Pit Barrel Cooker (PBC) Appreciation Thread

[Vammy]

So first cook is going...a couple of questions:

1) I know many don't worry about temps in the PBC but everywhere says it settles on around 275 degrees...I hung an air probe from my thermoworks Smoke and stuck the other probe in the meat. Temps in the barrel haven't ever gone over 230 that I have seen. Haven't watched it a ton, but at least 20 or so glances. Most of the time right around 220-225. Do I need to open or close my intake any? I guestimated 1/4 since I am about 700 elevation. Not sure opening or closing would get it hotter?

2) On the rain discussion earlier....I hadn't thought about this. If I am smoking and it starts raining and I don't have a tarp/tent to put over it...that ok? Not going to rust this thing out or kill the cook?

When the below chicken is done I am going to leave the lid off and try some frozen hamburger patties just for the fun of it. Who knows if it'll turn out.

2.5 hours in, probe says breast is at 252 (er, I meant 152):


I'm at 630 ft elevation (according to Google), my damper is open nearly half way. I have an oven thermometer in mine, and it runs 270F pretty consistently. One thing to be aware of is wind; mine does not like having wind blowing into the damper. I turn mine so the damper is quartering the wind 90*, and yesterday had to rotate it 180* away from the wind to keep my temps up.

The PBC is porcelin coated, so rain isn't going to hurt it...but I do have a patio with a covered section for cooking on rainy days.

That chicken looks spot on!!

Cheers

Vam

 

[PUNKem733]

Jesus!! Great job on all these cooks. These mew batch of NooBs don't really need any help with things. I'll probably do six full spares tomorrow.

 

[Bob C Cue]

Thought I would be the first person to ever post pics of a St. Louis style ribs cooked on the PBC:

 

[SpookySunny]

I've had chicken cooks take longer than 2.5 hours at times. 165 is the target temp so just hold on until you get there. You will be rewarded with delicious and juicy chicken.

Yeah, I held on..sort of. I ended up cracking the lid a bit to speed up the process. The temps rose to 290-300 inside the PBC then. At 3 hours 20 minutes pulled it when it hit 165. Had good flavor and moist on the outside...inside was a bit dry. Not terrible. But I have a long list of things to do better next time, one being I forgot to olive oil and rub the bottoms of the chickens (I did the tops and forgot to flip and do the underneaths before hanging :drama: )

Thanks for the responses!

I'm at 630 ft elevation (according to Google), my damper is open nearly half way. I have an oven thermometer in mine, and it runs 270F pretty consistently. One thing to be aware of is wind; mine does not like having wind blowing into the damper. I turn mine so the damper is quartering the wind 90*, and yesterday had to rotate it 180* away from the wind to keep my temps up.

The PBC is porcelin coated, so rain isn't going to hurt it...but I do have a patio with a covered section for cooking on rainy days.

That chicken looks spot on!

Good to know, I won't worry about it if it gets a bit wet every now and then. I'll store it in the garage when not in use.

I may end up opening the intake a bit. I'll flip a coin if that is one of the things I change for the next cook, but it is worth a shot.

 

[AClarke44]

Great looking plate Bob!

 

[agensop]

alright guys i tried something different today. i mixed royal oak lunmp with royal oak and kingsford briquettes today for my rib cook.. It cooked hotter and more consistent then ever using briquettes alone. I was impressed. I only stubled on it because last week i was doing some country style ribs and my coals temp had dropped and it was taking forever. (using royal oak briquettes can be a bitch at times) so i thres a small bowl full of lump i had from a cook a few months ago and wow! temps jumped back up and were stable. i wasnt sure how the lump would perform in the barrel but it worked great. im very very very happy with today results. after smoking the ribs for 5 hours i was able to grill foor for another 3 hours. usually on my 6 hour with just briquettes the i have to add coals.

color me impressed!

 

[Bob C Cue]

Great looking plate Bob!

Thanks Andrew! Everyone loved the ribs and asparagus done on the PBC!

 

[Deebo]

G'mornin brethren!! Allow me to be the first to post a 2017 Memorial Day cook update! Got an 11 lb brisket going that required a bright and early start. Got starter coals going in the chimney as we speak. The plan was to have the brisket in the smoker by 7am which looks doable. I'll have some pron for ya a bit later. Looking forward to seeing all the cooks going on today! :eusa_clap

 

[STLBBQer]

Our cookout was yesterday and the PBC performed like a champ. Did 4 slabs of baby backs, then upped the temps and hung a couple tri-tips. Finally, threw in the grate and did salmon fillets and some veggie burgers. PBC is versatile!

