Maiden Voyage: Well, it was not exactly the set it and forget it as advertised. I must have distributed the hot charcoals too much or too little. I was concerned about it running too hot, as everyone warned, and I never came close to getting it above 270 degrees. I used my Maverick Thermometer and recorded the temp every 15 minutes (see below). Took a real effort to get it and keep it hot.
You went all out for that first cook! Your conclusion on the distribution of the coals may be spot on. I had trouble with a pork butt a while back as my coals were clumped more towards the back of the PBC and it ran "cool."
What chimney are you using? I do find the PBC half-chimney to be the best at getting the coals in there, especially over a Weber full-chimney (although I suspect any half-chimney will work). I also try to remember to spread the coals out a bit more evenly. I've been using a long-handed spatula for this, although I may to get a "coal picker" so I can do it better.
And the amount of wood you used is fine. I typically do 2-3 4-6 oz chunks of wood. And I love pecan on chicken.
I do have the PBC half-chimney. Watching the videos on how to light it, it didn't look to me like the "official" ones paid all that much attention to it. Overall there seemed to be two different ways to do it. One was to spread them evenly across the top to generally burn downward. The other to dump them in the center to spread outward. I probably had a combination of a few spots with clumps of hot coals and others spread out. Next time I'll be more careful to do one or the other.
John "JR"
Minnesota/ United States of America
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The PBC will run much smoother the more you cook with it. When the inside of the barrel is caked with carbon and grease it helps to maintain temps.
I like to fill the charcoal basket with coals. Then I will take out enough charcoal out of the basket to fill chimney about half full. Then I will light the chimney and allow that charcoal to light really well. When it is ready to go, give the chimney a shake to shake of the ash and pour them evenly over the basket and let them take.
Lower the basket into the barrel and let it burn for about 5 mins with the lid off. For the first few cooks, spray in the inside rim of the lid with oil or Pam, this will help you form a good grease seal on the lid. The better seal you get, the more evenly it will run.
If you are having trouble kicking the temps up, you should crack the lid and let it kick up.
I have three PBCs and most of them are set and forget, for the most part. Like I said, they get much easier to run, the more you use them. You really can't expect any smoker to be set and forget the first time you run it.
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Weber Summit Charcoal Grilling Center (WSCGC) aka Mr. Fancypants
Pit Barrel Cooker (which rocks), named Pretty Baby
Weber Summit S650 Gas Grill, named Hot 'n Fast (used mostly for searing and griddling)
Weber Kettle Premium 22" named Kettle Kid, eager to horn in with more cooks in the future
Camp Chef Somerset IV 4-burner outdoor gas range named AfterBurner due to its 30kBTU burners
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SnS Low Profile, DnG, and Large Charcoal Basket, for WSCGC
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Additional probes: Competition Probes 1" (3) and 4" (1), 3 additional Ambient Probes. 1 additional Food Probe
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Looks like my first PBC chicken cook back in the day, which took 2.5 hours at similar temps. I followed Noah's lighting procedure on the PBC website. After that, I switched to 15-10-10 with KBB and never looked back.
Next time, get a better initial light on the fire and you'll be good to go. You want to keep the lid cracked when doing chicken so the temps stay north of 325 to 350°. Chicken done at that higher temp is done in an hour with relatively crispy skin, depending on how it was prepped.
Your temps didn't really rise much until you took the lid off. That gets things going big time, but be careful, the temps can run away with you pretty quick with the lid off. Cracking the lid is the best way to go to get good high temps for chicken cooks. I often keep the lid cracked the whole time for poultry. 60-90 min tops is the usual cook time doing that.
Let us know how your rib cook goes. My ribs like temps around 270°.
I need to revisit the 15-10-10 method. I tried it when I was first getting started, but the PBC was very new and I was very inexperienced in using it (or any grill/smoker for that matter). The one thing I really like about the 15-10-10 is that it avoids that large blast of KBB white smoke on your food after you put the coals on.
Last edited by Michael_in_TX; March 15, 2021, 08:12 PM.
Almost.... 15 minutes for the charcoal in the chimney to light up, then pour over the unlit coals and evenly distribute as much as possible, then 10 minutes with the rebars out and the lid off, then 10 more minutes with the lid on, but rebars out (and wood, if using, at this point), then after that ten minutes has elapsed add meat and rebar and away you go.
The 15-10-10 method has been so great and consistent that I don't even monitor pit temp anymore. Kathryn's posts taught me a lot when I first started with the PBC.
Awesome, I am trying out the Jr. for the first time. Got a brisket and 2 spare ribs on it. Picture is about 3 hours into the cook. Temp is not running as hot as I thought. Theromoworks says 225ish with prob hanging right over the bar. It will spike to 260 after lid is off. Using Kingsford blue bag.
For my second cook, I tried a rack of ribs today. Did the 15-10-10 to get started and for the first couple of hours ran around 260 degrees. Then it started to drop but I left it alone. At three hours it went below 225 degrees so I moved the coals into a pile in the center and removed one bar. It ran between 245 and 255 the rest of the way.
It did not turn out to be the best ribs I have ever made, but I really wasn't expecting that on my first try of ribs with a PBC. That being said, they were still very good and I am enthusiastically looking forward to my next cook.
They look nice and meaty. How do you determine they are done?
I look for some pull back at the bone tips and I probe between the bones with a toothpick. Should go in nice and easy, like a knife cutting warm butter.
For my second cook, I tried a rack of ribs today. Did the 15-10-10 to get started and for the first couple of hours ran around 260 degrees. Then it started to drop but I left it alone. At three hours it went below 225 degrees so I moved the coals into a pile in the center and removed one bar. It ran between 245 and 255 the rest of the way.
