Pit Barrel Cooker (PBC) Appreciation Thread

3rd pbc cook

3rd time using the PBC and absolutely love it! Ribs and chicken came out great and everyone loved them. Used applewood along with Extraordinary BBQs rib rub for the ribs and Reichlen's basic rub for the chicken. Didn't make any of my own sauce - simply used KC Masterpiece.

One issue that's still a bit frustrating though is keeping the heat consistent. (trying to get consistent 270 degrees). Question - does the pbc start out at 250 for you guys and gradually climb to 330+? I had that happen twice so I contacted them (I touched on this topic in this thread a while back) and a rep told me to light 30 coals instead of 40 and dump them at 12 mins. I did that this time and the temp started at 190-200 and dropping to start...so I cracked the lid to get it going a bit and at 225 put the lid on completely. I will say the pbc stayed in the 250-260 range for quite some time (1-1.5 hrs) but eventually started rising to 330+ yet again. I put some foil around one of the rebar holes and that seemed to help a bit. Is this common? Do you guys think I'm doing anything wrong or is this the norm?

Thanks all!
 

Attachments

  • ribs1.jpg
    ribs1.jpg
    92.2 KB · Views: 146
  • ribs2.jpg
    ribs2.jpg
    145.4 KB · Views: 148
  • chicken1.jpg
    chicken1.jpg
    92.9 KB · Views: 144
Stick-

I spoke with the PBC folks before my first cook and they told me to dump the coals in at 12 minutes as opposed to 15. Now, she mentioned this due to my location in Long Beach since she knew the area and didn't say it was for the temp issue but perhaps it was?

They also say to put the meat on immediately while most in this thread let it get up to temp and burn off the bad smoke before putting the meat on.

If I had to venture a guess, I'd imagine continual temp issues would have to do with how you have the air vent set up and/or how often the lid comes off. I'm probably not the best person to ask since I don't do any temp monitoring of the cooker as I feel I have it locked in at this point.
 
BigKing said:
Stick-

I spoke with the PBC folks before my first cook and they told me to dump the coals in at 12 minutes as opposed to 15. Now, she mentioned this due to my location in Long Beach since she knew the area and didn't say it was for the temp issue but perhaps it was?

They also say to put the meat on immediately while most in this thread let it get up to temp and burn off the bad smoke before putting the meat on.

If I had to venture a guess, I'd imagine continual temp issues would have to do with how you have the air vent set up and/or how often the lid comes off. I'm probably not the best person to ask since I don't do any temp monitoring of the cooker as I feel I have it locked in at this point.
Click to expand...

Thanks BK,
I made sure to have the bottom vent open 1/4" (might even be smaller opening than that) and kept the lid on tight and still gradually rose higher and higher.

I hear you about putting the meat on immediately vs. waiting. I put it on immediately as they recommended that but I'd like to as wait on that as well
 
stickbit said:
nice...is that a couple bricks on the bottom and a half load of charcoal?
Click to expand...

Yup I have two fire bricks. Mine are the size of a regular clay brick and I wished I had got half the width ones like Andrew has. It works great for shorter cooks;

but being cheap (trying to save of charcoal) came back to bite me. The turkey wasn't done and I used up all the charcoal (I got a solid 3½ hours on that half basket) so I had to move it to the oven. I was rushed for time cooked too hot in the oven and dried the turkey out. Still had good flavor from the marinade though.
 
stickbit said:
One issue that's still a bit frustrating though is keeping the heat consistent. (trying to get consistent 270 degrees). Question - does the pbc start out at 250 for you guys and gradually climb to 330+? I had that happen twice so I contacted them (I touched on this topic in this thread a while back) and a rep told me to light 30 coals instead of 40 and dump them at 12 mins. I did that this time and the temp started at 190-200 and dropping to start...so I cracked the lid to get it going a bit and at 225 put the lid on completely. I will say the pbc stayed in the 250-260 range for quite some time (1-1.5 hrs) but eventually started rising to 330+ yet again. I put some foil around one of the rebar holes and that seemed to help a bit. Is this common? Do you guys think I'm doing anything wrong or is this the norm?

Thanks all!
Click to expand...


I use a couple of cheap magnets - you can even use refrigerator magnets - to close down the intake a little more. Just slap on the magnet over part of the opening and adjust until your temp is where you want it. Watch though, if you are too aggressive, the heat can drop too much.

By the way, your food looks great!

Barry
 
Chefboy said:
I use a couple of cheap magnets - you can even use refrigerator magnets - to close down the intake a little more. Just slap on the magnet over part of the opening and adjust until your temp is where you want it. Watch though, if you are too aggressive, the heat can drop too much.

By the way, your food looks great!

Barry
Click to expand...

Thanks Barry! So you're just talking about putting the magnet over part of the bottom vent? Or are you affecting the holes around the rebars at all?
 
stickbit said:
3rd time using the PBC and absolutely love it! Ribs and chicken came out great and everyone loved them. Used applewood along with Extraordinary BBQs rib rub for the ribs and Reichlen's basic rub for the chicken. Didn't make any of my own sauce - simply used KC Masterpiece
Click to expand...


