Tips for Lighting Bronco in the Rain

[MtView]

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm looking for any tips for lighting the Bronco in the rain. I'm smoking the turkey tomorrow am and New England does not disappoint. Right on queue there is supposed to be substantial rain starting at 8 or 9 am in the morning. The Bronco is on a completely unsheltered back porch. Of course, today is beautiful, but I couldn't bring myself to make it today and have to reheat it.

I'll be smoking at 325 and I have the charcoal in the Bronco already and good to go. Usually I light it and follow the Uncle Bob lighting directions for hot and fast with one starter in the middle of the basket. Once lit I leave the Bronco open for 30 minutes, put in the deflector, wood and hooks, and then close it up and let it heat toward the target temp for another 15 minutes.

The only thing I can think of is to partially prop the lid open with something for the 30 minutes I would normally have it wide open. I usually use a Billows fan, but mine is mounted vertically on the air intake tube so I might have to loosely wrap some tinfoil around it to keep out the rain.

Any tips or ideas are appreciated!

[Jerod Broussard]

The rain is going to suck the heat out of that dude. Light it plenty Hot.

[jecucolo]

I have a Pbc. Before I had a cover I had a similar problem. I just put some umbrella around it and it worked fine. Nothing burnt up.

[Panhead John]

I had a Bronco for a few years and never attempted to cook in the rain, but myself, I wouldn’t try. Rain can wreck havoc on an outdoor cook. I’d cook today if you have time. Cover it and refrigerate overnight. I’d take it out of the fridge tomorrow for about an hour and then reheat in the oven. You’ll still have your smoke flavor and if you reheat it uncovered you should still have a semi crispy skin.

[MtView]

I had a Bronco for a few years and never attempted to cook in the rain, but myself, I wouldn’t try. Rain can wreck havoc on an outdoor cook. I’d cook today if you have time. Cover it and refrigerate overnight. I’d take it out of the fridge tomorrow for about an hour and then reheat in the oven. You’ll still have your smoke flavor and if you reheat it uncovered you should still have a semi crispy skin.

I may actually do this tonight. When I reheat the turkey, am I reheating until warm or do I need to bring it back to 165?

[Jerod Broussard]

160 on a turkey deep in the breast will do. Proper cooling and quick reheating are the keys.

[Panhead John]

If it’s fully cooked tonight, I would just reheat it tomorrow till it’s just hot enough to serve. Or you could cook it today till almost done, then finish in the oven tomorrow. Glad you’re reconsidering. I had this image of you out in the pouring rain, getting soaked while messin’ with thermometers, trying to light coals in the rain, opening the lid to check on it, maybe even out there adjusting the vents all the time…..😂

[J-Melt]

When it’s raining, I light a half full chimney starter in my kettle under the awning by my back door. I then carefully carry it to my bronco and pour it in. Maybe not the safest, but with it raining, that cuts the fire risk!

[klflowers]

I haven't cooked in the Bronco in the rain but I have cooked on all kinds of weather in the WSM. I would rig up an umbrella in a lawn chair to get it started but after it got going I would just let it run uncovered. The vents would be a little more open. I never worried about rain getting into the top vents. Because of the way the intake is built on the Bronco I would try and cover it loosely to prevent water pooling in the bottom.

[J-Melt]

Another note is that my bronco runs like a pro without any fan, so you could try without to protect your billows from getting water logged. May just need to keep vents a little more open than normal.

[Steve R.]

I have a popup canopy that is handy for cooking in the rain. Is something like this an option for you?

[HawkerXP]

I bungee a beach umbrella to a fence post and position the PBC under that. Or attach same umbrella to the leg of my performer for cooking on the Weber.

[DrJimmy2112]

Newbie here. Perhaps I am fool-hearty, but I find myself cooking in drizzle, light rain fairly often. Even with my pellet grill. I usually put plastic bags over the electronic parts.
I started my bronco yesterday in a light rain, and just rolled with it. I had the basket under the deflector plate until the fire was going, then closed the lid. We are no longer in winter, and the bronco seemed to handle the light rain fairly well