It did not turn out to be the best ribs I have ever made, but I really wasn't expecting that on my first try of ribs with a PBC. That being said, they were still very good and I am enthusiastically looking forward to my next cook.
I wrapped. My wife likes a more fall of the bone rib. Temp of cooker never got to the 275 on the junior, but hovered around 225. I did minion from the center. May try the standard way next time.
Yes, my wife said the ribs I wrap 30-60 minutes toward the end are the best she's had and thought I should do that next time. I have found it never hurts to follow the advice of one's wife.
My toys:
Weber Summit Charcoal Grilling Center (WSCGC) aka Mr. Fancypants
Pit Barrel Cooker (which rocks), named Pretty Baby
Weber Summit S650 Gas Grill, named Hot 'n Fast (used mostly for searing and griddling)
Weber Kettle Premium 22" named Kettle Kid, eager to horn in with more cooks in the future
Camp Chef Somerset IV 4-burner outdoor gas range named AfterBurner due to its 30kBTU burners
Adrenaline BBQ Company Gear:
SnS Low Profile, DnG, and Large Charcoal Basket, for WSCGC
SnS Deluxe for 22" Kettle
Elevated SS Rack for WSCGC
SS Rack for DnG
Cast Iron Griddle
Grill Grate for SnS
Grill Grates: five 17.375 sections (retired to storage)
Grill Grates: six 19.25 panels for exact fit for Summit S650
gasser
Grill Grates for 22" Kettle
2 Grill Grate Griddles
Steelmade Griddle for Summit gas grill
Fireboard Gear:
Extreme BBQ Thermometer Package
Additional control unit
Additional probes: Competition Probes 1" (3) and 4" (1), 3 additional Ambient Probes. 1 additional Food Probe
2 Driver Cables
Pit Viper Fan (to pair with Fireboard Fan Driver Cable)
Pit Viper Fan new design (to pair with Fireboard Fan Driver Cable)
Thermoworks Gear:
Thermapen MK4 (pink)
Thermapen Classic (pink too)
Thermoworks MK4 orange
Temp Test 2 Smart Thermometer
Extra Big and Loud Timer
Timestick Trio
Maverick ET 73 a little workhorse with limited range
Maverick ET 733
Maverick (Ivation) ET 732
Grill Pinz
Vortex (two of them)
18" drip pan for WSCGC
Ceramic Spacers for WSCGC in Kamado Mode: 2 sets each 1/2", 1", 2". The 2" spacers work best with the 18" drip pan. The 1+1/2 inch spacers work best with the 14 inch cake pan.
Two Joule Sous Vide devices
3 Lipavi Sous Vide Tubs with Lids: 12, 18 and 26 quarts
Avid Armor Ultra Pro V32 Chamber Sealer
Instant Pot 6 Quart Electric Pressure Cooker
Instant Pot 10 Quart Electric Pressure Cooker
Charcoal Companion TurboQue
A-Maze-N tube 12 inch tube smoker accessory for use with pellets
BBQ Dragon and Dragon Chimney
Shun Classic Series:
8" Chef Knife
6" Chef's Knife
Gokujo Boning and Fillet Knife
3 1/2 inch Paring Knife
My main tweak fzxdoc will be to try the half slabs (even though I said I wouldn't yet) so I can wrap one and leave the other hanging. Also, no sauce during the cook. That should give me a decent comparison of which way to go.
The 2nd and 3rd cooks were more in line with 270-325 on the junior. For the 2nd cook, I packed the basket leaving middle open. I think I went light on coals the first cook, but didn't count. Packed the half chimney full of the KBB coals. Third cook, I used the left over coals that were snuffed out in a can (actually just pulled the basket and put right in the can). I still packed the half chimney full for 3rd cook. Didn't count the coals. First picture is 3rd cook of a corn beef point and a bacon wrapped turkey breast. 2nd picture is the initial 2nd cook. I did let the coals run for about 3 hours after the crab with beef riblets. Temp did get over 300.
Last edited by saneric38; March 27, 2021, 08:49 AM.
After trying a fairly strict 15/10/10 last time, I did a more loose 15+/10/5/5: 15 (but, like last time, all the coals were not yet ashen so I gave it a few more minutes [closer to 20 total] - 10 with the lit charcoal spread around the basket w/o lid and w/o rebars - 5 with two chunks of hickory added but kept the lid off to make sure the wood started burning - 5 with the lid on and rebars still out to get the smoke going.
Hung the full rack. Temperature stayed a pretty steady 245-260. When it dropped below 225, I stirred and stacked the charcoal and it went back up.
At the 3-hour point, the meat was pulling back from the ribs, the meat temp was 200 and they showed cracks with the bend test. I cut the rack in half. One half I sauced and hung on the rebar. The other half I lightly sauced and wrapped in foil a la Texas Crutch.
30 minutes later I pulled both halves. Both were tender, both came cleanly off the bone but I have to give the nod to non-TC half with the crispy bark.
Thanks to all of you who gave me suggestions and support. I'm on my way.
Temperature stayed a pretty steady 245-260. When it dropped below 225, I stirred and stacked the charcoal and it went back up.
This happens every few cooks for me......I'll become convinced the PBC is about to snuff itself out, but then I open the lid and jab the coals a bit and it goes back up to 260.
You're ahead of the curve from my perspective, but then I was trying to learn the basics of smoking/BBQ at the same time learning the PBC. Still, it has to be the best value of any smoker out there for the size and types of cooks I like to do.
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