps dropped to 200 and were falling as I watched. I winded up pulling it off when it hit 170 as the pork internal was also falling from 180 to 165 as I pulled it out to do a little recon as to why I was losing temps.

Like I said all the coals were burnt in the middle and the outside coals were all around untouched. This is almost the same scenario as last time as it died out on me doing ribs. The only thing I can think of is that the vent needs to close a bit more. I am at sea level and I am wondering because I know I am below sea level as I have seen the elevation on my GPS. I am like -10 below. I don’t know if this has anything to do with it and I should just shut the vent to a sliver?

I have watched a hundred videos now, I have watched all the trouble shooting videos and I am stumped? Maybe I just need to add more coals?

I am using a brand new bag of Kingsford. Nothing mixed all the same bag.

With all that, the Butt turned out horrible! I managed to get a bit trimmed off to do a few sammiches, but man it was like slicing through leather. I gotta say I really liked the flavor. I am starting to dig the smokey flavor.

Anyway, just a bummer, I did allot research before I picked up this cooker, I mean I looked a 20 grills and smokers and with all the raving and simplicity with the PBC, I thought I was going to be cooking some great food, but it really is not going to well. Just sucks when the wife and family is counting on great BBQ and you bring this to the table. I mean if this keeps up, the wife is going to leave me for the guy up the street with the WSM!!!

Rib Rub - Pretty gnarly that it burned out that quickly. I'm usually good for 8 hours which is plenty of time to finish up a butt and/or brisket as long as I foil it by the 6 hour mark. Pretty odd to have a burn pattern that is only in the middle as it is usually the area furthest away from the intake that lasts the longest. Don't give up just yet. I'd get a cheap butt and take another run at it.

Regarding the question about leaving it unattended, I left it for around five hours once with a butt and a brisket in there. I generally don't wrap until at least five hours so I knew it would be fine.

I would think that if you have unburned coals, closing the vent more would be the opposite of what you should do. Maybe next time instead of a chimney, use lighter fluid. Don't let it soak in, just spray then light. I promise you won't taste it, and you will have a much more even burn.

This is how I light mine. I get long burn times and stays pretty steady. Not saying its the best way, but it works for me!

Fill the basket:


Light this many coals:


Let em get like this:


Dump em in like this:

I do the same, Pharp. Half of a small chimneys worth of lit coals spread evenly on top. I usually always have to add charcoal, but it's usually at the 6-7 hour mark if I'm cooking in the summer. Sometimes a little less in the winter. I've also spun the basket before to help light the other side a bit.

You said sea level. I remember at least two guys struggling at sea level. Can't remember how they remedied it. It's burried in this mega thread somewhere.

I think they had to open the intake more. Slow burning fire needs more air. I also think you should try to leave the lid off after you dump the coals. You need that next layer to get started before it gets soaked with dripping fat.

ssv3 said:

You said sea level. I remember at least two guys struggling at sea level. Can't remember how they remedied it. It's burried in this mega thread somewhere.

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Yep and as I said by my GPS I am below sea level. I guess I need to talk to some guys in New Orleans and see how it goes down there!

pharp said:

This is how I light mine. I get long burn times and stays pretty steady. Not saying its the best way, but it works for me!

Fill the basket:

Light this many coals:

Let em get like this:

Dump em in like this:

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I have a micro chimney from Weber. holds 40 coals. I also have a large. Are you saying half a large? 20 coals say?

I let them get white for 15 or so minutes and dump em on. I do have high temps for an hour, in the 300’s and it settles to 270 or so. But somewhere around the 4 hour mark it just seems to fizzle out.

Rib Rub said:

Yep and as I said by my GPS I am below sea level. I guess I need to talk to some guys in New Orleans and see how it goes down there!

I have a micro chimney from Weber. holds 40 coals. I also have a large. Are you saying half a large? 20 coals say?

I let them get white for 15 or so minutes and dump em on. I do have high temps for an hour, in the 300’s and it settles to 270 or so. But somewhere around the 4 hour mark it just seems to fizzle out.

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Its probably about 30. I wasn't sure from your earlier post...did we confirm that all of your cooks are from charcoal you purchased all at the same time?

I'm interviewing Noah and possibly Amber tomorrow on my YT channel via a live stream and they are letting me giveaway a PBC.

That's awesome. Link to the channel? Link to the PBC giveaway?

Tell them the guys from the PBCAT say hello!

pharp said:

Its probably about 30. I wasn't sure from your earlier post...did we confirm that all of your cooks are from charcoal you purchased all at the same time?

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Both cooks came from a brand new bag of Kingsford.

Rib Rub said:

Both cooks came from a brand new bag of Kingsford.

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If you have not already you should give Noah a call. He can help you out!

Stlsportster said:

That's awesome. Link to the channel? Link to the PBC giveaway?

Tell them the guys from the PBCAT say hello!

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Will do!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Si_3YCUt0wY

"IN Noah We Trust"