Pit Barrel Cooker (PBC) Appreciation Thread

Sako do you have a trick for keeping the meat from falling off those skewers? I tried wings a few weeks ago and lost 4-5 to the fire... saw a post earlier in this thread about drilling a hole for a cotter pin, or using metal binder clips.

Doesn't look like you use either?
 
Fine job beating the clock, ssv3! I assume you achieved this crispy goodness by leaving the lid off the PBC for the entire cook? I will confess that I will be imitating some of this at my earliest convenience.
 
qposner said:
How were the ribs? How do they compare to a normal rib cook? Kinda interested in trying this for the fun of it.
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I do this time to time and the best I can describe is texture of a grilled meat. It's every bit moist and tender on the inside as a normal rib cook but with a nice crispy outside. Bite through and pull off the bone exactly as a 4-5 hour rib.

I'd like to add that I only do my hour ribs using baby backs since they are leaner and more tender that spares which require more time to cook.
 
ssv3 said:
I do this time to time and the best I can describe is texture of a grilled meat. It's every bit moist and tender on the inside as a normal rib cook but with a nice crispy outside. Bite through and pull off the bone exactly as a 4-5 hour rib.

I'd like to add that I only do my hour ribs using baby backs since they are leaner and more tender that spares which require more time to cook.
Click to expand...

Im going to give this a shot for sure! Thanks!
 
Stlsportster said:
Sako do you have a trick for keeping the meat from falling off those skewers? I tried wings a few weeks ago and lost 4-5 to the fire... saw a post earlier in this thread about drilling a hole for a cotter pin, or using metal binder clips.

Doesn't look like you use either?
Click to expand...

You're right Sportster as I don't use cotter pins or clips. We've got skewers available to us at local mom and pop stores cheap. Wide stainless steel skewers for a $2 each or less. I picked me up some and bent the tops into hooks and they work fine.

Here are the originals that I had laying around when I first got the PBC which worked perfectly

20130805_191511.jpg


These are the new ones which I bent the tops on. As you can see these are slightly narrower than the original ones I started with but work fine.

g5PwTs3h.png


Most commercial skewers online are flimsy and thin with not enough mass to hold cuts of meat when you want to use them vertically. My skewers are wide enough to hold meats pretty snug. There are some cuts that won't stay on due to having a soft texture and I hook those diagonally so they can stay on the skewer firmly. Then I carefully hang them and when they see some heat, they shrink a bit, stick and will never come off. What you can do as insurance is put a quarter of a potato (or small potato) at the very end of the skewer sort of like a plug. I've even played with ground beef kabobs to see if it'll work and it did. Never dropped one.

SKzz39Th.jpg


The below is my first ever cook on the PBC and I wasn't sure if the kabobs will fall so I stuffed a tater at the end.

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You get a nice potato treat at the end:biggrin1:

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Rule of thumb is not to hang cuts of meat that are generally heavy in weight or soft in texture. I even hang taters and Russets fall right off but not the Yukon Golds since they're lighter in weight and generally smaller in size.

20130816_171451.jpg


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Hope it helps.
 
Thingfish said:
Fine job beating the clock, ssv3! I assume you achieved this crispy goodness by leaving the lid off the PBC for the entire cook? I will confess that I will be imitating some of this at my earliest convenience.
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Thanks Thingfish!

I actually had the lid on the whole cook. With the lid off you'll burn your food to a crisp since you'll have a raging inferno. :biggrin1: You cook as you usually do and the key is to cut down the ribs to individual bones and other cuts to kabob sized pieces. That's all there is to it. Give it go.
 
Just checked the UPS tracker and my PBC should be here Thursday! My dad is in town Fri-Sun so figure a first test cook is order Saturday. However, we won't be home until 6:00 so I'm wondering what I can get done on it in that time. We have friends coming Monday and I'm making my famous wings then.

Would've liked to have made ribs, but no time. Any suggestions for something I can hang that won't take a ton of prep time (we'll be gone all day)? Thanks!
 
