OK I am just starting out in the hobby but I am all in. I purchased a PBC, meathead's book and joined this pit masters list (obviously). I found the cooking temps for pulled pork and I will be starting with that. I also found the lighting instructions for Kingsford standard briquettes, so I am feeling good. I could use some help doing bacon since everyone, and I mean everyone at work asked me to look into that. Also any tips for beginners? Things you wish you knew before you started? Oh I have to get some thermometers but any advice about anything would be greatly appreciated.
Welcome Bart's Beard - You will love the PBC. It's easy to use and turns out great product. Following Noah's instructions on the PBC website is a great place to start. There are many posts regarding the PBC in the forum and club member fzxdoc has a number posts on cook times, temps, and suggestions. She is also terrific about answering questions. I have a PBC and the chicken, ribs, and brisket is some of the best I've ever made. ENJOY!
Thermometers are a must. I'd recommend the Maverick ET-732 and the Thermopop to begin with. If you have budget, I'd get the Thermapen instead of the Thermopop. Be sure to read our reviews on the thermometers so you'll know what you're getting.
Welcome to the Pit Bart's Beard . We are glad to have you here. Can't speak to the bacon part as I haven't gone down that road yet but as for tips for beginners...
1. Practice, Practice, Practice
2. Patience - Even the best pit master has frustrating and/or failed cooks from time to time.
3. Get to know your equipment - no book or word of advice can make up for knowing what your own cooker needs to perform under different circumstances or how it will react to different things.
4. Take Notes on Everything about your cooks: weather, pit temp at various points in the cook, how long it took your protein to get to benchmark temps, what rub you used and how much, what kind of wood you used, etc... This greatly helps you figure out timing, what to change in the future, etc...
5. Have Fun - Even my worst day of BBQ'ing is better than my best day at work!
Bart's Beard I would second the thermometer - both an instant read and one you can leave in for long and slow cooks. I would stick with Boston Butts for low and slow until you master temperature control. Butts are the most forgiving peice you can cook and far more forgiving than brisket. After you reach a comfort zone on temperature control I would move on to ribs - either baby backs or St. Louis spare ribs. From there use your imagination and have fun.
John "JR"
Minnesota/ United States of America
******************************************** Grills/Smokers/Fryers Big Green Egg (Large) X3
Blackstone 36" Outdoor Griddle 4-Burner
Burch Barrel V-1 Karubeque C-60 Kamado Joe Jr. (Black) Lodge L410 Hibachi Pit Barrel Cooker Pit Barrel Cooker 2.0
Pit Barrel PBX
R&V Works FF2-R-ST 4-Gallon Fryer *******************************************. Thermometers
FireBoard (Base Package)
Thermoworks ThermaPen (Red)
Thermoworks MK4 (Orange)
********************************* Accessories Big Green Egg Plate Setter
Benzomatic TS800 High Temp Torch X 2 Bayou Classic 44 qt Stainless Stock Pot
Bayou Classic 35K BTU Burner Eggspander Kit X2 Finex Cat Iron Line FireBoard Drive Lots and Lots of Griswold Cast Iron Grill Grates Joule Water Circulator
KBQ Fire Grate Kick Ash Basket (KAB) X4 Lots of Lodge Cast Iron Husky 6 Drawer BBQ Equipment Cabinet Large Vortex Marlin 1894 .44 Magnum Marquette Castings No. 13 (First Run) Smithey No. 12 Smokeware Chimney Cap X 3 Stargazer No.10, 12 ******************************** Fuel FOGO Priemium Lump Charcoal Kingsford Blue and White B&B Charcoal Apple, Cherry & Oak Log splits for the C-60 ************************************************* Cutlery Buck 119 Special
Cuda 7' Fillet Knife Dexter 12" Brisket Sword Global Shun Wusthof ********** Next Major Purchase Lone Star Grillz 24 X 48 Offset
Let the PBC go to work. What I mean by that is, let it work for you and not against you. If the temp is moving up and down, more times than not, your doing it to yourself. Re set the bottom damper or crack the lid to increase temps. Then give it time to adjust. Don't mess with it every 5 mins trying to get the exact temp your looking for. Averages are what we are really looking for anyway. This is the same way your oven at home works. Patience is key when dialing in temps. The temps will move some but after a while they will settle in. The PBC is an easy rig to learn but it does take some time.
> Weber Genesis EP-330
> Grilla Grills Original Grilla (OG) pellet smoker with Alpha/Connect
> Grilla Grills Pellet Pizza Oven
> Pit Barrel Cooker (gone to a new home)
> WeberQ 2000 (on "loan" to a relative (I'll never see it again))
> Old Smokey Electric (for chickens mostly - when it's too nasty out
to fiddle with a more capable cooker)
> Luhr Jensen Little Chief Electric - Top Loader circa 1990 (smoked fish & jerky)
> Thermoworks Smoke
> 3 Thermoworks Chef Alarms
> Thermoworks Thermapen One
> Thermoworks Thermapen Classic
> Thermoworks Thermopop
> Thermoworks Square DOT
> Thermoworks IR-GUN-S
> Joule Turbo Sous Vide Circulator
> Searzall torch
> BBQ Guru Rib Ring
> WÜSTHOF, Dalstrong, and Buck knives
> Paprika App on Mac and iOS
What Spinaker said! The good folks at PBC spent a lot of time on R&D to design a cooker that is basically set and forget. Aside from checking your meats you can pretty much run them as demonstrated in the videos on the PBC website. The instructions they post there are for a variety of meats: chicken halves, tri tip, ribs, pork shoulder, brisket, etc. This isn't a cooker that you need to fiddle with much, but I get that a lot folks just don't feel like they are BBQing unless they are tinkering with vents and fussing with their fire. : ) It cooks food hot and fast so you can ignore some of the conventional wisdom about traditional BBQ temps. Just let it do its thing.
