PBC Arrives, Tri-tip comes out - unburned charcoal left . . .

[grampa]

So my new PBC arrived yesterday afternoon, and quickly joined the Char-Broil infra-red, the Weber kettle, and the Weber Smoky Mountain. My wife was at the store, so I texted her to pick up two tri-tips (the video said only 45 minute to cook). When she got home, and after helping to carry in the groceries, I seasoned the tri-tips, then started the charcoal per instructions. Forty-five minutes after hanging the tri-tips from the rods, the Thermo-pen said, "121 F". I rested one and sliced the other - oh my, perfect! The simplicity and accuracy of this smoker/cooker blows me away!

I kept an eye on the cooker for the rest of the night, and it was still chugging away when I went to bed, burning charcoal with no meat. Has anyone tried doing a short cook item (tri-tip or chicken) with only half a pan of charcoal or less? The burn obviously goes on for hours, and the Scots in me hates burning all that charcoal to no effect! Does all the unburned (in the first hour) charcoal really need to be in the pan for the first hour for the PBC to work just that long? What have you tried to remedy this problem, and how did it work?

[freddh]

This idea came from someone else on the PBC thread-after cooking, remove the coals from the PBC and put into anther grill (Weber for me), put top on and the coals will go out. I tried this for the first time on Sunday and used the coals to sear on the SnS today. The only problem I saw was that I didn't get the roaring fire that I'm used to. So next time I'll add maybe a handful of new coals to the mix. I also have the ash pan attached which made the transfer easy. Others have shut the vents by removing the rebar, plugging up the holes with foil and closing the bottom vent. BTW congratulations and welcome to the PBC Club!!

[PBCDad]

Yes you can do a half basket for shorter cooks, but it does not last half as long as a full basket for whatever reason. So if you have a rib cook, you'll want to fill the basket pretty well. What I've been doing lately is pulling the charcoal basket with a 3 ft crowbar after the cook is done, putting the whole thing in my kettle, and closing all the vents to sniff out the charcoal. I then use it the next time I'm going to use the kettle- I wouldn't trust it for another PBC cook...

[John Tanner]

I typically do my Tri-tips on my kettle just because I don't see the point of wasting the fuel in the PBC....reverse sear in the kettle works just great. Love my PBC but I prefer to use it for longer cooks....that said, it does a great job with tri-tip but so does the kettle.

[lschweig]

Yes you can do half baskets of coal without a problem.

I have some magnetic tape that I cover the rebar holes and vent with at the end of a cook as well as a ash can lid that I put over the basket. After doing those two things I am always amazed at how fast the PBC cools down as the fire is snuffed out.

Over the course of time I have saved an astonishing amount of charcoal, but I always add fresh for the next cook.

[windquest2]

I am very new to the PBC, but not to cooking on the Weber and while it may seem like a waste, my opinion and my practice is to use the cooker and the Weber will a full load of fresh charcoal...why? Consistency. Even though you might add fresh charcoal to the snuffed out coals, I never get the consistent starting temps or the overall cook performance you get from fresh. Look for great sales on charcoal and don't worry about it. Just my 2 cents
Henry

[grampa]

Thanks, folks, for all the feedback. I'll do some experimenting!