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Pit Barrel Cooker (PBC) Appreciation Thread

Big M1ke said:
Hey guys. When doing shorter cooks like chicken do you still need to fill the charcoal basket to the top? Seems like overkill. I know Noah Says to in the videos. Thanks!
Click to expand...

Nope. I regularly only fill half or a quarter of the basket for short cooks. Back in the history of this thread there are several posts with picks. Some of the guys use firebricks or a split of wood to block half the basket. I just mound the unlit in one area and dump the lit stuff overlapping the unlit.

See here. https://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showpost.php?p=3906767&postcount=7516
 
A question if I may? I just got a PBC and noticed that the cover for the vent doesn't sit flush with the hole, such that there are small gaps around the edges. Is this normal or have a got a defective cover plate? I'll be doing my first cook shortly, so I hope it's okay.
 
This is completely normal and part of the design. The PBC was not designed to close off that vent entirely. Just roll with the manufacturer's suggested settings at first.

 
Thanks, Thingfish!

Sooo, I did my first cook on the PBC yesterday. What a revelation! For 15+ years I've used a WSM and have enjoyed it, but it's gotten a little long in the tooth. It's not quite as tight as it was, though it still works well. And as for getting long in the tooth, I'm at an age and physical condition where the attention that the WSM needs is sometimes bothersome.

On the PBC I did 2 slabs of St. Louis spares, a couple of split fryers and some brats. I am not exaggerating when I say that the ribs were the absolute best I have ever done.

*This* was the texture I had been after for ages and had never been able to achieve with the WSM. Probably because I was wedded to the bbq-has-to-be-low-and-slow school. I always seemed to overshoot with ribs. Brisket and chicken were always good. And the ribs were good, but I really hate falling-off-the-bone ribs.

I followed the setup instructions and hung 2 racks of ribs with a couple of chunks of cherry and some pecan chips scattered throughout the coals. 2 hours later I hung 2 split fryers. The ribs were perfectly done at hour 3, so I pulled them. Decided not to sauce as I wanted the "nekkid" flavor to judge by. Chickens stayed on for another hour, though they could have come off a bit sooner, I think. However, they were very tender, moist and flavorful. Brats got hung in an improvised basket for an hour or so.

Temps cruised along between around 280, with occasional forays up to 300, but were pretty darned steady. One thing I did experience was nearing the end of the cook was dropping temperatures. I cracked the lid a tiny bit, which rapidly brought the temp back up, but I had to do this periodically, as they would eventually start falling again. When I looked into the barrel, I could see that the primary heat activity was near the vent. briquettes on the opposite side of the coal basket looked as though they hadn't even really been touched! So I'll have to figure out what's going on there. I couldn't tell last night, but this evening I'll look and see if there are a bunch of unburned briquettes in there.

Anyway, I am sold on this thing. I love it and we'll be spending lots of quality time together this summer!
 
xhepera said:
Thanks, Thingfish!

Sooo, I did my first cook on the PBC yesterday. What a revelation! For 15+ years I've used a WSM and have enjoyed it, but it's gotten a little long in the tooth. It's not quite as tight as it was, though it still works well. And as for getting long in the tooth, I'm at an age and physical condition where the attention that the WSM needs is sometimes bothersome.

On the PBC I did 2 slabs of St. Louis spares, a couple of split fryers and some brats. I am not exaggerating when I say that the ribs were the absolute best I have ever done.

*This* was the texture I had been after for ages and had never been able to achieve with the WSM. Probably because I was wedded to the bbq-has-to-be-low-and-slow school. I always seemed to overshoot with ribs. Brisket and chicken were always good. And the ribs were good, but I really hate falling-off-the-bone ribs.

I followed the setup instructions and hung 2 racks of ribs with a couple of chunks of cherry and some pecan chips scattered throughout the coals. 2 hours later I hung 2 split fryers. The ribs were perfectly done at hour 3, so I pulled them. Decided not to sauce as I wanted the "nekkid" flavor to judge by. Chickens stayed on for another hour, though they could have come off a bit sooner, I think. However, they were very tender, moist and flavorful. Brats got hung in an improvised basket for an hour or so.

Temps cruised along between around 280, with occasional forays up to 300, but were pretty darned steady. One thing I did experience was nearing the end of the cook was dropping temperatures. I cracked the lid a tiny bit, which rapidly brought the temp back up, but I had to do this periodically, as they would eventually start falling again. When I looked into the barrel, I could see that the primary heat activity was near the vent. briquettes on the opposite side of the coal basket looked as though they hadn't even really been touched! So I'll have to figure out what's going on there. I couldn't tell last night, but this evening I'll look and see if there are a bunch of unburned briquettes in there.

