Quick question: I'm 30 min (since I put the meat on) into my first PBC cook, used fzxdoc 's lighting guide, how long should it take before my temps start settling? I started lighting my coals about an hour ago, and I'm still hovering around 330 for my grill temp.
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Hope this isn't too late. Sounds like a new PBC. Common problem with over temp is loose lid. No smoke should emerge around rim; all smoke should emerge from rebar holes. Just tap the lid tight with a rubber mallet or similar tool. This issue will go away with use. Hope this helps. -
Yeah, I remember mine running hot at first, I think most grills and smokers do until you grime up the shinny reflective surfaces. One thing I did in the beginning was I used some foil to plug up a hole maybe 2 around the rebar.
JimComment
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If you're cooking chicken you're in good shape anyway, otherwise it's still not the end of the world. Like others said, make sure the lid is tightly fitted and no leaking. If you're only using 1 rebar fo hanging you can take the other one out and plug the holes with aluminum foil or magets too.Comment
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I'm not seeing any smoke around the lid, although I don't know how much tapping it would do, since it sits flat, but not tight around the edges. I've plugged up 2 holes as best I could, but it's still not dropping (although it's only been a minute)... I'm thinking my ribs are going to not be too tender :/Comment
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Also, I'd close my vent hole more, but it's a closed as it can go (about 1/4 I would guess) without adding foil. I'm pretty much at sea level btw (52 ft)Comment
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Chris, make sure your lid is on tight and that you're not seeing wisps from around the rim. As fullernet said, you can try tapping with a mallet ... but I find that it doesn't work so well on the new (shiny) PBC's ... and that the lid should seal better with use (as a nice layer of gunk collects on the rim).
You can also try to cool things down a bit by putting foil around the rebar holes.
Or ... do what I do, let the PBC do its thing and take notes so that you can adjust your lighting procedure next time. This is your first cook and I'd suggest not trying to fiddle with things too much until you know how your PBC behaves at your altitude. Your ribs will get done faster at 330 than at 275 - 310 but because of the very high humidity in the very forgiving PBC, they should come out just fine anyway (I suffered a "hot start" in my PBC recently and wound up cooking a tri-tip perfectly at 350 ... go figure). The very worst thing you can do at this point is to drive yourself crazy trying to chase temperature.
Hang in there ... and have another beer ...
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Last edited by MBMorgan; August 7, 2016, 04:59 PM.Comment
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Thanks guys, temps are starting to drop a little, here's what I have so far:
11:50 start lighting coals
12:20 meat on
12:28 cracked lid to add probe (couldn't find it earlier)
12:31 338F
12:42 324F
12:54 333F
13:00 333F
Added foil around 2 rebar holes
13:14 329F
13:17 324F
13:25 313FComment
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13:34 306f
13:41 297fComment
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Agree with Mbmorgan--let the PBC do its thing😊. Those recorded temps should be fine with ribs and many recommend 330-350 for chicken. The whole point of the PBC is how easy it is to get great results.Comment
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The foil in the holes works it just takes a bit of time. Your ribs will be fine. If you have your probe wire going under the lid that could contribute to some added draft and higher temps, best to put the probe through the rebar hole so the lid can seal tightly. Best advice of all with the PBC (it's hard for me too) is to just walk away, I've never made anything bad on it and it seems the less you try to mess with it the happier it is.Comment
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I followed the PBC instruction to the tee, I take 40 coals add to my chimney, light with Weber cube, set timer for 13 minutes, add lit coals to PBC hang meat start cook, I tried controlling the temp and gave up, just let the PBC run, I take out one rebar for chicken, I cooked a 7# pork butt today using Kingsford Professional, 4hrs in hit stall at 160, wrapped in butcher paper back on grate hit 198 at 7hrs, probe tender, sitting in Cambro now. Mowed my lawn for 4 hrs just to keep me away from checking the cooker.Comment
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here's my entire cook log (before I got started on the beans and cornbread and stopped checking it):
12:20 meat on
12:28 cracked lid to add probe
12:31 338F
12:42 324F
12:54 333F
13:00 333F
Added foil around 2 rebar holes
13:14 329F
13:17 324F
13:25 313F
13:34 306F
13:41 297F
13:50 286F
14:12 289F
Added foil to 3rd rebar hole
14:21 277F
14:37 244F
14:50 230F
At that point I started cooking the sides, took out some of the foil after it dropped a little too low, and I've left it alone until it was time to sauce. Giving it another 20 min, then it'll be done, and I'll be sure to post pics
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As others have said, some of the newer PBC's have lids that do not fit as tightly as you would want them to for the first several cooks until some gunk gets built up on them. The hallmark of this happening is when the temperatures start high and stay high for a long while (more than 20 minutes or so). To offset this, you can try tapping with a rubber mallet all around the lid's edge as some here have suggested.
What works for me is to take a doubled strip of Aluminum foil and crimp it around the outside of the rim over the edge. This stops any leaks. It only takes a very small air leak on the rim for the temperatures to run that high. I only do this in the couple of inches or so where I see the smoke leaking out.
I don't like foiling the rebar holes because it starves the fire of oxygen, which can introduce some pretty bad-tasting components into the smoke. I haven't done that for probably the last 80 or more cooks on the PBC. I crimp the strip of foil along the outside of the rim instead (wherever I see a leak). Works like a charm.
Also, as others have mentioned, the PBC runs best when you let it do its thing, as long as the lower vent is set properly and there are no leaks around the lid. Those small wispy leaks around the rim are hard to see, especially if they occur in the region over the rebars. That's where my PBC lid likes to leak (of course
). That's also why I know how effective it is to foil the part of the rim that leaks. Small as those leaks may be, they make a huge difference in the PBC temperature.
And as MBMorgan mentioned, don't use the lower vent to adjust the temperature. It has little effect on temperature but a big effect on the quality of the smoke generated. Starving a fire of oxygen is never a good thing in a smoker.
Just my 2 pennies' worth.
Kathryn
ETA: I forgot to mention that I always hang two probes in the PBC to monitor pit temp, one close to the vent and the other on the side opposite the vent. I let them dangle about midway along the length of the meat. Those two probes can vary from each other throughout a cook by as much as 40 to 60 degrees early on. For long cooks, the temps finally come closer to each other. I see it every time. One side is hotter first (usually the vent side) , then the other side takes over. Monitoring two temps instead of one makes it much less likely that I will fiddle with the PBC 's temp. That's what taught me that the PBC cooks best where it runs best.
K.Last edited by fzxdoc; August 7, 2016, 02:51 PM.Comment
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Thanks for all the advice guys... been reading this sub forum for a couple weeks, much more so once I ordered my PBC, then the day of the first cook everything I'd read flew out of my head apparently! Guess I got too used to having to constantly fiddle with my C(P)OS, haha. Anyway, the ribs turned out good, although I think there's definitely room for improvement.
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