Pit Barrel Cooker (PBC) Appreciation Thread

[locosmoke]

Thanks it was fun never had a smoke go so easy

 

[unixadm]

All done. Took about 3:20 to hit 206 and probe tender. It hauled ass once I put it in the pan.

Letting it rest and then I'll offer up the final pics.

I'm going to let the PBC run with the smaller load of charcoal to see how long it will maintain a temperature of over 275 degrees.

 

[unixadm]

All done and pulled. Pretty tasty but I'll be honest, I'm not a huge fan of the added flavor from burning the beef fat. I've never been a big fan of grilled steaks and burgers, so it doesn't surprise me. When I did ribs, I didn't mind the pork fat vaporizing. I'll probably stick to doing beef items on my other cookers. Still very tasty and juicy.

 

[Haole Pete]

Man, that LOOKS awesome. Sorry you're not liking the flavor.

Maybe next time hang it over the half without the coals?

 

[unixadm]

Man, that LOOKS awesome. Sorry you're not liking the flavor.

Maybe next time hang it over the half without the coals?

Good point. I wanted to try it this way to see how it tasted. I'm a big fan of beef cooked on pellet grills. I think most people would really enjoy it, but I'm just picky about it is all. Nothing to do with the PBC. Next time I do beef, I'll try that.

It looks like it will run six hours and maintain 250+ with the load of fuel I had in it today. It ran for 300+ a majority of the time. It was about 93 ambient as well. Good to know I can run a lesser fuel load without any real issues. I liked that it ran at 300+, that will be nice when I'm cooking some ribs in a hurry.

 

[Kanco Connection]

Looks like a great cook, Unixadm!

Question for the PBC crew (or other knowledgeable people):
When doing the half basket strategy I see that guys are using firebricks, so that must be the way. But if we're just using them to partition the basket, why can't you use regular bricks? What happens? Do they emit some kind of odor or flavor when exposed to heat? Or they just don't hold up under the heat very well? What's the diff?
Thanks.

 

[dadsr4]

Looks like a great cook, Unixadm!

Question for the PBC crew (or other knowledgeable people):
When doing the half basket strategy I see that guys are using firebricks, so that must be the way. But if we're just using them to partition the basket, why can't you use regular bricks? What happens? Do they emit some kind of odor or flavor when exposed to heat? Or they just don't hold up under the heat very well? What's the diff?
Thanks.

Regular bricks, if they haven't absorbed water work for a short time but crumble from the heat. If they have absorbed water, the water can expand under heat and the bricks explode. Fire brick is denser and doesn't absorb the water.
I have gotten broken fire brick for the asking and they work quite well in a kettle.

 

[Kanco Connection]

That clears it up, Dadsr4. Thanks. I won't use regular bricks unless the recipe calls for an explosion.

 

[unixadm]

That clears it up, Dadsr4. Thanks. I won't use regular bricks unless the recipe calls for an explosion.

I bought these from Amazon:

Here's an interesting find. I found the barrel ran better with my charcoal setup yesterday than it did today with a full basket.

I cooked a whole chicken and am finishing up two racks of ribs. I had to finesse it a bit to get close to 300.

Food...

 

[Twisted T's Q]

Looks like a great cook, Unixadm!

Question for the PBC crew (or other knowledgeable people):
When doing the half basket strategy I see that guys are using firebricks, so that must be the way. But if we're just using them to partition the basket, why can't you use regular bricks? What happens? Do they emit some kind of odor or flavor when exposed to heat? Or they just don't hold up under the heat very well? What's the diff?
Thanks.

I use a log / split of wood to partition off the charcoal basket works great and adds smoke, I guess if you don't won't the added smoke it would not be a good idea

 

[wormy]

Looks like a great cook, Unixadm!

Question for the PBC crew (or other knowledgeable people):
When doing the half basket strategy I see that guys are using firebricks, so that must be the way. But if we're just using them to partition the basket, why can't you use regular bricks? What happens? Do they emit some kind of odor or flavor when exposed to heat? Or they just
don't hold up under the heat very well? What's the diff?
Thanks.

For what it's worth I cool with half a basket without using any type of divider and it has always worked well from. More than one way to skin a cat I suppose

 

[Stlsportster]

For what it's worth I cool with half a basket without using any type of divider and it has always worked well from. More than one way to skin a cat I suppose

Same here.

 

[Westx]

If you look back through I made a divider out of a piece of steel I picked up at HD and cut to width and tall enough to bend the top over the handle of the fire basket. Works really nice and doesn't add that much weight to the basket.

 

[Haole Pete]

Meat Sunday!

Tonite's cook: Chicken and beer bread.

Chicken was simple olive oil and PBC All-Purpose. Beer bread was Cowgirl's recipe but with Hatch green chiles and shredded cheddar added.

Managed to fit both chicken halves, a 10" pan fulla beer bread, and my "chef snack" (smoked chicken liver) in no problem using the trapdoor grate. :-D

 

[Haole Pete]

Put additional shredded cheese on top of the bread, because...cheese!

Bread came out great but needed more chiles (next time!)

 

[Haole Pete]

Chicken also was great -- super juicy and FINALLY got crispy skin! :-D:-D

It _did_ look a little slutty flashing its leg like that...:shocked:

(Yeah, my carving skiils suck but I was trying to avoid the kids' fingers as they were grabbing it as fast as I could cut it....)

 

[Kanco Connection]

That ^^^ is a great post all the way around, HP.

 

[talls6]

Hey Everyone,
1st post in a few weeks, but was able to crank up the PBC yesterday for some Pork Shoulder, ABT's and a spare rib contest tester. 8 weeks into my PBC and still loving it.
Darren

 

[Kanco Connection]

Looks good, talls6!

 

[Bob C Cue]

Looks good, talls6!

Sure does!