I know you're having troubles with the temps, but man that food looks phenomenal.
 
stickbit said:
Thanks Barry! So you're just talking about putting the magnet over part of the bottom vent? Or are you affecting the holes around the rebars at all?
Click to expand...

During a cook I use a magnet over the intake to reduce temps (part of it to close it down a little). Since I almost always have the rebar in, no way to do it then. I will pull a rebar, if I'm using the grate sometime to raise the temp.

I have magnets for all four rebar holes and the intake I use for closing it down when I'm done cooking.

Also...I've noticed a difference in temp on where I put the lit coals. If I dump them across the top (therefore lighting lots of coals across the whole surface...and burning downwards as they light more) then I get a temp that increases as it burns and more coals catch.

If I dig a hole out of one side and dump all the coals in one spot (therefore only igniting what it touches and burning around the basket...more like a minion method) the temp stays lower and more steady...but never really gets up over 300.
 
stickbit said:
One issue that's still a bit frustrating though is keeping the heat consistent. (trying to get consistent 270 degrees). Question - does the pbc start out at 250 for you guys and gradually climb to 330+? I had that happen twice so I contacted them (I touched on this topic in this thread a while back) and a rep told me to light 30 coals instead of 40 and dump them at 12 mins. I did that this time and the temp started at 190-200 and dropping to start...so I cracked the lid to get it going a bit and at 225 put the lid on completely. I will say the pbc stayed in the 250-260 range for quite some time (1-1.5 hrs) but eventually started rising to 330+ yet again. I put some foil around one of the rebar holes and that seemed to help a bit. Is this common? Do you guys think I'm doing anything wrong or is this the norm?

Thanks all!
Click to expand...

First off your results look great. I too experienced some frustration in trying to maintain a fairly constant, predictable temperature and finally resorted to BBQ Guru's PartyQ controller. Since that time I don't worry about barrel temps. There are many here, probably most, that don't employ anything other than the damper and as the many praises attest have repeatable great cooks.

I suppose I'm a bit of a gadget geek and process control type of guy. I love this stuff and it in turn adds more pleasure to the cooking process. My latest toy is the Thermoworks Smoke wireless temperature monitor which rocks, although so far I have only used the meat probe, forgoing the pit probe as the PartyQ takes care of that.

When cooking split or spatchcocked chickens I don't normally use the PartyQ, preferring instead to crack the lid slightly to obtain a barrel temp of around 320 or so. Did some lemon pepper chicken the other night and it was fantastic.

Thanks for sharing the photos
 
Some advice, please. I am going to do my 1st brisket on the PBC tomorrow. It is a rather small choice packer, about 12 lbs. I plan to put it on and head to work around 7:30. Do you guys think it will be OK until 2:30 or so to check it for the 1st time?
 
LloydQ said:
Some advice, please. I am going to do my 1st brisket on the PBC tomorrow. It is a rather small choice packer, about 12 lbs. I plan to put it on and head to work around 7:30. Do you guys think it will be OK until 2:30 or so to check it for the 1st time?
Click to expand...

That depend on a lot of variables. How comfortable are you with what temp your PBC runs at? At 225-250 you should be fine for 7 hours as a brisket, unwrapped at that temp will take about 1-1.5 hours per lb.

If you run at 275-325 it will take considerably less time.

Also depends if you plan to run naked the whole way or wrap it. You can do a 12lb brisket in 6-8 hours if you run hot and wrap it after 4-5 hours.

Seems to me you should call in sick and stay home to watch it :)
 
This is the thinnest flat I have ever seen. I am scared! Plus, I found out this afternoon that I have to be at work an hour early. That means it will be on at 6:30. What time should I worry? Shut my intake down? I am about 1/3 open. Go to 1/4?
 
LloydQ said:
And I do plan to wrap.
Click to expand...

I've wrapped my brisket every time so far. I'm usually wrapping at the 5-5.5 hour mark.

You won't be home for 8 hours?

I haven't really gone too far past 8 hours on a cook when wrapping, nor any time for that matter. The fire goes past 8 hours but I question the intensity of it once I go past that, at least in my experience.

Someone correct me if I am wrong here though...nothing wrong with wrapping it if Lloyd gets home and the IT is at say, 180, right? Just wrap it at that point and add coals if necessary if the fire is dying out?

I don't think a 12 pounder will be ready after 8 hours without a wrap unless you running real hot. Hopefully someone with more experience with non-wrapped briskets can chime in.

That being said...you know you want to do it so just let it ride!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

T
Pit Boss Champion Barrel Smoker
Replies
3
Views
1K
Big Andy
B
motoeric
Pit Barrel WSM Hanging System
Replies
5
Views
964
SMOKE FREAK
SMOKE FREAK
motoeric
Pit Barrel Cooker PBX
Replies
1
Views
455
Bob C Cue
Bob C Cue
motoeric
EndGrain Cutting Board: REVIEW
Replies
5
Views
2K
Chett. L
Chett. L
sandro
Default A tiny pork coppa for pulled pork. Hill Country style on the Pit Barrel Cooker!
Replies
5
Views
329
Titch
Titch
Back
Top