Duck on the pit barrel?

[sarredon]

Howdy y’all! I am unashamedly a bbq addict, and the very definition of MCS. I already had a gasser, Weber kettle, pizza oven, and offset. But I stumbled across a pit barrel on Facebook marketplace for $100. I really couldn’t pass it up!

I’ve been reading through the sticky posts and they are super informative. From what I understand these things are just awesome at ribs and chicken. I have a frozen duck that I am considering for the maiden cook. Has anyone done a duck on the pit barrel before? Perhaps someone has a recipe they’d recommend? Any tips and tricks would be greatly appreciated! I would do ribs, but I wanted to mix things up a bit.

While bad for my MCS, I love this place. Thanks everyone! (Pic of the new whip below)

[Bad Hat BBQ]

Can't help on the PBC BUT, I love Duck on my off set and would think you could hang it like a chicken

I coarsely chop onion and apples and fill the cavity
Trim the duck (save & render later), score the skin, I use SPG and smoke it

Note: I was overly aggressive by the leg & breast. Next time I will score pretty deep and be more careful...it stil came out nicely

2nd pic is some of the carved duck, Indian Candied salmon and a chutney made with smoked onion & apple slices, dried cherries, balsamic and red wine (that was really good! / esp. the smoked apple slices with light sprinkle of SPG).

[sarredon]

Thanks for the tips. I love my offset. Perhaps I’ll have to do the next duck on there and compare. That salmon and chutney sound amazing. I made a rhubarb chutney for my wife, but definitely needs a little work still. I like the idea of adding some smoke to the flavor profile

[Jerod Broussard]

I'd hang it like they (PBC Peeples) hang chicken. Hook under each clavicle. I did turkeys the same way.

[sarredon]

I was thinking the same, but want sure if the high fat content changed anything. I was thinking about doing a turkey in the barrel this thanksgiving

[Alan Brice]

Best hun you eva spent! Luv me some PBC! Never cooked duck but I'll bet yer gonna likey.

[sarredon]

I couldn’t believe the price. Apparently he held it for me, there were a couple other people who messaged him after I did. Gotta love the good people of bbq.

[MBMorgan]

Duck skin pricked or scored in many places. MMD rub on the duck. Duck on a hook. Duck in the barrel. Thermometer probes in place. (Don't remember the barrel temp but it was probably 325-350F). Remove when the IT is to your liking.



Easy and delicious!

[sarredon]

Excellent thank you!

[bbq_esq]

That’s a steal! Enjoy the PBC. Let us know how it turns out.

[sarredon]

I couldn’t believe the price. I’m hoping to experiment with it quite a bit. Hoping to try some barbacoa. I want thinking the barrel might recreate that underground cook kind of environment

[bbq_esq]

It’s great for ribs and chicken. I especially love wings. Best thing I did recently was pulled beef sandwiches with chuck roast.

[Alan Brice]

sarredon ,I have done 17- 20+ pound spatchcocked turkeys. Under two hours and absolutely gorgeous. You have a lot of great cooks in front of you, enjoy. fzxdoc is the PBC master, just look for her posts.

[fzxdoc]

Congrats on the great find! I'm sure you'll give the PBC a good home, and a good workout, too.

Nothing not to like with it--fun to cook on, turns out great food, and cleanup takes only a few minutes. Plus yours was an unbelievable $100.

Let us know how your duck turns out. Remember to keep the lid on when not dealing directly with Mr. Duck. On occasion, I've taken the lid off to temp the meat and turned away to zip into the kitchen to get a utensil or platter, leaving the lid off only a minute or two. The PBC can flare up pretty quickly with the lid off, and all that duck fat will be waiting for a chance show an impressive flame, I imagine.

Kathryn

[HawkerXP]

+1 on the lid warning.

[sarredon]

I was definitely worried about flair ups with the duck! I’ve been reading your sticky posts on the PBC. Thank you so much for all the advice. I’ll be sure to update with some pictures.

[HawkerXP]

If you haven't, check out the PBC website. They have multiple recipes for duck.

Smoked Whole Duck Recipe | How to Smoke Duck | Pit Barrel Cooker


PBC, PBC, PBC!

[HawkerXP]

Some of us remove one of the rebar during poultry cooks. This allows the barrel to get higher temps needed for this meat.

[sarredon]

Thanks I’ll be sure to check that out

[Bob's BBQ]

We've done duck on our PBC and it turns out great. MBMorgan does what I do.

[FireMan]

Please don’t ferget to check fer feathers, they don’t taste good. But, you’ll look funny with a mouthful of em now that I think of it.

[sarredon]

Haha true. No feathers for me!

[sarredon]

Well the cook is done, it cooked surprisingly fast. Maybe 90 minutes once it was hanging. Temp control was definitely tricky.

I used an overnight dry brine and herbs de Provence and pepper rub about 2 hours before hanging it. Used KBB and oak chunks as per @fzxdocs guide! Got started up no problem, but it didn’t settle below 350 for a bit. After closing off some of the rebar holes with foil I was able to get her down to 275 ish.

The taste was great, even my super picky 7 and 3 year olds were fans. But I wish the skin was crispier. I’ll have to work on that in the future, probably has something to do with my prep. I haven’t cooked duck before but read about the amount of fat. Still the amount of fat under the skin was quite a surprise.

Thanks to all for their helpful advice. The PBC sure is fun to cook on! I can’t wait to fire it up again! Any advice is always welcome.

Here are the pics!