Welcome to The Pit Bart's Beard . You have received some great advice above. Regarding @Nate's tip #4, a great way to do this is with Meathead's Cooking Log found on this website. It will guide you through the important criteria to journal. One of the big ones is what you would do differently next time. Good luck!
Hi, my name is Darrell. I'm an OTR truck driver for over 25 years. During my off time I love doing backyard cooks. I have a 48" Lang Deluxe smoker, Rec-Tec pellet smoker,1 Weber Genesis 330, 1 Weber Performer (blue), 2 Weber kettles (1 black and 1 Copper), 1 26" Weber kettle, a WSM, 8 Maverick Redi Chek thermometers, a PartyQ, 2 SnS, Grill Grates, Cast Iron grates, 1 ThermoPop (orange) and 2 ThermoPens (pink and orange) and planning on adding more cooking accessories. Now I have an Anova sous vide, the Dragon blower and 2 Chef alarms from Thermoworks.
I'm a recent owner of a PBC myself (about a month or so). I would say to try and not overthink it too much. PBC is a pretty forgiving cooker. Of course, you should still monitor pit temps with a good thermometer, but other than that, try not to get in your own way.
Cookers:
Large Big Green Egg with a Ceramic Grill Store rack system, and the SnS setup.
Weber Genesis SA-E-330 LP INDIGO with SS Grates, Weber Crafted frame kit, baking stone, griddle (2/3), all from Ace Hardware.
For the first time in a long time I have no kettles as I gave them all away.
Everything Else:
SnS #3 with certificate. I was their first customer.
Sous Vide equipment.
SnS and Thermoworks instant read and leave-in thermometers.
Grill Grates for BGE.
Kingsford Blue Bag, Weber lighter cubes, Weber charcoal chimneys.
Rubs with salt: Meat Church Holy Cow.
Rubs without salt: Home-mixed versions of previously sold SnS Grills Rocky's Rub and Not Just for Beef using their recipe. SPOG.
Spices: Lots of 'em.
To the great recommendations above I would add that having a table really comes in handy. I have a $15 metal table from a yard sale that was rusty so I sanded and brushed some paint on it. I can sit anything on it without worrying about damage. It's a great place to set your food pans, thermometers, anything. Being lightweight it is easy to move. Here's a photo of mine. I have another one similar in size plus side shelves that's also all metal and from a yard sale.
Nate I keep my grill brushes, a putty knife used to knock off chunks on cooking grates and when cleaning gunk on the kettle wall, a small paint brush to knock ashes off above charcoal grate surfaces when cleaning out ash, etc.
John "JR"
Minnesota/ United States of America
******************************************** Grills/Smokers/Fryers Big Green Egg (Large) X3
Blackstone 36" Outdoor Griddle 4-Burner
Burch Barrel V-1 Karubeque C-60 Kamado Joe Jr. (Black) Lodge L410 Hibachi Pit Barrel Cooker Pit Barrel Cooker 2.0
Pit Barrel PBX
R&V Works FF2-R-ST 4-Gallon Fryer *******************************************. Thermometers
FireBoard (Base Package)
Thermoworks ThermaPen (Red)
Thermoworks MK4 (Orange)
********************************* Accessories Big Green Egg Plate Setter
Benzomatic TS800 High Temp Torch X 2 Bayou Classic 44 qt Stainless Stock Pot
Bayou Classic 35K BTU Burner Eggspander Kit X2 Finex Cat Iron Line FireBoard Drive Lots and Lots of Griswold Cast Iron Grill Grates Joule Water Circulator
KBQ Fire Grate Kick Ash Basket (KAB) X4 Lots of Lodge Cast Iron Husky 6 Drawer BBQ Equipment Cabinet Large Vortex Marlin 1894 .44 Magnum Marquette Castings No. 13 (First Run) Smithey No. 12 Smokeware Chimney Cap X 3 Stargazer No.10, 12 ******************************** Fuel FOGO Priemium Lump Charcoal Kingsford Blue and White B&B Charcoal Apple, Cherry & Oak Log splits for the C-60 ************************************************* Cutlery Buck 119 Special
Cuda 7' Fillet Knife Dexter 12" Brisket Sword Global Shun Wusthof ********** Next Major Purchase Lone Star Grillz 24 X 48 Offset
Another good thing to invest in for the PBC is two Pit Mits for grabbing the rebar and the hooks. I use a long handled crow bar to lower the lit basket into the PBC and it really helps to have the gloves on then too.
Pit Mitt http://www.amazon.com/Charcoal-Compa.../dp/B003FZAVZ6
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
You're going to love cooking on that PBC, Bart's Beard . I second Beefchop 's recommendation to start off by following Noah's recipe videos. That way you get a good familiarity with the smoker. After your first couple of cooks following the videos, you'll want to branch out a bit and try some of the methods you see posted on this site for the PBC.
That said, having a remote digital thermometer like a Maverick and an instant read thermometer like a Thermopop or a Thermapen is essential to consistently good cooks on the PBC, as mentioned earlier by David Parrish . So if you already have 'em, use 'em. If not, you'll be getting them soon, I'd imagine. If you don't use a meat thermometer at least, be sure to probe the meat for tenderness before removing.
Have a lot of fun with that first cook. You've got a lot of good eating ahead!
Great points fzxdoc. I should have also mentioned that I second (or third, or fourth) the recommendation to get a good meat thermometer. I have the ThermoWorks Meathead Semi-Pro BBQ Kit which includes a fast response meat probe that's thin enough to measure rib meat temps.
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