PBC - Struggling with Temps

[ltgrant]

I keep having a problem with my PBC and temperature. I know the PBC runs ~275-300, but I can't seem to keep it under 300. I'm at 95ft above sea level, so know ideally the vent should be 1/4 closed. I've fully closed the bottom vent, the rebar is in, and the lid is secure, but the temp keeps running in the mid 300s.

A few thoughts as to why this might be happening, and I'd appreciate any input.
- Too much air flow from lower vent due to extremely low altitude.
- Too many coals. Currently in a cook where I filled ~80% of the coal tray, and added a half full chimney starter.
- Too long to get lid on at start of cook. Probably took me 2-3 minutes to get coals dumped, hooks in brisket, and brought to cooker.
- Could just be an issue with thermometer placement. Had originally placed through rebar vent hole, and let dangle near top. Now hanging middle of cooker, but every time I fiddle with placement, temps seem to creep up. I'm not sure if this is placement, metal conduction, additional air, or just me being neurotic and seeing noise for signal.

I've had good luck with my PBC cooking a few things so far (chicken, pork butt) with the results, but I've been consistently running hot. 1 hour into a brisket cook isn't the best time to ask this question, but since I've put this off for two months, no time like the present!

Thanks for any and all thoughts!
-LT

[fzxdoc]

In my experience, whenever the PBC runs hot, it's because the lid is not on tight enough and there is air and smoke leaking out at the rim. Some people whack the lid rim with a rubber mallet. I do that (or use the rubber heel of the shoe I'm wearing at the moment). But to be extra sure, I wrap a doubled strip of heavy duty aluminum foil around the area of the rim where I see the leak.

Closing the lower vent starves the fire of oxygen and you could end up with dense and sometimes bitter-tasting smoke. The lower vent position has little or no influence on pit temperature, once it is set to its correct position. I'm at 3700 ft altitude and the recommended vent position is 1/2. I have mine set to 5/8 because the temps seem to be most stable at that setting, allowing me to tweak them easily at the rebar and rim areas. In doing that, my PBC's sweet spot is around 275.

I have had two PBCs and with both of them, a leak around the rim of the barrel was most pronounced at the beginning of the cook. For the first one, and for my current one, usually a whack around the rim with a rubber mallet fixed the leak. Now, as my current one has aged, I find I always have a leak under the rim on the side of the barrel at its seam. The leak of smoke in that area is difficult to see because smoke is coming out of the rebar holes in the same area. I blocked the smoke from the rebars by holding a piece of cardboard over them and could clearly see the smoke coming out from under the rim.

Try that test and let us know.

HTH,
Kathryn

[jecucolo]

Leaking lid is most likely the culprit. My lid does not leak but if I get absent minded and don't double check the lid between looks my temp will soar! How you lighting the PBC is important but if you are following direction the temps will stabilize around 275. They still will go up and down a little.

[ltgrant]

Kathryn, Can't thank you enough for the (incredibly) timely advice. First ~120min ran a good bit hot, but with your help I foiled the lid problem, and am now humming along at a nice 270-275. Thank you! -LT

[fzxdoc]

You're very welcome, ltgrant ! You've got a sweet little smoker there, and it's usually well behaved once its lid is on tight.

Kathryn

[RonB]

Just the opposite of me. When I get tight, I'm a little less well behaved.

[fzxdoc]

Good point, RonB . Thanks for the grin.

Kathryn

[Joedvasquez]

I've had my PBC for about 2 months and I had an issue with my lid not being secure. My temps soared really high. I contacted them and Noah and Amber were very helpful. They eventually sent me a new lid and that didn't work either so they sent me some high temp self adhesive seal that works great. If I would have pushed them I'm pretty sure they'd have sent a new barrel but I was ok with just getting this one functional.

One thing I did notice before with my set up was that I found a "sweet spot" with the lid. When I put the lid on, and I pushed down I could hear it rocking a little. So I slowly turned it and pushed down on the lid and actually found a spot that the lid sat secure on the barrel. I made a mark on the lid and the barrel so I could easily line them up when I take off the lid. Not ideal, I know, but it got me through a few cooks until I got the seal.

[fzxdoc]

Thanks for the followup info, Joedvasquez . I wondered what had happened with your lid leaking problem.

So you put the seal on the inside groove of the lid? Does it make the lid difficult to remove? Sometimes I struggle with getting the lid off after several hours of cooking. That's probably because I whacked it down so hard in the beginning of the cook!

Kathryn

[Joedvasquez]

I was waiting to get it resolved before I said anything. My lid never fit tightly. There is about a quarter inch around all sides when I put the lid on. I truly believe that there is something wrong with the barrel but that's ok. As long as I have the same product as everyone is talking about I'm ok with that. So to answer your question, it is not a problem taking the lid off. I've only done 1 dry run so we'll see how it does over time.

