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Pit Barrel Cooker

lkissell said:
After reading all of the back and forth regarding the Pit Barrel Cooker I thought I'd throw out my two cents.

I went ahead and ordered one to add some additional smoking capacity to my back deck, and the $104 off coupon code sealed the deal. The cooker arrived a few days ago (4 days after ordering), and it is a quality product. Well made, well packaged, and easy to set up.

For my fist cook I prepared Tri Tip. It was very good. Not the best I've ever made, but very tasty.

Last night I cooked two chicken halves and it was the best chicken I've ever made. Very tender, juicy and flavorful.

This weekend will be ribs (with pron).

I realize that this cooker isn't for everyone, but it definitely fills a niche in my backyard.

It's very simple to use and so far my results have been great. For me it will be my go-to chicken cooker, and for that alone it was worth the investment.
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That's exactly what I explain to people when they come over to our house and ask why I have SO many different grills, smokers, griddles, plow discs, etc! Each one has it's own purpose.................at least to me any way!:becky: I can see the PBC filling a niche!
 
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I agree with Bob that the PBC fills a niche in my smoking arsenal. I had read here that the PBC was well made and I liked the price. So I bought it. Now when I have family and friends over I can hang my meat on the PBC. I'm sure they will ask why is hanging meat is better than laying flat on one of my other smokers. My response will be something like well " I have found that when the ambient temp outside is between 46-78 and due the smaller size of the PBC which creates a convection cooking enviroment in this temp range. The meat will be more moist,tender and flavorful by hanging the meat. They will be mezmorized and look at me like I am some BBQ guru and nod there head in understanding. Now I will get a chuckle every time I remember this for the next couple of weeks. And that my friends is why the PBC is well worth my $225 investment for me. Besides that it does produce some pretty damn good Q.
 
I have to say, I am intrigued by how the ratio between diameter and height might affect the cook. When I look at N8man's ever growing UDS, I can't help but wonder if he isn't creating a very different cooking environment, and then I wonder, how might my Weber dome lid with normal venting be affecting my cooking, and maybe a chimney would be better. Does a flat top work like a Coquotte lid, trapping moisture and creating a moister cooking environment, as opposed to the dome that moves water to the edge.

I think the reason you would do a butt with two hooks, and horizontal, is what i discovered when trying to hang a butt for smoking, as it gets close to being done, the structural integrity of the pork is lost, and it tears under it's own weight. I still think hanging lengthwise maximizes the benefit of a tall cooker. Just as Paul Kirk's Klose pit does.
 
Trumpstylz said:
I thought i had read somewhere that the grate was actually 17.5 inches.

I wonder if the weber 18.5 inch lid fits it, and if so, how it performs.
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Well I don't think the weber grate is actaully a full 18.5 inches. That, I think, is the diameter of the kettle which is bigger than the grate. Either way, the grates are the same size.

And because you sparked my curiousity, I braved the 25*F cold in my tshirt and headed out to the shed to check and see if the weber lid fits. Turns out, it doesn't, but just barely. A little bending of the lip on the kettle lid and she'd fit like a glove.
 

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I'm gonna cut to the chase.

What size hole is the intake vent opening and what is the "factory setting?"

I got the rest figured out, the hard part will be scoring a open 30 gallon drum.
 
swamprb said:
I'm gonna cut to the chase.

What size hole is the intake vent opening and what is the "factory setting?"

I got the rest figured out, the hard part will be scoring a open 30 gallon drum.
Click to expand...

Good luck finding the drum - can't be had for love or money in these parts. I bought one from zorotools.com - unlined. Forgot how much it was ... maybe $60 total shipped to my door? I had a hankering for a midi UDS so I sprung the $ for the drum.
 
swamprb said:
I'm gonna cut to the chase.

What size hole is the intake vent opening and what is the "factory setting?"

I got the rest figured out, the hard part will be scoring a open 30 gallon drum.
Click to expand...

Intake is like 3". Good luck finding a 30gal drum though. I have a hunch you will have to buy one new from a distributor for $60-$100.

I did have an idea today though. What if you took a 100 gal propane tank, cleaned it out, and built a version of the PBC. You could put it on legs and mount a firebox underneath and the cut a door in the side. Cut some holes to slide some rebar through and BAM! You've got an ugly offset pit tank. UOPT :thumb:
 
I would love to go back to the question about the flavor of fat drippings on coals. A few years back when I joined, that seemed to be a constant comment I saw. People didn't like the too much smoke flavor from the fat. and I remember people claiming that poultry fat was the worst tasting.

So, am I miss remembering all the fat dripping on hot coal threads? Or were those people expressing too much smoke flavor because of the fat just a bunch of rubes that didn't know how to run a uds? Is fat dripping any concern? I trust John's opinion, so I'm guessing not. But might it be one of those things that some like and others not? I don't know the answer.

Sent from my Kindle Fire using Tapatalk 2
 
THEdexaTRON said:
I am using the cheaper weber 18.5 cover. It gets tight around the rebar putting it on and off
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Thanks...I was concerned that it might be a bit tight going over the handles? I thought I would store the rebar inside the drum when putting the cover on !
 
Ryan, my theory on that is that those cookers were not designed to draft in the same way as these cookers. Every single cooker, right down to the ventilation, will change how the smoke and heat works on the meat. Since this cooker uses a different orientation of meat, a different airflow design and different ventilation, the effect of that smoke will vary. I am sure there are folks who will not like the way this cooker produces meat as well.

If I had the money and space, I think one of these would be nice to add.
 
Why does nobody want to answer the question concerning fat on the coals? Lot's of people don't like this, is it better on the pbc vs the uds and why?
 
pigdog said:
Why does nobody want to answer the question concerning fat on the coals? Lot's of people don't like this, is it better on the pbc vs the uds and why?
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It is a uds. Some like this style, some like the wsm water pan/heat diffuser better. It's just different, but you can modify either to behave like the other.
 
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