Considering PBC purchase

[Reds Fan 5]

I use a 26” Weber kettle with SnS as my smoker. Thanks to this site and my fellow pitmasters here, I have some success. I love the "art" of building/managing the fire. I am also finding I’m less excited about the time it takes just to get it started, the ashes, etc.

The PBC reviews are off the charts. My question to those of you familiar with both my set up and the PBC: Is the PBC any less cumbersome, and less messy to use than the kettle?

[PNWsmoke]

I bought mine last year used for 40 bucks.
Love it, No mess except after cooking you empty ashes.
I use a couple sheet s of heavy duty aluminum on the bottom. Pro tip I got from here.

[MsTwiggy]

Several considerations here. Compared to your kettle the PBC is smaller at 18". But it can hold a lot of food. You will have less temperature control with the PBC, strangely this wont affect the food you turn out with it. The ash management can work two ways; 1) pull the charcoal basket and dump the ash from the barrel; 2) Get the optional ash pan and lift out your charcoal basket to dump the ash. You should dump the ash before every cook. You start your coals with a chimney, dump the chimney wait another 10 minutes and then it's time to cook. It's still charcoal and will take similar amount of time for coals to get going. And it's still going to require cleaning up although you can use foil under the charcoal basket you want it to be super tidy. The PBC is not set up as well for grilling so it depends on how you like to cook. It excels at smoking. For a typical smoke it's going to use 3-6 pounds of charcoal Your kettle is big. Are you tired of using so much charcoal? Do you have a charcoal basket for your kettle like a vortex, SNS or the weber basket? Briquettes make more ash than lump. Not sure I am answering your questions here. 🔥🔥🔥❤️🐿

[fzxdoc]

I have a 24" Weber Summit Charcoal cooker that I use an SnS with when in kettle mode. (The WSCGC can function as either a kamado or a kettle). I use it in kettle mode often and like the way it cooks. That said, I like the flavors and the super simple cleanup with the PBC. I think a PBC and a kettle are the perfect combo for almost any smoke/cook you'd want to do.

About the ash catcher for the PBC: many people like it. I don't because when I smoke briskets or pork butts, the fat often runs off the edge of the ash catcher and pools underneath. What a mess. Instead, lining the bottom of the barrel first with 2 layers of heavy duty aluminum foil gives you a 1 minute cleanup. Just fold up the ash and grease in the foil and toss. Also, since ash is corrosive, it's probably best to remove it as quickly as possible. I've had my PBC for over 8 years and the bottom shows no signs of corrosion. FWIW, some here have reported a lot of damage to the bottom of their PBC barrels from neglecting to remove ash for long periods of time.

Kathryn

[MsTwiggy]

+1 on the flavor with the PBC, the smoke on it is terrific!!! 🔥🔥🔥❤️🐿

[Duanessmokedmeats]

I use a plastic putty knife to scrape out the fat drippings.

[John Henry]

