I posted about my first run with the PBC which was a dry run just to see how it would run. I figured I might as well just go for it, so for my dad's birthday this past weekend it was a 14.5 lb brisket(untrimmed) as my first cook. I prepped it the night before by heavily trimming it. I figured the PBC runs humid, the family doesn't like fat, trim it! And trim it I did. Not sure what the final weight was but it was definitely slimmer. I then covered with salt and put it back in the refrigerator overnight. I took it out in the morning and covered it in black pepper and garlic powder. My better half is sensitive to MSG and prefers more basic flavors so, pepper and powder.
I have my PBC set to 1/4 open and I use Kingsford Professional. I used the PBC lighting method starting with a full basket, removed 40 and put them in the small chimney I have, and lit. I let that go for 12 minutes then poured them on the top of the basket, put the brisket in, and put the lid on. I double hooked the brisket and it hung about an inch or two above the coals. My wife didn't want it wrapped so it was a bare cook the whole way. Entire cook time was 5 1/2 hours to an internal temp of 201
. After that I wrapped it in foil and a couple towels and placed it in the cooler for about 3 1/2 hours until the early dinner time(Had to have time to go fishing after 
)
I was really happy with the flavors but it wasn't quite tender enough for me, not far off but I would have preferred a little more tender. You could easily go through most of it with a fork but some parts took a little effort. The rest of the family loved the flavor and the tenderness so what do I know. My wife asked if I'd be able to repeat that exactly in two weeks when my younger son graduates from high school. As long as she's happy, I'm happy.
I'm including some photos of the cook along with my data. It was interesting to watch the temps. I know the PBC is a "just cook it" cooker but I wanted to at least keep a general eye on things in case temps went way to high or dropped way to low, they didn't. The temps climbed to 350 then just held there for 90 minutes. The graph shows a gradual decline but that's not exactly how it went. I recorded temps ever 30 minutes so the drop looks gradual but what happened was the cooker ran almost exactly at 350 for 90 minutes then just before one of the readings it dropped 25 degrees in a couple minutes then hung in that range for almost a half hour then dropped another 25+ to settle in it's final range of 280 to 300. When I first saw it moving along at 350 I was a tad nervous then remembered I've read about some places cook all their briskets at 350. Knowing that and knowing the PBC to be a more humid cooker I figured I'd just let it roll.
About the only thing I would probably do different next time is put a third hook in the brisket and at the start of the cook hang from the third hook pulling the end up away from the coals a little more so I don't lose the bottom inch of the meat. Then again, it's a slim bit so not a big deal.
Very happy with the first cook on the PBC. Looking forward to many more.
My first idea is to maybe cut the vent back to 1/8 to see if it would run a little bit cooler. Thoughts?
About the 2 hour mark.
Smokin' along.
Unwrapping before dinner.
First cuts.
Data!
I have my PBC set to 1/4 open and I use Kingsford Professional. I used the PBC lighting method starting with a full basket, removed 40 and put them in the small chimney I have, and lit. I let that go for 12 minutes then poured them on the top of the basket, put the brisket in, and put the lid on. I double hooked the brisket and it hung about an inch or two above the coals. My wife didn't want it wrapped so it was a bare cook the whole way. Entire cook time was 5 1/2 hours to an internal temp of 201
. After that I wrapped it in foil and a couple towels and placed it in the cooler for about 3 1/2 hours until the early dinner time(Had to have time to go fishing after )I was really happy with the flavors but it wasn't quite tender enough for me, not far off but I would have preferred a little more tender. You could easily go through most of it with a fork but some parts took a little effort. The rest of the family loved the flavor and the tenderness so what do I know.
My wife asked if I'd be able to repeat that exactly in two weeks when my younger son graduates from high school. As long as she's happy, I'm happy.I'm including some photos of the cook along with my data. It was interesting to watch the temps. I know the PBC is a "just cook it" cooker but I wanted to at least keep a general eye on things in case temps went way to high or dropped way to low, they didn't. The temps climbed to 350 then just held there for 90 minutes. The graph shows a gradual decline but that's not exactly how it went. I recorded temps ever 30 minutes so the drop looks gradual but what happened was the cooker ran almost exactly at 350 for 90 minutes then just before one of the readings it dropped 25 degrees in a couple minutes then hung in that range for almost a half hour then dropped another 25+ to settle in it's final range of 280 to 300. When I first saw it moving along at 350 I was a tad nervous then remembered I've read about some places cook all their briskets at 350. Knowing that and knowing the PBC to be a more humid cooker I figured I'd just let it roll.
About the only thing I would probably do different next time is put a third hook in the brisket and at the start of the cook hang from the third hook pulling the end up away from the coals a little more so I don't lose the bottom inch of the meat. Then again, it's a slim bit so not a big deal.
Very happy with the first cook on the PBC. Looking forward to many more.
My first idea is to maybe cut the vent back to 1/8 to see if it would run a little bit cooler. Thoughts?
About the 2 hour mark.
Smokin' along.
Unwrapping before dinner.
First cuts.
Data!
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