Anyway, I am sold on this thing. I love it and we'll be spending lots of quality time together this summer!
Click to expand...
Good to hear you had a good first cook. Everybody seems to have great cookoffs with the PBC, me on the other hand I have not. I have had a hell of the time with temperature swings and the pit burning out and like you coals not touched. I know you mentioned something I noticed is that when I bought mine and opened it, the vent was not flush with the barrel. I mentioned it on here and took a pic and nobody seemed to really comment on it. I winded up pushing it flush to the barrel as it seemed to me that the vent would just be wide open? I mean is it supposed to be away from the barrel or flush, does anybody know? This could be my problem. The picture is kind of hard to make out, but the vent cover is about an inch or two away from the hole.
 

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RR- It is not flush to the barrel.

I hope you can get it nailed down soon. I can't remember the last time I touched the intake. Once you have it, you might not need to ever touch it again.
 
xhepera said:
Thanks, Thingfish!

Sooo, I did my first cook on the PBC yesterday. What a revelation! For 15+ years I've used a WSM and have enjoyed it, but it's gotten a little long in the tooth. It's not quite as tight as it was, though it still works well. And as for getting long in the tooth, I'm at an age and physical condition where the attention that the WSM needs is sometimes bothersome.

On the PBC I did 2 slabs of St. Louis spares, a couple of split fryers and some brats. I am not exaggerating when I say that the ribs were the absolute best I have ever done.

*This* was the texture I had been after for ages and had never been able to achieve with the WSM. Probably because I was wedded to the bbq-has-to-be-low-and-slow school. I always seemed to overshoot with ribs. Brisket and chicken were always good. And the ribs were good, but I really hate falling-off-the-bone ribs.

I followed the setup instructions and hung 2 racks of ribs with a couple of chunks of cherry and some pecan chips scattered throughout the coals. 2 hours later I hung 2 split fryers. The ribs were perfectly done at hour 3, so I pulled them. Decided not to sauce as I wanted the "nekkid" flavor to judge by. Chickens stayed on for another hour, though they could have come off a bit sooner, I think. However, they were very tender, moist and flavorful. Brats got hung in an improvised basket for an hour or so.

Temps cruised along between around 280, with occasional forays up to 300, but were pretty darned steady. One thing I did experience was nearing the end of the cook was dropping temperatures. I cracked the lid a tiny bit, which rapidly brought the temp back up, but I had to do this periodically, as they would eventually start falling again. When I looked into the barrel, I could see that the primary heat activity was near the vent. briquettes on the opposite side of the coal basket looked as though they hadn't even really been touched! So I'll have to figure out what's going on there. I couldn't tell last night, but this evening I'll look and see if there are a bunch of unburned briquettes in there.

Anyway, I am sold on this thing. I love it and we'll be spending lots of quality time together this summer!
Click to expand...

Way to go, X! Look forward to more of your cooks.
 
Hobonicholbbq

Hey guys I wanted to repost the link to Hobo Nichol BBQ's YouTube interview with Noah and Amber. I wasn't able to view it live but l did watch the entire interview. It was a great interview and ultimately showed just how down to earth Noah and Amber are and really highlighted their desire to be charitable and give back to the community. The PBCAT even got a mention! I'd recommend you all go check it out when you get a chance.

Very nice job Hobo! Thanks for letting us know about the interview.

Here's a link for your viewing pleasure:
https://youtu.be/Si_3YCUt0wY
 
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First time doing drumsticks on the PBC. Amazing. Family thinks they might even like 'em better than PBC wings (which are outstanding). And I even overcooked them a bit--skin cracked--still great. Crappy pic, but they were legit. We'll be doing them again soon.

xyjB3bKh.jpg
 
Kanco Connection said:
And today I've got her loaded up. 12# brisket and 2 pork butts. Started at 6:30 and the brisket is at 160 less than 4 hours later. Making good use of the split grate. Moving right along....

MR93sIXh.jpg
Click to expand...
What is in the foil? I thought about doing a whole chicken tonight for dinner. Not sure yet. Those drum sticks above look pretty tasty.
 
Looking good, Kanco. I did a small 10# packer brisket and a 7.5# butt on Saturday. Love the hanging grate. I also skewered 10 brats before it was time to foil the big cuts.

So much good food cooked so easily with a very small footprint. Love this thing. Been eating pulled pork and pulled brisket for lunch/dinner every day since Saturday night and not tired of it yet. Quesadillas, big beef sandwiches with some pepper jack and just a bunch of meat on a plate.
 
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