 

[Stlsportster]

Coffee, charcoal and a pork butt to start the day.

 

[Vammy]

You guys are making me hungry already!!

 

[Stlsportster]

Hour and fifteen in...

 

[Deebo]

I'm deep into the stall. I've been sitting at 160 internal temps for the last 15 or 20 minutes. I'll wrap in a little bit. I like the bark to be a bit dark so I'll let it go a while longer before wrapping in pink butcher paper.

I will say that RO definitely burns a bit hotter but seems to sit a bit more stable than KBB. It's been sitting between 286 and 293 for the last few hours. This is my first cook with RO so we'll see how the next couple cooks go. I'm happy with the switch so far.

 

[Stlsportster]

4.5 hours in. Added a fatty about an hour ago too.

 

[16Adams]

alright guys i tried something different today. i mixed royal oak lunmp with royal oak and kingsford briquettes today for my rib cook.. It cooked hotter and more consistent then ever using briquettes alone. I was impressed. I only stubled on it because last week i was doing some country style ribs and my coals temp had dropped and it was taking forever. (using royal oak briquettes can be a bitch at times) so i thres a small bowl full of lump i had from a cook a few months ago and wow! temps jumped back up and were stable. i wasnt sure how the lump would perform in the barrel but it worked great. im very very very happy with today results. after smoking the ribs for 5 hours i was able to grill foor for another 3 hours. usually on my 6 hour with just briquettes the i have to add coals.

color me impressed!

The mixing of Lump and Briquettes. That's freakn genius )

 

[TheMoth]

Hi guys. It's been awhile since I posted, or even visited...glad to be back and caught up (it is amazing how long this thread has been going!). Anyway, I had been struggling with temp control the last couple of months, with temps going too high. On my last cook, I ran out of Stubbs and started using my KBB stash. The last two cooks with KBB have resulted in temps of 270F versus the 330F I was getting with Stubbs. Same number of coals, same techniques, etc. I'm not saying one is better than the other but the temp difference that I am seeing is amazing.

 

[HoytFlinger]

Hi guys. It's been awhile since I posted, or even visited...glad to be back and caught up (it is amazing how long this thread has been going!). Anyway, I had been struggling with temp control the last couple of months, with temps going too high. On my last cook, I ran out of Stubbs and started using my KBB stash. The last two cooks with KBB have resulted in temps of 270F versus the 330F I was getting with Stubbs. Same number of coals, same techniques, etc. I'm not saying one is better than the other but the temp difference that I am seeing is amazing.

I think 270 is perfect. I shoot for 270-275 in my offset. Have no clue what my PBC runs as I don't care. Fire it up, load meat, go watch TV. Love it.

 

[Stlsportster]

Almost 8 hours in. IT 178 and getting close. Took off the fatty and replaced with ABTs. Suddenly the sky looking dark. Not sure if I'll beat the storm or the KBB will run out first. Pit running 235 now even with a rebar out.

 

[Servo]

Sad to report on my maiden rib voyage I lost a rack of St Louis spares to the coals around 2:45 in. Pulled the other rack out of fear, seemed close to done. Wrapped them for 30. They weren't fall off the bone but done. The rack from the coals wasn't fall off bone stage either.

I assume I did a horrendous job on the hooking? Should hook bit sitting just under a bone, just on top of a bone, or centered?

I wasn't super careful on the hook I guess but was really surprised on the fall.

 

[Stlsportster]

Sad to report on my maiden rib voyage I lost a rack of St Louis spares to the coals around 2:45 in. Pulled the other rack out of fear, seemed close to done. Wrapped them for 30. They weren't fall off the bone but done. The rack from the coals wasn't fall off bone stage either.

I assume I did a horrendous job on the hooking? Should hook bit sitting just under a bone, just on top of a bone, or centered?

I wasn't super careful on the hook I guess but was really surprised on the fall.

Servo. I usually hook the thick end of the ribs. May be the smaller bones in length but the meat is thicker...I count 3 ribs in and put the hook under the 3rd. May have to bend that top rib over a bit to get the hook on the rebar.