@ Reds Fan 5: Dollar for dollar there is absolutely nothing like a PBC, imho. For high quality results, especially on chicken and ribs, the PBC holds its own with darn near anything. Now, don't get me wrong, there are many other wonderful smokers, cookers, drums and grills but remember, I said "dollar for dollar." Ms Twiggy and fzxdoc both impart great wisdom on this thread, and I concur 110% with their thoughts--especially Kathryn's opinion to double foil your base and forego the ash pan. (The ash pan isn't bad, per se, but as she notes, it's just far easier to double foil under your charcoal basket for a one minute cleanup once things cool down.) The turkey hangers they sell are awesome and easy to use and can also be used for chickens, which is really nice if you like the presentation of the full bird sometimes, instead doing only the spatchcocked version. And for Thanksgiving, the PBC using the turkey hanger turns out one amazing star of the show for your holiday table. Best of all, you can forever dispense with all the endless futzing-around with the basting, wrapping and temp guesses on a traditional oven-cooked turkey.
Yes, you can sometimes find a used PBC, but would advise to buy new if at all possible. (My theory being that someone selling a PBC might not have cared for it particularly well, and you want to be sure to get one free of corrosion--or beginnings of corrosion on barrel seams, as Kathryn notes.) Clean out the ash the morning after every cook, and your PBC and it will last a very long time.
Your PBC will turn out quality results, time after time--especially if you pay just a tiny bit of attention to how to get your fire successfully started (it's easy in a PBC!) and in using even slightly better than average charcoal. Best of all, the food tastes great!
One other note: Depending on your cook site and your storage space out of the rain, one easy solution for your PBC's mobility from storage is an $18 furniture dolly from someplace like Harbor Freight (or similar in your area). https://www.harborfreight.com/30-in-x-19-in-1000-lb-capacity-hardwood-dolly-58314.html?_br_psugg_q=furniture+dolly
It doesn't make my PBC exactly freeway ready, but lift on once and lift off once with a little push and steering to my cooking location make this solution work pretty well on any hard surfaces.
PS: Swallow hard and buy the cover when you buy your cooker--don't wait to do it a year later. It is a quality cover and protects your investment. Hope this helps and that you have many happy years with your PBC!

[Alan Brice]

Actually, empty the PBC weighs in at appx. 28 pounds. Since you pull the coal basket every cook, or should. Once you gut the unit it is extremely transportable. I use the foil on the bottom. Easy,inexpensive , also I will use the piece of the new foil to guard the edge from getting soot on my sleeve or arm pit. Simple and very good at what it is designed to do. Smoke on!

[Purc]

I have a 22" Weber MT Kettle with the SnS, DnG, Vortex and Cajun Bandit Rotisserie and was looking at either a WSM or PBC and ended up with an Oklahoma Joe Bronco based on a number of suggestions here from members of the Pit. The Pit also then had a Smackdown cooking contest between the PBC and OJB with a Bronco given away by Panhead John. You can read about both of these threads. I think cleaning is about the same between the PBC and the OJB. For me, cleaning the OJB takes more effort than the Weber and SnS. I think you will love either one of these cookers and both are a great compliment to the Weber Kettle. You can cook almost anything with the Weber and either the PBC or OKJ. I never was considering the OJ Bronco until I looked at one at Academy Sports. I love the Bronco for both grilling and smoking. I did both on a rack of lamb on the Bronco for the Smackdown Cook Off. Just look at the Bronco as well as the PBC, you have options. As always, YMMV. Enjoy your new cooker.

[Dadof3Illinois]

With the 26" Weber Kettle you have one of the most versatile cookers on the market. The only problem it has is it's limited on how much it can hold. My 26" gets to do the hot indirect cooking and a pork butt once in awhile. The PBC gets the majority of the ribs and chicken or if I need more than 2 butts done at once.
With the 26" and PBC combo you will have a great setup that can cook anything you need.
I will say that at least for me I've found the PBC runs hotter, 280-300, so it will consume more fuel. I haven't had the issue Kathryn was talking about with the grease mess under the ash pan, but I can see if your doing 4-5 butts you could end up with a mess.

[bbqLuv]

PBC VS. The Bronco - The Ultimate Smackdown! - Pitmaster Club (amazingribs.com)
You may want to review this post and thread.
Enjoy

[MsTwiggy]

Actually this is where all the cooks are posted from the smackdown https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/fo...-vs-the-bronco

[jfmorris]

Reds Fan 5 I think Kathryn ( fzxdoc ) is most qualified to give you good advice on this, and already has. If you follow her advice and put two layers of foil down in the bottom of the PBC, it sounds like it makes cleaning up easy - the next day of course, after it has cooled down. And the PBC is lightweight enough you can just turn it upside down over a trash can or empty it into a trash bag too. It would be hard to do that with most cookers.

The other cooker comparable to the PBC is the Bronco, but you certainly cannot dump it upside down to get rid of ashes, considering it weights like 180 pounds versus 30 pounds...

