Picking up the new $155 PBX Today!

[jfmorris]

Well, another great cook in the PBX is in the history books. Some of the best ribs I feel I've ever made. Lessons learned - removing the membrane, and single hooking HALF racks works perfectly. AND I think I might have moved the bottom vent some when I realized the screw was not actually tight, as the ribs were done in 2 hours 30 minutes from when I hung them, if you can believe that! I just checked them with a temp probe and it went through them all like warm butter, so I wrapped them all in foil, then a towel, then put them in the cooler until the sides were done in the kitchen.

I did rotate the ribs around some, as both times it seems to want to burn more charcoal on the left side of the basket, and that side is hotter.

Here is right before I started pulling them. They went on at 2:40ish, and were done a little after 5pm!



At 1 hour in, these ribs were not as barky as I expected, but I was blown away when I checked at 2 hours, and still cannot believe they were done in less than 3 hours! I pulled them wrapped in foil and a towel and put in a small cooler until time for dinner - another advantage to having them cut in half.

And here are the results...






I am now a full believer in the PBC cult! pbc... PBC... PBX!

[FireMan]

Lookin rill good!!!

[jfmorris]

Well, I considered the advice to NOT buy a cover for the PBX, but after finding a rainwater puddle inside, decided to get the PBX cover late last week. It was shoved in my mailbox by an Amazon postal delivery worker on Sunday afternoon, and I'll get the PBX cleaned up and covered some time today.

On a side note, I've been up since 2am and am dragging with my first cup of coffee that I got up and made at 5am, after finally giving up on ever going back to sleep before my 6am alarm. I am sure I will be EXTREMELY productive today! At least I got my priorities straight and checked in with the Pit before doing anything else useful...

[Lynn Dollar]

I do the same. I hate lying in bed trying to go back to sleep. Its the worst.

But I've also found, that I've reached the age that 9 pm is the new midnight.

[Mosca]

Oh yes, that side note. I celebrated Fathers Day with TWO beers at dinner, and fell asleep at 9PM. I woke up at 12:15AM, and then it was 6 hours of tossing and turning and trying to get comfortable, amid shoulder pain, knee pain, hands falling asleep, neck pain… when did I get old?

[jfmorris]

Ok, I just realized I've not exercised my new PBX in almost a month! I am a BAD BAD pit master!

I just pulled a big pack of chicken thighs out of the freezer, and am thinking I can just grate these in the PBX and hopefully get similar results to when I hung chicken halves in there? I'm asking as my wife still says those chickens were the best I've ever made....

Any advice on a bone-in skin-on chicken thigh cook in the PBX/PBC is appreciated!

[Ace]

I've done them both ways and I actually prefer the grate method. Both ways are good, but cooking the meat on a horizonal plane seems to allow a more even cook. When you hang them, the lower part (any meat) will cook a little faster than the top because it's closer to the heat. 😊

[Ace]

@dpearce
+1 on the hangers for whole birds. 👍

[TomfromtheSoo]

I do family pack (12-14) chicken thighs on the grate all the time and they are very good. A favorite is a Huli Huli marinade. Marinate in the morning and baste during cooking.

[jfmorris]

Lots of great comments! Thanks TomfromtheSoo Ace dpearce and Huskee !!!!

Do I need to turn them over or rotate them around the 22" cooking grate if I have a dozen thighs or whatever is in this package, or just let them rock skin side up the entire cook (well, they are bone in, so I guess there is skin on both sides).

Sounds like about an hour for this cook? I.e. for chicken parts on a grate in the PBC?

[dpearce]

jfmorris, I don't rotate, not sure why you'd need to since it's closer to convection cooking than direct heat, but if one of the Pit Barrel Masters here do rotate, I'm sure it's for a good reason.

Edit: Yeah, about an hour, unless you've got the grate stuffed full. Chicken quarters were about an hour and a half. I think there were 6-7 of them on together. I remember it being a tighter fit than the thighs generally are.

[Ace]

The front of the cooker (closest) to the air intake vent will tend to cook a little hotter than the rear of the barrel especially when the coal base is new. I would just keep an eye on it and adjust position if needed (like any cooker). When I do chuck roasts, I'll even rotate front to back and also flip them over half way through. PBJ, PBC, PBX cookers are really forgiving... As always, YMMV

dpearce the time to cook sounds good to me... 🐔👍

[jfmorris]

Hey - it just dawned on me to ask - if cooking with the grate, I still need to insert all 3 rebar, right? Otherwise I have too much exhaust and run too hot? Then I gotta work around the rebar with my tongs to reach the chicken, right?

You would think PBC would say something about this on their website, but I'm not finding it. They have a chicken drumstick recipe that just says "cook them on the grate for 1.5 to 2 hours". The instructions for use as a grill say to leave the rebar out. But that would make things much hotter.

[jfmorris]

Well, no dice yet on finding magnets that size Ace and RichieB , but I can plug with a wad of foil for this weekend's cook.

[bbq_esq]

Yeah, it would presumably run very hot with the holes open, which you might want sometimes. I bought a pack of 1" magnetic clips which i used to cover them enough to dial the temps in where I wanted them. Going around the bars while cooking on the rack was very annoying.

[RichieB]

Yea Jim, Google or if you use Amazon, search on 1" disk magnets. It'll come up. You do need 1"