The Quest for Consistency... (with Temps!)

[abandonedbrain]

Planner47 The way I do it, I use a Maverick ET-732 I picked up off Amazon, which is a wireless dual probe setup (not Bluetooth; that model (ET-733, I think) gets fewer positive reviews here). I run both wires for the probes through one rebar hole, and wrap the wire once around the rebar and let the smoker temp probe hang down about 6". The other probe goes into the food.

The other ends of the probes, I plug into the transmitter unit and set it on a table (aluminum) next to the cooker. Before I bought the table, I used to just hang the transmitter on one of the PBC's handles; it's cool enough that nothing melted. Then I turn on both units, and hit the sync button on the receiver and take it into the house.

The nice part of this is that the transmitter hanging off the PBC will give you the temps without requiring you to bring the receiver inside/outside/inside/outside constantly. The ET-732 really is a nice unit for the price, very happy I picked it up.

Hopefully you can see how I hang everything in these pics:


Wire for probe run through rebar hole (on lower right in pic), and you can see the transmitter hanging on the handle...



Pic of probe wires through rebar hole, and transmitter hanging on handle.

[tjguidry]

I originally had a slow cook time also and noticed that my opening at the bottom of the barrel was adjusted just like yours was. I opened it up about 1/4 Inch more and got a better temp and cook time. BTW I am at sea level (sometimes below sea level also).

[Planner47]

DA' MOOSE
The reason the temp dropped was all the charcoal was burned up and was all ash. had to add charcoal from my chimney to finish brisket. I am going to check if the lid is sealed the next time I smoke. like I said my charcoal burns up in 4.5 hours. things I have read here I would never have though of. I just fallowed the inst. on the pit barrel site and it does not have anything on it like this site does. reason I joined. so far GREAT bunch of people.

[Wolverine4400]

Can someone on here let me know how the PBC works in Cold weather. I'm planning on smoking some wings on the PBC tonight but i expect the temp to be around 44-40 deg. around dinnertime. can anyone let me know how the PBC operates in weather this cold?

[abandonedbrain]

Wolverine4400 That's me. I'm in Michigan, west side lower peninsula. Cold, windy, humid. I've put the PBC through cooks at 50+F, 40s, 20s, and below this winter. Humidity is your enemy, more than cold. 4-5 hours, shouldn't be a prob for you.

[HawkerXP]

44-40 deg! When is it going to get cold? Hehe that temp shouldn't have much of an effect Wolverine4400.

[Planner47]

abandonedbrain

tried to edit a reply and I guess I did something wrong because everything disappeared. don't mine the work kind of fun. just like to know where to start, that's where you guy's come in. and so far it has been a eye opener of what I have been doing wrong! all the people here have been great!

[fuzzydaddy]

Welcome Planner47. We'd love to get an intro from you over in the Introduce Yourself channel when you get a minute. https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/fo...troductions-aa Thank you!

[Da' Moose]

DA' MOOSE
The reason the temp dropped was all the charcoal was burned up and was all ash. had to add charcoal from my chimney to finish brisket. I am going to check if the lid is sealed the next time I smoke. like I said my charcoal burns up in 4.5 hours. things I have read here I would never have though of. I just fallowed the inst. on the pit barrel site and it does not have anything on it like this site does. reason I joined. so far GREAT bunch of people.

AHhhh, so now we have some more information. If the coals burned out too soon and the temp was too hot that tells me that a) either the coals were too loosely compacted (a manufacturer issue,I really like weber) or b) there was too much O2 at the inlet. After looking at the website for this pit, there doesn't seem to be anyway to adjust air intake at the level of the fire. A couple of years ago Popular Mechanics did a great write-up on how to build a backyard UDS (Ugly Drum Smoker). The beauty of their design was that you could control the amount of air and out of the smoker. Just google " how to build a drum smoker popular mechanics) to see their design.

I built one of these and was able to get consistent burns at 225-250 for 6-8 hours using either charcoal or sticks, by adjusting the inlet and outlets. I did a few modifications on their design and am willing to explain them to anyone who wants to build their own as well.

I think the addition of their inlet pipes with ball valves would vastly improve your ability to control airflow on you PBC if you are willing to experiment.

[Wolverine4400]

thanks to all for this very informative info. it appears i will only have issues in the humidity and not the cold weather.
Great to hear from you all and as always, thanks for chiming in!!
Abandonedbrain, i'm not in MI although i grew up there. Now in SC near Augusta, GA.

[abandonedbrain]

With temps like that? Might as well be in MI!