Any charcoal cooker will have ash and mess to deal. I have a Weber Performer (22") and use the ash sweeps to knock down stuff into the ash bucket, and every few cooks, remove the charcoal grate and scrape things down a little better - like push any gunk or ash the sweeps miss down to the bottom, where I can then work it out with the sweeps. Maybe once a year I get an actual scraper of some sort and clean the bottom of the grill. Is that the kind of cleanup you are getting tired of doing?

One thing I have found is that the charcoal you use contributes greatly to how much ash accumulates. Kingsford Original has about the most ash of any charcoal I have used. B&B lump and B&B briquettes have the least, with the lump winning that contest hands down. Lump is a little harder to setup sometimes in the SNS due to the variation in size, but I've found it to work quite well, all in all, and it has less ash after the cook.

[MsTwiggy]

jfmorris Panhead John as an owner of both i do think the OJB has superior ash management, and just more room for ash - no worries about choking on a long cook. But based on a few cooks now i think the PBC has a distinctive smoke flavor that I haven't been able to replicate on the OJB. There is truth to the PBC smoke hype!! 🔥🔥🔥❤️🐿

[jfmorris]

MsTwiggy are you cooking with the deflector plate in place on the Bronco? Or without it? You would think without it, the experience would be the same, with drippings going right into the charcoal...

[MsTwiggy]

jfmorris that's a great question!! For my first cook I cooked a butt with it in place and I think that affected the flavor (and pecan instead of my usual oak). But for my second cook I didn't use it at all, let the whole chicken drip on to the charcoal, and used two big lumps of post oak. I think the PBC is a self regulating smoke genius. I never monitored the temp and so i don't have as much of a feel for what temp i should be running the Bronco at to achieve similar taste.

[HawkerXP]

As stated above look at the PBC channels section for all things PBC thanks to our one and only fzxdoc

I have multiple kettles and the PBC. I am not as fussy as to how clean my grills or barrel is. I do use and recommend the ash plate. I use the PBC for large meat and or large quantities of meat. Chickens, brisket, wibs.

PBC, PBC, PBC!

[Michael_in_TX]

I really enjoy my PBC. I'm not all that into fire management, though. I got mine early on in my BBQ career as I was tired of chasing temps with my Weber Kettle.

In my opinion, compared to a Kettle used for smoking, it is more set-it-and-forget-it than that, but not as much set-it-and-forget-it as a pellet grill.

[Panhead John]

The SNS Kettle actually holds temps quite well for smoking. That’s been my experience while using the SnS insert. The lid fits very well, no smoke at all escapes from mine. The 2 Weber kettles I have, always leak some smoke at least. So because of air leaking in, my Weber doesn’t hold temps as well as the SNS kettle.

[bep35]

I have the same setup as Kathryn, PBC and WSCG with SnS. I like them both. I tend to cook steaks, chuckies and chicken on the WSCG/SnS and Pork Shoulder, ribs, and Brisket on the PBC. I recommend you use the PBC without a fan until you are comfortable controlling temperatures using the vents. Once you understand how the vents work you might want to move on to a thermometer/fan combination. I highly recommend the Fireboard Thermometer with a fan. Have fun!

[Bad Hat BBQ]

It sounds like the rumblings of MCS....better buy one before the symptoms get worse

[klflowers]

I don't have a PBC, I came close to getting one but I ended up going with the Bronco. I really like the Bronco. I have a kettle/sns combo and a wsm and a pellet grill too. The bronco is very versatile, but it is a heavy monster so i don't move it. Right now I am using it and the kettle most often. I haven't done a long cook with the Bronco yet but I'll be foing a brisket soon if I remember to take it out of the freezer. Bottom line I don't think you can go wrong with either

[cgrover60]

This may not be helpful @Reds Fan 5. I have a Weber 22 / SNS and a PBC, love both and still want an OJ Bronco.