New member of the PBC club

AClarke44

AClarke44

Babbling Farker
Joined
May 14, 2014
Messages
4,222
Reaction score
5,549
Points
0
Location
Yukon, OK
Well I picked up my new (slightly used) Pit Barrel Cooker today. It's in pretty good shape and came with a cover. I paid $175 so nearly half the price of a new one. I think it was a good deal. It had a few small surface rust spots inside so I wiped it down used some baking soda and water mixture to remove as much rust as I could got all that wiped out and sprayed it down with vegetable cooking spray.

My only concern is the coal basket. It had quite a bit of rust on it and I couldn't get it off. Its on the expanded metal grate and the metal sidewall part as well as the handle. Is that normal for a coal basket and will it hurt to cook with it having some rust on it?

I'm running it dry right now to check Temps and season the oil I sprayed in it. I know you supposedly don't have to do that with a PBC but I wanted to make sure that surface rust didn't come back.
Otherwise it's in good shape and hopefully will cook well. Right now it's running pretty hot (steady at about 340 on the grate) but there's no meat in it so that may be why. I was hoping for more like around 275ish. I guess I could tweak the intake slightly. :becky:
 

Attachments

  • 20150415_190404.jpg
    20150415_190404.jpg
    64.8 KB · Views: 239
Congrats man! I won't be so much help on this but I can't wait to see some delicious foods come outta that sucker!
 
jbounds286 said:
when i said vertical smoker..thats not what i meant!







but hey..congrats on the new cooker!
Click to expand...

Lol! Yeah I know. I'm working my way to the Shirley. Just a tad bit slower than you did. :becky:
Don't think I will forget about that vertical from them you showed me! I really liked it, just gotta be the right time...
 
I would think your dry burn will take care of any rust on the basket. If not try soaking and scrubbing it with vinegar and an abrasive pad. Then cook yourself some chicken halves hanging from the rebar. Pull it when breast reaches 160 to 165 and enjoy the moist smoky flavor unlike any other!
 
Bob C Cue said:
I would think your dry burn will take care of any rust on the basket. If not try soaking and scrubbing it with vinegar and an abrasive pad. Then cook yourself some chicken halves hanging from the rebar. Pull it when breast reaches 160 to 165 and enjoy the moist smoky flavor unlike any other!
Click to expand...

I think you may be right about the basket. I looked in it about 15 min ago and it looked like the rust was going away. I think the guy I bought it from just never used it. He said he only cooked on it 4 times. All but one of the hooks look brand new. Lol
 
Well Congratulations! Your close enough to keep the ribs, beef AND chicken warm enough till you get here! :thumb: :becky: :clap2:
 
Toast said:
Well Congratulations! Your close enough to keep the ribs, beef AND chicken warm enough till you get here! :thumb: :becky: :clap2:
Click to expand...

Yep I could put the meat on and it'd be ready to eat when I got there. I'd just have to stop about 2 hours into the trip to put the ribs on. :thumb:
 
Very similar to a UDS and it took me a few tries to figure out temp control on the beast. I finally figured out that the amount of coals I put in the chimney to light it plays a significant role in my temp. The intake then fine tunes it from there.
 
Dr. Trout Bum said:
Very similar to a UDS and it took me a few tries to figure out temp control on the beast. I finally figured out that the amount of coals I put in the chimney to light it plays a significant role in my temp. The intake then fine tunes it from there.
Click to expand...

Yeah I think I picked that up a little tonight. Although I lit it just like the videos tell you. 3/4 full basket unlit and about half a chimney of lit coals on top. Put the hanging bars in and put the lid on. It gets up to temp fast! It stayed around 350 all night but when I opened the lid it would spike. I put 3 small boneless skinless chicken breasts on the grill rack just to have something to cook. They were for my wife.
Anyway I think I need to tweak the intake a little to get a lower temp. I've read where people had their pbc settling in at 270-300 and that's where I like to cook so I'm hoping I can get it there.
 
Did a brisket and some jerk chicken thighs last weekend on mine and it ran right at300 with KBB and a few random pieces of RO lump.

Congrats on the PBC, it turns out some great food.
 
You didn't really need to coat the inside with oil because the burnt offerings take of that pretty quick. Are you getting a good seal on your lid? If it isn't you'll have higher temps until that gunks up a bit.
 
Dauvis said:
You didn't really need to coat the inside with oil because the burnt offerings take of that pretty quick. Are you getting a good seal on your lid? If it isn't you'll have higher temps until that gunks up a bit.
Click to expand...

Lid seals up really well. Almost hard to take off sometimes. I think it's most likely because I was running it dry pretty much the whole night. And I opened the lid a few times just to see what was going on. I still gotta figure out the intake though. Here in the OKC area we are right at 1200 ft elevation. The cooker says open the intake 1/4 at elevations up to 2000 ft. I bet if I close it to 1/8 open it'll settle right where I want it. The intake screw needs tightened too.
I also gotta find a way to shut it down. I used foil tonight to plug the holes but didn't really like that. I'm not concerned about saving coals but wanna be able to have it cool down enough to cover it.
 
AClarke44 said:
Lid seals up really well. Almost hard to take off sometimes. I think it's most likely because I was running it dry pretty much the whole night. And I opened the lid a few times just to see what was going on. I still gotta figure out the intake though. Here in the OKC area we are right at 1200 ft elevation. The cooker says open the intake 1/4 at elevations up to 2000 ft. I bet if I close it to 1/8 open it'll settle right where I want it. The intake screw needs tightened too.
I also gotta find a way to shut it down. I used foil tonight to plug the holes but didn't really like that. I'm not concerned about saving coals but wanna be able to have it cool down enough to cover it.
Click to expand...

That's the same thing that mine does. I saw in another thread that supposedly the basket fits into the following can and you can snuff the coals that way.

http://www.behrensmfg.com/products/storage-and-trash-cans/10-gallon-locking-lid-can/
 
Enjoy it!

And don't worry about the rust on the coal basket. I've cooked with mine plenty of times with rust on it and I'm still tickin'. And yes, most of the time it will clean and preseason itself during the cook.
 
I am also a happy new owner of a PBC! I have cooked 3 chickens, 3 racks of ribs and a boston butt so far! All have been fantastic. Have had it for a month so far, 4 cooks. It is definitely pretty efficient and simple.
 
jefferson10940 said:
I am also a happy new owner of a PBC! I have cooked 3 chickens, 3 racks of ribs and a boston butt so far! All have been fantastic. Have had it for a month so far, 4 cooks. It is definitely pretty efficient and simple.
Click to expand...

Did you monitor temperature or just let it run?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

cayenne
Treating/Preventing Rust on offset lower shelf for wood, etc.
Replies
15
Views
1K
cayenne
cayenne
J
Linseed vs Pam
Replies
14
Views
2K
bschoen
B
T
Buying a new smoker/grill. Which one?
Replies
1
Views
660
bschoen
B
J
LSG Santa Maria - Stainless or Carbon Steel Grates
Replies
17
Views
1K
jbounds286
J
T
Pitts & Spitts adjustable charcoal grill. Reviews?
Replies
7
Views
1K
Nuco59
N
Back
Top