Nice!! If you're short on time, you can't go wrong with chicken or if you want a ever shorter cook than Tri Tip if you can get your hands on it. You're in WA and if I'm not mistaken Tri Tip should be available to you. Other options are thick cut steaks or pork chops.... Hang them first and bring up the IT to your desired doneness, quick sear and serve.


qposner said:
Just checked the UPS tracker and my PBC should be here Thursday! My dad is in town Fri-Sun so figure a first test cook is order Saturday. However, we won't be home until 6:00 so I'm wondering what I can get done on it in that time. We have friends coming Monday and I'm making my famous wings then.

Would've liked to have made ribs, but no time. Any suggestions for something I can hang that won't take a ton of prep time (we'll be gone all day)? Thanks!
Click to expand...
 
ssv3 said:
Nice!! If you're short on time, you can't go wrong with chicken or if you want a ever shorter cook than Tri Tip if you can get your hands on it. You're in WA and if I'm not mistaken Tri Tip should be available to you. Thick cut steaks or pork chops.... Hang them first and bring up the IT to your desired doneness, quick sear and serve.
Click to expand...

I pick up tri tip from Costco all the time. Since I'm new to the PBC, would I hang to 115 IT, pull, crack lid to bring up the heat, and sear both sides? Remove at 125 IT.

Or I could sear on my gasser.

I assume I should do the half basket fire brick technique since it would be a shorter cook?
 
qposner said:
I pick up tri tip from Costco all the time. Since I'm new to the PBC, would I hang to 115 IT, pull, crack lid to bring up the heat, and sear both sides? Remove at 125 IT.

I assume I should do the half basket fire brick technique since it would be a shorter cook?
Click to expand...

There you go! :thumb: Make sure to probe the thickest part of the TT (sort of like brisket) to get an accurate reading. Your ends or a thinner part may read 115 but may be less in some parts of the TT. I also let my TT rest and about serving time it reads 130*ish and I find it works for me which is nice and rare. To be honest, I've never done the half basket method but pretty sure Andrew and others will chime in. I always load my basket full.
 
ssv3 said:
There you go! :thumb: Make sure to probe the thickest part of the TT (sort of like brisket) to get an accurate reading. Your ends or a thinner part may read 115 but may be less in some parts of the TT. I also let my TT rest and about serving time it reads 130*ish and I find it works for me which is nice and rare. To be honest, I've never done the half basket method but pretty sure Andrew and others will chime in. I always load my basket full.
Click to expand...

Think I'll do this with the tri tip and throw some marinated chicken thighs on the grate (I added the hinges grate). Corn on the cob towards the end. Perfect!
 
qposner said:
Think I'll do this with the tri tip and throw some marinated chicken thighs on the grate (I added the hinges grate). Corn on the cob towards the end. Perfect!
Click to expand...

That will be a fantastic first cook. :thumb:

BTW I may get a little too detailed and most on here know a thing or two about q-ing/cooking so I don't want to come off wrong. I don't know people's skill level and want to be as thorough as I can when posting to eliminate potential problems. Posts convey a little different on the forums or in general than speech so just wanted to mention that. :-D
 
ssv3 said:
That will be a fantastic first cook. :thumb:

BTW I may get a little too detailed and most on here know a thing or two about q-ing/cooking so I don't want to come off wrong. I don't know people's skill level and want to be as thorough as I can when posting to eliminate potential problems. Posts convey a little different on the forums or in general than speech so just wanted to mention that. :-D
Click to expand...

I follow you. I've been a pellet smoker guy for 5 years and have been on the Brethren a while so I'm not a noob. Not an expert either! Well, according to my friends who still think you cook everything on a gasser set to high I am, but I know the truth. ;-)
 
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I use the half basket for chicken and sausages (and once for one rack of St Louis ribs) and I'd be a little hesitant to do it first try out of the box. First, for me anyways, it takes a little longer to cook certain foods than Noah and Pit Barrel estimate. For me chicken full basket is 2hours and done but half basket it's more like 2h15-30min so not much longer. Second, I think you get to know how the barrel cooks on a full basket get the damper adjusted right before you start going off the normal set up. That way if you experience any issues it will be easier to see what went wrong. After 2-4 cooks then try half basket. Just my two cents good luck and keep us posted.
 
Hoping to see some grand PBC cooks this weekend. One of you engineer types figure out a Santa Maria lift system mod using the existing rebar holes. Or has this been done and I missed it?
 
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