I fired up my PBC on Easter. I live in Oakland, CA and it was a rainy day with temps in the mid 50s. I used brand new Kingsford Brickettes and the chimney method for starting, just like Noah recommends and set the PBC just inside my garage (with the door open and a fan blowing from behind to dissipate smoke and co2) to keep it out of the rain.
My PBC has always heated up to around 325 in the beginning of the cook and stays there for an hour, sometimes longer, before settling down to around 270. Yesterday was different. Initial ambient temp started at 325, but then dropped after a half hour to around 270, and then dropped further to between 225 and 250 after about another hour. At one point temp dropped to 212, so I cracked the lid and it came back up.
I was cooking 3 racks of baby backs and a rack of beef short ribs. I started the short ribs at 12:00 and pulled them at 4:30. They were tender and juicy, but probably could have gone a little longer. Internal temp was 165-170.
I put the baby backs in at 12:30, pulled and sauced them at 4:30, and took them out at 4:50. They could have also gone for a bother 30 minutes. I was bringing food over to friends for a 5:00 dinner. Their internal was probably around 170 as well. Done, but not quite pull off the bone.
In past cooks baby backs have taken 3.5 - 4.0 hours, sometimes a little less. But those cooks were in the late Spring and Summer when outside temps are at least 65 - 70 degrees.
There were no complaints at dinner, but I know they would have been better with a longer cook.
Anyone else have similar experiences?
My PBC has always heated up to around 325 in the beginning of the cook and stays there for an hour, sometimes longer, before settling down to around 270. Yesterday was different. Initial ambient temp started at 325, but then dropped after a half hour to around 270, and then dropped further to between 225 and 250 after about another hour. At one point temp dropped to 212, so I cracked the lid and it came back up.
I was cooking 3 racks of baby backs and a rack of beef short ribs. I started the short ribs at 12:00 and pulled them at 4:30. They were tender and juicy, but probably could have gone a little longer. Internal temp was 165-170.
I put the baby backs in at 12:30, pulled and sauced them at 4:30, and took them out at 4:50. They could have also gone for a bother 30 minutes. I was bringing food over to friends for a 5:00 dinner. Their internal was probably around 170 as well. Done, but not quite pull off the bone.
In past cooks baby backs have taken 3.5 - 4.0 hours, sometimes a little less. But those cooks were in the late Spring and Summer when outside temps are at least 65 - 70 degrees.
There were no complaints at dinner, but I know they would have been better with a longer cook.
Anyone else have similar experiences?
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