I did a search and couldn't come up with any results, so apologies if this has been tried or discussed here already on the PBC thread, but has anyone tried this mod for their PBC? I'm stealing an idea from CeramicChef over on the kamado threads where he uses a dutch oven cast iron pot with pellets and chips to create a smoke profile in his ceramic cookers. I thought this might work on a PBC and address issues I've had in the past with using wood chunks and pellets...
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I agree with Spinaker about the bar. In addition to that you are potentially going to eat up some valuable room if you are hanging a bigger cut of meat. Also I'm not sure what the additional consequences will be. A lot of the PBCs Magic comes from drippings hitting the coals and sizzling back up to not only flavor the meat but also create the higher humidity which is part of the functionality of how the PBC works.
I use wood chunks in my PBC and once the drippings start hitting the coals I get plenty of smoke belching out of the PBC, so I can't imagine any benefit in using a smoke pot. Just my opinion.
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The biggest problem i see is that you cant hang any meat over the smoke pot or the drippings will get them wet and they wont smoke. Even worse is that they could just smoulder creating a nasty tasting smoke.
The opinion seems to be against success and the need. My advice would be take into consideration the concerns of the above posts and treat it as an experiment. Nothing ventured nothing gained. I suspect that not every prototype of the PBC was a success. It evolved. You said you hoped it solved some of your problems. It just might. Others are happy with what they are doing, so that's great for them. You are not, so give it a try. Another approach would be to try to discover what others are doing differently than you that gives them satisfaction. Keep searching. I don't have a PBC, I was tempted with MCS after watching a video interview with the founder. I am still trying to keep my cookers to a minimum while searching for the holy grail.
Thanks for the replies. This may be a solution in search of a problem! I never had good luck with wood chunks in my PBC when I owned one. I liked to run mine just as Noah instructed in his videos with no mods, and my only criticism of the cooker is that mine never seemed to respond well to chunks of wood when I wanted to add more smoke flavor. It would work ok for short cooks but I noticed some charring on my rib ends (which suggested that it was burning hotter than normal) and felt like I got less cook time overall when I added chunks. Chips or pellets may be a more elegant solution. Appreciate the feedback!
I throw loose pellets in the Gateway Drum charcoal a couple of times during a rib hanging session. Seems to work just fine for smoke. But pellets (and wood chips) actually burn up faster than wood chunks. There will be a temp spike.
I hang my ribs a little higher by hooking lower on the bones 4-5 bones down to keep the ends a little further away from the coal. Yes, the ends can get a little crispy, but I figure that portion to be a sacrifice to the PBC gods and don't worry about it.
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I tried chips a couple of times in my PBC, once in a large foil pouch and another time just tossing them on the coals. Both times I got a huge belch of unpleasant-looking smoke (super dense and white or worse) and then nothing. The foil pouch was literally shooting flames. I made the holes too large or poked too many of them, one or the other. Anyway, that was it for me and wood chips.
I prefer a chunk or two (4 oz or so each) of wood from the fruitawood.com folks. Works great. I get wood smoke for 4-5 hours or more, depending on the cook and when I add the second chunk.
abandonedbrain , I put the wood chunks in the PBC on top of the basket of burning coals (after the hot coals from the chimney have been poured onto the top of the unlit ones in the basket) about 10 minutes before adding the meat to give the initial bad-tasting compounds from newly burning wood time to burn off.
webwolff , I like cherry with pork or chicken (apple works nice with them too), post oak with brisket, and a combination of hickory+apple+cherry for chuck roast. I like pecan for beef too, although it's a bit stronger.
Also, I have some Jack Daniels Charred Oak Barrel pieces that I like with beef as well.
I prefer a chunk or two (4 oz or so each) of wood from the fruitawood.com folks. Works great. I get wood smoke for 4-5 hours or more, depending on the cook and when I add the second chunk.
Kathryn
This is exactly my preferred method, chunks from fuitawood.
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