[fzxdoc]

Joedvasquez , I just went and measured mine--the edge my lid also sticks out about 1/4 inch from the rim of the barrel, all the way around, so that may not be the problem. My lid leaks in one spot, and once I get that portion snugged up, all is well. It does not have anything to do with lid position, on mine that is. I think the barrel is slightly out of round right where the seam is.

Funny thing, in the beginning of the cook, the pit temps go up quickly unless I have that area tamped down well and/or sealed off with aluminum foil. But after the cook gets underway, say an hour or two, I can remove the foil and not have a problem with maintaining the sweet spot temp.

Kathryn

[MBMorgan]

Perhaps a little thermal expansion is our friend? I see very similar behavior with my PBC ...

[fzxdoc]

I think you may be right, MBMorgan . A contributing factor may also be that the grease buildup on the rim and the lid lip may just melt enough to tighten the seal. My lid is really hard to remove a couple of hours into the cook for that reason, I'm thinking.

[AdamJG]

I bought a role of 7/8 inch wide lava lock seal that is actually meant for BGE as a replacement for the original seal. I put it inside the the curved outer part of the lid of my PBC and it seals the lid onto the barrel perfectly. No leaks, steady temps and easy cooks. I found it on Amazon and got it on there in time for my first brisket cook.

[fzxdoc]

Is this the stuff, AdamJG ?

LavaLock

[AdamJG]

That's the stuff! Fits perfectly right inside the lip of the lid. I cleaned it first with some oven cleaner to get the grease off and down to the metal and the gasket has a pretty strong adhesive. I've done a few cooks since and it's holding up well. I think it was about 14 bucks and came with 15 feet...so if you need to replace it after a couple seasons you'll have plenty leftover.

[fzxdoc]

Thanks, Adam! AdamJG I'm going to give it a try.

Kathryn

[AdamJG]

Let me know your results, it's worked well for me. Plus now when I put the lid on I get a satisfying "thud" and it feels a lot more substantial than the clanging of two thin pieces of steel. I am kind of a neat freak and would never be able to stand the look of aluminum foil or bricks on my lid!

[partialinfinity]

I have two PBCs - one I bought a year ago (because of this site), and one that just arrived a couple weeks ago (because it's really amazing).

The old PBC's lid sits snug, there is no wiggle room, and there is no play or leakage at all. However, the new PBC's lid lip is wider and the lid slides around the barrel. I've noticed a lot of leakage with the new PBC lid.

It looks like the lids on the new PBCs have a slightly different design. I'm not sure why they changed it, but it seems worse than the old design. Or maybe I just got a bad lid?

I bet that Lavalock tape will fix the new lid, but I don't have enough time to buy the tape and install it before my big BBQ tomorrow. I guess I'll have to relegate the new PBC to chicken wing duty and rely solely on the old PBC for brisket and pulled pork.

Unless someone here has an idea for a quick fix?

Jeff

[fzxdoc]

partialinfinity ,tap the rim with a rubber mallet to seat the lid tightly. If you still see smoke leaking out from under the rim, crimp a double layer of aluminum foil at the rim area where you see the smoke leak. That should do the trick.

Kathryn

[Joedvasquez]

That's interesting. When I called and talked to Noah, the owner of PBC, he said that they had a dye made for the lid, that it was a newer design that would help the lid come out almost exactly the same every time. There aren't any retailers near me but I'd love to see one on a showroom floor to see how the lid fits in. However, for now, I'll just go with the Lava lock. If that's all it takes I'm ok with that. Better than pavers on my lid like I had to do once.

[partialinfinity]

I tried banging on the lid, but there's no way to make it tight that way. It slides around the top like an ice skater. The old lid sits so tight that I have to pull it hard to free it from the barrel, not the case with the new one.
I've got heavy bricks on top of it for now, but I will line the lip with aluminum foil and see if that helps.
Thanks.

[fzxdoc]

I don't line the lip, Jeff partialinfinity . With the lid on, I crimp a 4 inch doubled strip of heavy duty aluminum foil around the edge, sealing the seam between the barrel and the lid in tightly. It works really well for me.

K.

[Joedvasquez]

I'm not happy you're having that problem but makes me feel better that you seem to be having the same issue I had. The heavy bricks work but 1) that shouldn't have to be a solution, 2) it's a pain to check on the meat, and 3) it just looks bad if you have people over.

The first thing they had me check was the barrel to see if it was out of round. Mine was a 1/4" out in one direction so I figured it wouldn't hurt to try reshaping it by turning it at a 45 degree angle to the ground and applying pressure on the open end of the barrel(Noah from PBC's suggestion). That got it round but didn't quite solve the problem.

I'm curious if you are having the exact same issue as I was where if you put the lid on and press down lightly it rocks a little as if it just doesn't sit flat.