[Huskee]

I got my PBC back when the cold weather started and it hasn't even seen warm weather yet. Cold weather won't hurt things a bit.

[Spinaker]

When your setting up the basket, fill it with the charcoal and take out enough out of the charcoal so you can see the bottom of the basket, in the middle. You want a void about the size of a soft ball. Place it in your chimney and light it up. Once they are going and before you dump them back in the PBC basket, give them a good hard shake in the chimney. I do it about three to four times to shake off any excess ash from the surface of the coals. Then I know that I am adding HOT and CLEAN charcoal to the fire, and a lot less ash. This also aides in initiating the Soo donut method and gets things burning consistanly. Add the charcoal to the void in the middle of the basket. Don't spread them out. Just dump them into the void in the middle of the basket. This is just a modified Soo donut method. This will give you a small, CONCENTRATED and HOT fire. Then it will spread from there.

Don't crack your lid at all to rise temps, in the beginning. This allows for a ton more airflow and your fire will react accordingly. Things can get out of hand quickly if you don't pay attention. This will only give you a false positive as to where you bottom paper should be set. Remember 0-1000 Ft, 1000- 3000 Ft above sea level ( or what ever they are) are guidelines, thats it! I don't even pay attention to them because every cooker is slightly different and every setting is different. You can't take the instructions word for word. Once you know that your lid seals, leave it sealed. Open the bottom damper 1/8 more next time you cook and see how it runs. If the temp runs too high, damp it down and wait 20 mins. Then make SMALL adjustments from there. I know you don't want to here this but, Patience is key here.

[abandonedbrain]

Thanks, everyone, for pitching info into this thread. It's a great example of hive-mind troubleshooting; I love these threads! Someone unintended always gets some new info they can use!!!

Spinaker I mentioned your example of the anal-retentive (strike that; OCD) basket setup in another thread, and I've been dying to try it. More important, though, is your description of the Soo's Donut method of spreading the heat from the center out. I'm going to try it without the OCD aspect of carefully stacking the briquettes, see if just the heat in the middle will be enough to make a difference. (For those who are wondering, Soo's Donut is a common way of controlling heat in the Smokey Mountain smokers, as detailed here by Meathead: http://amazingribs.com/tips_and_tech...ain_setup.html )

I think my next change, however, will be to open up the intake another 1/8" or so. I'm stupid, and really should have simplified this whole thing a la Da' Moose , and Spinaker's point just struck home: 0'-1000' doesn't have to be a "digital" selection. 1/4 open, 1/2 open, who's to say the "analog" choice of 5/16 or 3/8 open is wrong for 750' above sea level?! 850'? So I'm going to start with the O₂ (air) intake and go from there.

So to press home the point many of you make above: go slowly with experimentation. I'm going to stick to the 15-10-10 method of starting which I've been using, and only change the air intake. Two sessions with the first adjustment, and if it needs another adjustment after that, two more sessions. Data = happy, but not at the cost of consistency.

Thanks again!

[fzxdoc]

Planner47 , if I had your situation which is low temperatures (long cook times for chicken, etc) plus the charcoal burns out too soon, which seems like a mutually exclusive situation, I'd go back to the beginning and start again, and change only one thing at a time for each cook until you have things figured out.

Next time, if you can,

1. Start with a fresh bag of charcoal that has been properly stored (inside or in a sealed container outside)
2. Set your lower vent where it needs to be for your elevation.
3. Fill your basket with Kingsford Original, and follow the lighting instructions in that link.
4. See how the cook goes.

The PBC is a bit strange in that adjusting the lower vent during a cook does virtually nothing to adjust the PBC's temperature either way. So set it at the recommended opening for your next cook, and if the temps are still too low, open it up about 1/8 for the subsequent cook (or close it down if the temps are too high).

This time you'd only be changing your lighting procedure. Here's the rationale behind it

15 min in the chimney (40 coals). Different chimneys get the coals hot at different rates. The goal is to hold the coals in the chimney until the topmost coals just begin to ash over.

In the meanwhile, set up your thermometer with the PBC probe threaded through the rebar hole and hanging along the inside of the barrel. Later on you'll drape it over the rebar.

10 min lid off, rebars out: the 10 min begins after the coals poured and evenly distributed with your rebar tip. The idea is to get the topmost cold coals lit well so they can continue the burn.

10 min with the lid on and rebars out: The idea is to let the fire settle in so that when you add the meat, you don't get big billows of white smoke.

