Overwhelming Charcoal Flavor

[MBMorgan]

If you feel like playing with fire - reverse sear it until internal temp is about 110-115 for medium rare, take steak off, pull the charcoal basket out with some well insulated gloves, put a cinder block vertically in the barrel, and place the charcoal basket on top. The PBC grate should just barely fit on top. After a few minutes your coals will be blazing hot and you can get a gorgeous sear on your steak/tritip/etc. The finish temp should be right in the medium rare target zone.

Please don't use a cinder block. Concrete/cement can explode violently when exposed to high temps. Think hand grenade in your PBC ...

[kill2grill]

Really? It's a open grill so what kind of high temps are you talking about? I'll admit I did this at maybe 5 times, but the grill is open and for a pretty short amount of time for the sear.

[MBMorgan]

Really? It's a open grill so what kind of high temps are you talking about? I'll admit I did this at maybe 5 times, but the grill is open and for a pretty short amount of time for the sear.

Really? Yes, really. Perhaps CeramicChef or others with direct experience might chime in here.

[kill2grill]

Regardless - thank you for sharing. I am just surprised due to hearing that kind of thing with concrete that is not a "cinder" block. Poured concrete, picking up some river rock, etc....

[MBMorgan]

Regardless - thank you for sharing. I am just surprised due to hearing that kind of thing with concrete that is not a "cinder" block. Poured concrete, picking up some river rock, etc....

No problem. I just would hate it if you or anyone else got injured in an otherwise delicious BBQ situation.

[Joe_Gardner1981]

http://www.kare11.com/mb/traffic/road-buckle-sends-vehicles-airborne-on-mn-highway/240125853

We see this here in Minnesota when the dog days arrive. If it can blow up the highway, it can blow up in your cooker too.

[jasonevans84]

Hi everyone, I have had my PBC for a little over a week and it has been great. However, over the past two cooks I have had a some bitter taste left in my food. The other day I cooked a frozen pizza and it was very bitter tasting. Today, I cooked a sub and it was only a little bitter.

My first hypothesis for why this happened is that this was caused by the charcoal not being ready.

The lighting procedure that I used where as follows.
Weber compact chimney starter
Kingsford Blue Bag
I light the chimey starter with a piece of an old charcoal bag
waited 12 min after lighting the chimney and then I dumped the light coals into the basket and began my cook immediately.

any advice would be greatly appreciated

[scottranda]

Make sure your grill is clean.

[Pit Barrel Cooker Co.]

For shorter cooks, you may also try different charcoal. They may burn hotter and faster so you will need to adjust cook time but it may change the flavor for you.

[freddh]

jasonevans84 I respectfully draw your attention to fzxdoc. Kathryn has a step by step lighting procedure that is virtually fool proof. I completed my 5th, I believe, cook yesterday and it was simply a walk in the park from seasoning the chicken, ribs and even brat burgers. Im not an expert, but this is the place to be!

[fzxdoc]

jasonevans84 , what type of smoke are you getting when you put the food in? If it's dense and greyish, that could be the reason. The bitter taste can often come from ash or from a poor light on the charcoal.

If the taste is from ash, scottranda has a good idea: make sure the grate is clean. Sometimes ash deposits or grease that has not burned off the grate can cause the off taste

Have you cooked anything else in your PBC? If so, how has it turned out?

Are you using a thermometer to show you what the temperature of your PBC is when you put the pizza, etc. in?

If your PBC grate is clean and the fire at the time you cooked your sub and pizza was not putting out grey smoke, then your hypothesis is probably correct: you may want to try to get a better burn on your fire before adding the food.

1. Check the position of the vent to make sure it is set where it's supposed to be for your altitude.
2. Let the fire burn a little longer after pouring the chimney coals, say 5 to 10 minutes or so with the lid off and rebars out before adding the food. That lets those bad-tasting components when charcoal is first lit burn away and gives the PBC a chance to put out some sweet smoke.

You can find some helpful methods and discussion about lighting your PBC on this topic:

https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/forum/grills-and-smokers/charcoal/pit-barrel-cooker/12614-light-my-pbc-fire-tips-on-lighting-and-maintaining-temperatures#post12614

HTH,
Kathryn

[jasonevans84]

I keep my grate fairly clean, I dont set my chimney on it. I will usually light my chimney in my fire pit. My PBC barrel was fairly clean but did have a little bit ash residue from previous cooks. I will make sure to clean that out as well.

I will try Kathryn's method on my next cook.

[fzxdoc]

jasonevans84 , you don't need to clean out the PBC. In fact it keeps cooking better and better when left alone. The PBC folks say the PBC never needs to be cleaned. In the nearly 3 years I've had mine, I've only ever cleaned the gunk off the lid when it built up enough to have stalactites starting to grow.

Just keep the grate and hooks clean, get a good solid light to the charcoal in the basket, and you should be just fine.

Kathryn

[jasonevans84]

Thanks for your help!

I should have probably defined cleaning it out. I just tipped it over to get all the ash out, there was still a little left from previous cooks. I didnt clean beyond that.

[fzxdoc]

I line the bottom of the barrel with a double layer of heavy duty Aluminum foil, jasonevans84 , so once I pull the basket and empty it, getting the ash out of the bottom of the barrel is as easy as wrapping it up in the foil and tossing the packet. It keeps the bottom of the barrel clean as a whistle.

I bought one of those attachable ash pans that the PBC folks sell but I don't like it because the fat runs off of it onto the floor of the barrel, carrying ash and soot with it. So I ended up cleaning the bottom of the barrel which I didn't like doing. I went back to using the double layers of Al foil which does the job nicely.

Kathryn