Pit Barrel Cooker (PBC) Appreciation Thread

[Thingfish]

That looks like a fine feast UKsmoker. I'm sure your wife and guests had no complaints! We are often much harder on ourselves as cooks than are others.

 

[UKsmoker]

That looks like a fine feast UKsmoker. I'm sure your wife and guests had no complaints! We are often much harder on ourselves as cooks than are others.

Thanks for the kind words mate

 

[UKsmoker]

I've never had to add charcoal during a cook. PBC will put out sufficient heat for 10 hours or more.

And that is filling the basket 2/3 then adding the rest from the chimney starter?

 

[bradymartin]

....

 

[Bob C Cue]

And that is filling the basket 2/3 then adding the rest from the chimney starter?

Yep. If I know it's going be a long cook I usually make sure the basket is really full. Rather than go just to the top I will have it somewhat mounted over the top..

 

[Magichelmt]

I cooked chicken tonight for the first time. My wife loved it. Very moist. I forgot to crack down on the lid for the last part to crisp the skin. This thing makes me look good.

 

[Bob C Cue]

I cooked chicken tonight for the first time. My wife loved it. Very moist. I forgot to crack down on the lid for the last part to crisp the skin. This thing makes me look good.

That was my experience with my first chicken cook on the PBC as well. After tasting the chicken my wife understood why I bought a cooker that looks like a trash can. That was with the original powder coated model. When I got the porcelain coated version she actually said it looked pretty nice.

 

[UKsmoker]

Adding wood

Do you guys add hickory,oak or whatever to give different flavours, if so how much do you add?

 

[UKsmoker]

Set your intake (vent cap) to 1/4 open and light 36 briquettes to ashed over like you mentioned. Mix some smaller wood chunks in with the unlit coal and make sure there are 1 or 2 that will get hit right away with the hot coals you pour on. Dump the hot coals, put the rods in, put the lid on and wait 15-20 minutes before putting in your meat. You should be running somewhere between 260 and 300 at that point. Do you have a way to monitor the cooker temp?

Edit: one thing I've found is just get close with the vent cap setting. Then adjust the amount of coals you light to get a higher or lower temp. I started with 40. Too hot! Went back to 34. A little too low for me (hovered around 240-250). Lit 36 and it sits right where I like it, 270-280. I've found 2 briquettes adjust the temp about 20-25 drgrees. Once you get your favorite temp set you can adjust the rods and/or lid to get higher Temps when needed.

Hi mate,
not had my PBC long and trying to get used to it, being in the UK I had to order in the kingsford briquettes Noah recommends, is that what you use, or have you guys found better?

 

[Thingfish]

Any briquettes will work. The PBC makers recommend Kingsford because it burns consistently. Some other briquettes will have uneven quality from bag to bag, but usually it is nothing terrible. Lots of PBC cooks will mix charcoal briquettes with lump charcoal (which burns hotter, but for a shorter time) depending on what they are cooking. So long as you have charcoal burning, the PBC will cook just fine. My advice would be to find a decent product which is readily available locally and learn how to best cook with that product.

 

[Bob C Cue]

Any briquettes will work. The PBC makers recommend Kingsford because it burns consistently. Some other briquettes will have uneven quality from bag to bag, but usually it is nothing terrible. Lots of PBC cooks will mix charcoal briquettes with lump charcoal (which burns hotter, but for a shorter time) depending on what they are cooking. So long as you have charcoal burning, the PBC will cook just fine. My advice would be to find a decent product which is readily available locally and learn how to best cook with that product.

Nailed it!

 

[AClarke44]

Hi mate,
not had my PBC long and trying to get used to it, being in the UK I had to order in the kingsford briquettes Noah recommends, is that what you use, or have you guys found better?

UKsmoker, first let me say welcome to the forum and especially to the PBC club!

As far as your question, Thingfish's answer is pretty much right on. Personally I don't use Kingsford in the PBC as I prefer Stubbs. But as Thingfish mentioned, just find a briquette you like and use it. You can always tweak your intake (vent cap) if you need to....

 

[Magichelmt]

Do you guys add hickory,oak or whatever to give different flavours, if so how much do you add?

I add three small chunks of what ever wood I feel like. This time I used mesquite. Sometimes apple or hickory. There was a giant cherry tree knocked over this weekend on my father in laws farm. I am about to have a good stash of cherry.

 

[16Adams]

I'm not sure I would pay full retail (unless really needing the fuel) but this time of year you can find the Kingsford Briq with Apple and Hickory wood infused into the coal. It works really well in the PBC. A place near my tent has it for 4.97 bag- half price. I only bought two bags but that puts me st 14 bags of Briqs and 12 bags of lump. Starting to worry I may have whoreder tendencies

 

[Bob C Cue]

I'm not sure I would pay full retail (unless really needing the fuel) but this time of year you can find the Kingsford Briq with Apple and Hickory wood infused into the coal. It works really well in the PBC. A place near my tent has it for 4.97 bag- half price. I only bought two bags but that puts me st 14 bags of Briqs and 12 bags of lump. Starting to worry I may have whoreder tendencies

Unless you're talking 14 pallets of Briqs and 12 pallets of lump, I think you are fine.

 

[UKsmoker]

modded PBC

Guys, have got a hinged grate on order, but am also thinking of adding some lugs further down the barrel so I can make use of the two grates I will now have, have any of you guys done this and is there an optimum distance apart, does it still function as well regarding more meat and less air circulation?

 

[Woodford]

Guys, have got a hinged grate on order, but am also thinking of adding some lugs further down the barrel so I can make use of the two grates I will now have, have any of you guys done this and is there an optimum distance apart, does it still function as well regarding more meat and less air circulation?

Most of us seem hesitant to permanently alter our barrels. I would like to do the same thing as you, but I don't want to drill through the enamel and then create a spot for rust to develop.
What I was thinking of doing is creating "L" brackets that I can suspend from the original lugs.
It sure would be nice to have that extra surface area for wings, which I still haven't done yet on mine.

 

[dcimike125]

So after doing a bunch of flats on the PBC, I am getting up at zero dark thirty to try my hand at a full packer for our block party. I am planning on following ssv3's tutorial to the letter and come up with some edible burnt ends.

I am figuring a 3am start time for putting it on the PBC to have a 12:30 lunch. Does that sound right?

 

[pjess50]

Guys, have got a hinged grate on order, but am also thinking of adding some lugs further down the barrel so I can make use of the two grates I will now have, have any of you guys done this and is there an optimum distance apart, does it still function as well regarding more meat and less air circulation?

I've shown this before but this is what I did to mine and it works perfectly, you can see the drip pan in the second pic sitting on the 2nd grate. good luck!

 

[Bob C Cue]

So after doing a bunch of flats on the PBC, I am getting up at zero dark thirty to try my hand at a full packer for our block party. I am planning on following ssv3's tutorial to the letter and come up with some edible burnt ends.

I am figuring a 3am start time for putting it on the PBC to have a 12:30 lunch. Does that sound right?

Sound about right. Would not put it on any later than that. You can always rest it wrapped in foil and towels and placed in a cooler.