Pit Barrel rocket

[phoccer]

My younger son graduates from HS next week and we have the graduation party this Sunday. My wife insisted I cook the pulled pork for the party. I tried to persuade her to just buy it but to no avail. So I fired up the PBC this morning and placed two pork butts on the grate. I decided to just go with the grate this time as hooking them up just wasn't going smoothly. Everything started off fine then the PBC began ignition. About an hour into the cook I'm looking at the Maverick and it's reading 380. Yeah, I know I run Kingsford Pro and that runs hot but this was a bit ridiculous IMO. I tried to foil the rebars, didn't help. I'm guessing I didn't foil correctly so no knock against that method, it's likely me that goofed. I finally made two adjustments(yeah, I should have only done one but I wanted to prevent the PBC from hitting 700 degrees and taking off from the patio) so I closed the vent to 1/8 from 1/4 and I put binder clips on the lid. I was looking closely this morning and it looks like the lid does have some leakage, not a lot but enough to make me try the binder clips. Fifteen minutes later I'm back down into the 340s and dropping. We'll see where it settles and go from there. If I can get it below 300 I'll likely open the vent back to 1/4, leave the binder clips on, and see what happens. I figure the worst thing I do is ruin some pork. First world problems. At least I'm not worried about the PBC taking off into the beautiful blue sky anymore .

[JeffJ]

Congrats on your son graduating! (My older son is a junior). Fortunately, pork butt is very forgiving and I suspect it will turn out perfectly fine.

[phoccer]

Thank you. I'm counting on pork butt being VERY forgiving.

[Wando52]

you might just want to remove the foil from the holes up top first before changing vent, just a thought. I agree pork butt should turn out fine. Congrats on the graduation!

[phoccer]

Yep, that's what I did. I had the foil in for 45 minutes and temps kept climbing. Figured I'd try the vent adjustment next and that seems to be the key for me so far.

[Spinaker]

You will be fine. Just mix it up well when you pull it. You will love it. You'll just have more bark! As others have said, Pork is very forgiving, I bet you will be fine.

[kmhfive]

Sounds exciting. Don't forget the pictures!

[JeffJ]

380 for an hour or so shouldn't harm your butt.

[bardsleyque]

I know, no politics but...is that a" North Korean" pit barrel?

[phoccer]

Lol!

[Breadhead]

+1^ on the LOL...😆😆😆

[JeffJ]

Don't laugh too hard. The penalty over there for disparaging Kim is death by anti-aircraft gun. I'm not joking.

[RobertC]

I know most people advise against it, but I think I'm finding that nudging the bottom vent a bit in one direction or the other can be an effective way to alter the cook temperature.

[phoccer]

I agree. I was trying to stay away from that because it's supposed to be set and forget. I believe once I get it dialed in it will be much easier and less fuss but until then I'll have to tweak a bit.

[phoccer]

5 hours in. I'll have to try another run with the vent set to 1/8. It seems to be getting into the PBC sweet zone. I've been running 280-300 for the last 3 hours. It dropped to 255 at one point, that's when I peeked in and snapped this. It popped back into the 280 range and has been there for the last hour. Getting hopeful that I may have found the sweet settings for my PBC.

[EdF]

Looks very good!

[Skip]

Good job phoccer . You thought it through and improvised! Way to go. You are a PITMASTER!

[phoccer]

I owe any knowledge to this site and everyone who contributes a nugget of knowledge here and there. This place is a great resource.

[Breadhead]

It's a BBQ incubator... we all contribute and learn. Whoever started this Pit club idea was a genius.👍

[JeffJ]

It doesn't appear to have suffered any ill-effects from the high heat. In fact, it's looking awfully darned good!

[phoccer]

The final shredded product. Turned out pretty good IMO. Definitely had a little bit of a crunch crust to it but not too terrible.



and of course, data! I pulled it off at a little after the last reading I took when the IT hit 203. Looks like at my elevation(900') with Kingsford Pro, 1/8 may be my setting. Technically the largest gap between the vent cover and the vent hole is 3/8". I'll leave it there for the next cook and put binder clips on to start to see if I can keep from having that very high continued run at the start. I also keep forgetting to spray the top with Pam as Spinaker suggested in another post. One of these times I'll pull it all together and not fuss with it!

[EdF]

Nothing wrong with some "crunch crust"!

[phoccer]

Definitely getting some good gunk after just two cooks. I have about 25 cooks on my Weber Kettle and the lid sticks pretty good now. I'll get there with the PBC.

[kmhfive]

Looks great!

[phoccer]

Wife said is was very good, that's all I need. She also said we don't have enough so I need to work from home on Friday and cook two more. I'm going to look for butts that would be easier to hang because the grate was a PIA to clean. I think I'll play around with wrapping next time as well. Fun times!

[Mr. Bones]

Ever try that "001" sauce I gave ya', yet? Or did ya' have enough good sense enough to chuck it out along th' Interstate, on yer way home from NFM / Cabela's?
Works dang good with pulled pork...

[hogdog6]

Looks great! Love those crunchies.

[fzxdoc]

Yup, when the temp drops right back down after doing something to the lid, then for sure you've got a lid leak going on. It's pretty dramatic, that temp drop, much more so than the PBC temp response to foiling rebars or adjusting the vent in my experience. Now that you know go check right away for a lid leak, you'll probably have smooth sailing from here on out.

Congrats on on a nice cook and for working so quickly to find the solution.

FWIW I don't use binder clips on my PBC because a little scratch, metal on metal, can lead pretty quickly to a rust spot. Pounding the lid down with a rubber mallet might do the trick, especially when you get more of a "gunk buildup" going on.

Kathryn

[Breadhead]

Kathryn... your comments are awesome! Most people will not anticipate the rust. Most that read that comment won't remember it until they see some rust.🙈

[fzxdoc]

Awww, thanks Breadhead. That's nice of you to say.

K.

[Breadhead]

Kathryn... I don't even have a PBC. I just follow that thread because your knowledge of that cooker intrigues me. I love watching you coach the guys up on that cooker.😆