Additional Note: Here's where you add the wood so some of the bitter compounds from newly burning wood can burn off before you add the meat. Don't add more than 4-6 oz of wood. The PBC lends its own unique flavor, and too much wood can make your food taste too smokey. Plus more wood makes it more difficult to keep the PBC temperature steady. I add the wood on the vent side and away from the hanging thermometer probe. I prefer 1 chunk to chips which burn too fast in the PBC and put out a bunch of white smoke.

Put rebars in, thread the meat thermometer wire through the rebar holes and hang the meat. Never put the lid on over the thermometer wires. Even a small opening can cause the PBC temperature to take off.

Make sure the PBC probe is draped over a rebar and positioned about 2 inches away from the hanging meat.

These times can be tailored for your setup and altitude. Perhaps you have a chimney that doesn't allow the topmost coals in it to start to ash over until 30 minutes (I had one like that and got rid of it). So go for 30 minutes, or however long it takes for those topmost coals to just begin to ash over.

Perhaps your temperature probe reads north of 370°F after the first 10 minute segment. If so, skip the second segment, or shorten it significantly. Or shorten the last two to 5 minutes each.

But all of the lighting timing adjustments must be made on subsequent cooks. Light it one way and do the cook. If you're not happy, adjust the lighting times a bit and do another cook. It may take 3 or 4 cooks until you have things dialed in the way you like.

If the lighting changes don't make a difference, adjust the lower vent opening by 1/8 for the next cook.

This is where taking good notes is a good idea. That way you don't have to try to remember what you did during the last cook. Many of us here use Meathead's Cooking Log form. Just print it out. It's easy to use. Here's the link to his cooking log form:

http://amazingribs.com/tips_and_tech...oking_log.html

HTH,
Kathryn

[Planner47]

Kathryn
how many hours do you get out of 0ne basket of charcoal? I adj. from the first time I smoked with the chicken which took forever to finish. only takes 15 min. with chimney for top coals to turn white. re-adj. opening a little wider. little confused about internal temps that you all have been talking about. will do what you suggested for my next smoke. I am going to check the lid seal. thanks a lot for taking time to help.

[HawkerXP]

I suggest you get a quality thermometer with probes. One for the pit and one for the meat. Go to the Amazingribs "home" page and check out the reviews. There you will find all sorts of good information and reviews on all sorts of equipment.

[Planner47]

have them

[Spinaker]

I took it from Harry Soo. That is what he uses for his WSM in competitions.. And when it comes down to it, from a fire stand point, the PBC and the WSM are pretty similar. So I figured I would give it a try. And Eureka! It worked! Give it a try I think you will like it. And don't forget to shake that chimney a few good ones before you pour the coals into the basket. Removing any excess ash is a good thing. It will only slow down your cook and retard air flow in the basket.
You don't need to do the OCD method, thats just my own craziness. Just fill the basket with charcoal make a hole in the middle and go from there. I use the OCD because that is the most efficient way to pack as much fuel in the basket at once. (I always love a full tank of gas before a road trip!)

If its running cool, ONLY ADJUST YOUR DAMPER, and see what happens then act accordingly. Keep the lid sealed. We need to see where your bottom damper needs to be. Then we can address other issues, if there are any. Keep us posted!

[Da' Moose]

After reading Meatheads original review of this unit, I'd have to agree with Spinaker. Apparently the folks that manufacture this product have some pretty impressive research in the final product. I'd advise you to give them a call, as, if what Meathead said is true, and the owner's cell number is on your smoker! I'd use it right now and ask for his advice. What can it hurt? They produced/manufactured/tested it, they should know how to tune it!

[Planner47]

Spinaker is wright the number is 502-288-1222 unfortunately the number is disconnected.

[Da' Moose]

Bummer on the dq number, I'd shoot an e-mail or check out their website for troubleshooting contact info, then i'd follow up with Meathead. He had great ting to say about this company, and if their customer service is lacking, I'm sure he'd like to hear about it. Good luck!

[Planner47]

just got off with Angie at pbc and she said that number was for over sea's pit barrels. this this not the owner's number but the company number. she told me to start over and follow there direction. check the lid for leakage. to keep in touch with them with any more problems.

[Pit Barrel Cooker Co.]

The office number is 502-228-1222. We had some Pit Barrel Cookers escape with the wrong number printed on them. Our contact information is on our website as well if anyone needs to get a hold of us. We are always more than happy to help.

[hogdog6]

You guys at PBC ROCK!!!

[Da' Moose]

Now, that's how you take care of customers right there! Good job PBC Co.

[Pit Barrel Cooker Co.]

Thank you! We really appreciate all of our customers.