Other Fuels (besides Kingsford Original) on the PBC

[TxAgHill]

Happy Sunday, All.

First post! Have had the PBC for a while now, but wanted to join the Pit to up my game a bit.

I have some pecan wood from a tree we trimmed in the back this year. Anyone added wood chips to the PBC or have some tips/suggestions on how to prepare the chips/how many to use in the PBC?

Appreciate the help!

Chris

[Jerod Broussard]

Welcome TxAgHill

Typically folks will throw a handful or two. I've never noticed a difference in flavor with any wood, since cooking over the coals produces a flavor of its own.

The chips should burn up pretty quick.

Most will use wood chunks, with better burning coming with the chunks at the bottom of the charcoal basket.

[fzxdoc]

When I toss chips directly onto the coals of my PBC, I get a ton of that dense white smoke for a short period of time, and then no smoke at all. That thick white smoke is not the best smoke for smoking. Meathead says it's OK for really short smokes/grilling, like steak, burgers or fish. The thin bluish smoke is the best. Making a "smoke bomb" with chips works a little better, or using Mo's Smoke Pouch.

Mostly I prefer to use 4 to 6 oz chunks.

Kathryn

[Danjohnston949]

I feel I have better results with chums as well. Dan

[krankster]

2nd on the chunks. I have a bag of hickory, a bag of mesquite, and a bag of cherry chunks I'll use whichever fits my mood / meat.

[gdsim1]

3rd on chunks. I've had good success with using 2-3 lumps for an entire cook, and have liked the flavor profile from the apple, pecan and mesquite I've tried so far. Cherry and hickory are next on the to-try list.

[mississippiflash]

Has anyone tried Kingsford mesquite? Results?

[Corvus]

Okay, after searching the site for :30, I give up.............what is a PBC? I found several definitions for frequently used abbreviations but not PBC.

[fuzzydaddy]

Pit barrel cooker. http://www.pitbarrelcooker.com
Now I see never mind.

[Corvus]

It's so easy for me to swerve off topic on this site. There is so much great information, forgive me for fixating on this!

[BigBear]

Not a problem Corvus . There IS a lot of information AND a lot of abbreviations used on this site. I spent a while researching what HWMO (He Who Must Obey, i.e. "husband") meant. I could tell from the context that it didn't have anything to do with barbecue and probably didn't matter, but curiosity got the better of me!

[SteinerBBQ]

How many ounces do you typically use for a 10 pound pork butt? Reading Meathead's book he recommends 4 ounces every 30 minutes for the first two hours, but with a PBC I wonder if that would be overkill. The last butt I smoked using 8 ounces upfront seemed just right, but I'm tempted to try 12 ounces (8 initial and then 4 an hour to 90 minutes later).

Thanks in advance!

[fzxdoc]

SteinerBBQ , you're going to get a lot of smokey flavor with just 4 to 8 oz of wood, as you have already found. Heck, you're going to get a nice smokey flavor with the charcoal alone, partly due to the design of the PBC.

Were the wood chunks that you added completely burned up? If so, adding more might be a good idea, just to see if you like the flavor better.

I use wood from www.fruitawoodchunks.com and purchase it in 4 to 6 oz chunk size. Very seldom are those chunks of wood completely burned at the end of a long cook (say 8 hours or so), so I don't usually add more than a couple of chunks.

Early on I added more wood later in the cook, but I did it carefully with long tongs so as not to stir up the bitter-tasting ash from the basket onto the meat. I didn't notice much flavor difference, since the meat juices sizzling on the charcoal adds a ton of flavor by that point.

I quit adding additional wood later in the cook when I learned on Doc Blonder's Smoke seminar that newly lit wood initially puts out a lot of bad tasting components. I don't know how much effect a little 4oz chunk would have on a 30 gal barrel of smoke and heat, but since I didn't get much flavor return when I used it before, I stopped adding wood after the meat was hanging on the rebars.

I usually toss the wood in during the last 10 minutes of my lighting procedure to get the initial burn out of the way before adding the meat.

HTH,
Kathryn

[SteinerBBQ]

Thanks Kathryn.

I get my wood from fruitawoodchunks as well. Their shipping from Colorado to MN was very quick. I picked up the small 10 pound chunks of hickory and post oak back in April from them.

The wood chunks in the PBC have completely burned up each time I've used them. On my smokenator they are never completely burned. I've tried your way of starting the PBC as well as the way on the PBC video. Both methods keep my PBC (purchased May of this year) running at a steady 295 degrees (elevation 899').

Since it's storming like crazy in MN today, I opted to try adding an additional 4 oz 90 minutes in. Figure my friends will be more forgiving if it comes out a little off versus a perfect summer day. We'll see how much different the flavor is. Laid a tarp over my deck to keep the water from dripping down below. Have the PBC under the deck and so far it's staying dry.

I'll need to read up on Doc Blonder or see if videos are available online. Right now my main reference is this amazing forum plus a few books (Franklin's, Meathead's, and a few others), which I plan on getting a paid subscription to once the trial period comes to an end. So much to learn!

[fzxdoc]

SteinerBBQ , sounds like you've made a wise choice to add wood if the wood has been burned up during your previous cooks.

The (very excellent) Smoke Seminar is one of our exclusive perks for being Pit members. You can find it here:

https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/forum/grad-school-seminars-with-pitmaster-professors-aa/30410-dr-greg-blonder-on-wood-smoke-and-the-smoke-ring-runs-1-38-47#post30410

That whole Seminar series is excellent. You might find others there that interest you.
Here's the link to the Seminar forum:

https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/forum/grad-school-seminars-with-pitmaster-professors-aa

Have fun with that PB smoke on your PBC!

Kathryn

[BBQ Hooligan]

Has anyone here used Stubb's briquettes in the PBC? I am drawn to the "all natural" formula, and considering giving them a whirl, since they are readily available in my area. Perhaps I'll try them on a chicken cook first, just in case they burn hotter. Then maybe use them for ribs or brisket once I get the hang of their burning curve

[fzxdoc]

I googled Stubbs reviews, and came up with this conclusion on the Patio Daddio BBQ site, BBQ Hooligan :

The bottom line is that, while the Stubb's® product starts stronger, it loses its firepower more quickly and produces far more ash than the Kingsford® Competition briquets. There's more product by weight in each bag of Stubb's, but there's also much more that goes to waste.

Here's a link to that review.

Kathryn

[fzxdoc]

I forgot to mention, BBQ Hooligan , that Kingsford says that its Kingsford Professional briquets are all natural as well. They contain wood char, starch, and borax, all natural-occuring ingredients.

The Kingsford Original Briquets contain these 3 products plus coal and sawdust, from what I can find, so again it's "all natural", perhaps.

Kathryn

[Bumper]

It is worth rolling the dice with other briquettes. I used a 100% charcoal briquette - pro smoke recently released here for my pork butt cook - it took a little longer to get going, but I wasn't fumigated like I was with the kingsford - those things smoke up with a noticeable chemical smell for a good 20 min. The cherry wood chunk shone through and there was no substantive flavour from the charcoal other than the fat dripping. It certainly gave me the confidence to try other fuels. I'll try this one with chicken to see if it can hold the higher temps which the kingsford does with ease using the fzxdoc method, and if it does I know where I am going for my next bag.

[Huskee]

I wouldn't say K-ford original has a chemical smell, but agreed it doesn't smell good when lighting like wood does.

[Bumper]

You are right Huskee - perhaps acrid is perhaps a better word. Once it had got past that it was fine.