I got my PBC on April 21 (got the Arteflame a week earlier). On April 23 I cooked for the first time in the PBC. 2 planned cooks after that were derailed by rain (had to use the 14.5 WSM under the overhang of the garage). Finally, this weekend I got around to a second (and third) cook in the PBC and my second cook on the Arteflame. I didn't take many pictures, so I'll be a bit descriptive.
Last Thursday I cooked a chicken that I had brined the night before. I put a single layer of Kingsford competition in the basket and filled a compact chimney with KBB. I followed Kathryn's lighting instructions and tossed in an apple wood chunk. I didn't measure temps and decided I would use an instant-read to check the chicken. A couple of things I learned:
1. A single chicken doesn't create enough drippings to create "PBC smoke". I'm very glad I used a wood chunk.
2. When the bird was at 118 I noticed that the coals weren't going to last long enough so I added 20 or so KBB briquettes (don't skimp on charcoal when using the PBC).
3. Visually, it wasn't among the best birds I've cooked - skin wasn't crisp enough or dark enough. Having said that, it still looked pretty good but, more importantly, it came out excellent. It was juicy as all get-out (even leftover) and had nice smoke flavor. I think I should have removed the unused rebar to allow for a hotter fire which would have improved the skin.
Anyway, this is what it looked like:
On Saturday we had another family over. On the docket: Chuck roast sandwiches, roasted brussel sprouts and grilled corn.
The PBC ran around 295 (a little hotter than I'd like, but I rolled with it). After a couple of hours the temp climbed to 306, so I put foil in 1 rebar hole and brought it down to 280. It again climbed to 295 and pretty much stayed there until much later in the cook. I double hooked both sides slightly off-center of the chuck. When it hit 280 I decided to pull and wrap it. When I was trying to lift the hooks off the rebar it tore away and fell into the coals (I rite of PBC passage, I'm told). I fished it out, wrapped it and put it on the grate to finish. When it hit 205 I went to cambro. Now, for the rest of the meal...I took brussel sprouts, tossed them with olive oil, salt and pepper and onto the Arteflame they went. I also had the meat department cut me 2 thick slices of bacon that were chopped and cooked on the Arteflame as well. At the 35 minute mark the sprouts had good color so I liberally spritzed them with basalmic vinegar and I did this again at the 50 minute mark. At just over an hour I pulled them and tossed in the bacon. Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture, which is unfortunate because they came out really good. At this point the coals were kind of spent so I tossed in a couple of small logs to heat things back up. I sauteed bell pepper, onion and mushrooms. I took some butter and put it on the surface and then put down the bread. I put the chuck on one slice that had been hit with some brown mustard, drizzled on a mix of my KC sauce and J-1 sauce and sprinkled on some gruyere cheese. I covered this with the lid from my 14.5 WSM. I had my guests add on the mushrooms/peppers/onions/homemade hot sauce based upon personal preference. While this was going on I poured a chimney of coals into the SnS on my Performer. I started the corn directly over the SnS until I developed nice color. I then had some olive oil, salt and pepper in a baking tin and rolled the corn in it. I then finished the corn indirect (did not take pictures of the corn, either). I didn't take pictures of the finished sandwiches. I will tell you the bread looked like bread from a grilled cheese sandwich. The food turned out really well - everyone was very pleased. Here are the pics I did take:
Last Thursday I cooked a chicken that I had brined the night before. I put a single layer of Kingsford competition in the basket and filled a compact chimney with KBB. I followed Kathryn's lighting instructions and tossed in an apple wood chunk. I didn't measure temps and decided I would use an instant-read to check the chicken. A couple of things I learned:
1. A single chicken doesn't create enough drippings to create "PBC smoke". I'm very glad I used a wood chunk.
2. When the bird was at 118 I noticed that the coals weren't going to last long enough so I added 20 or so KBB briquettes (don't skimp on charcoal when using the PBC).
3. Visually, it wasn't among the best birds I've cooked - skin wasn't crisp enough or dark enough. Having said that, it still looked pretty good but, more importantly, it came out excellent. It was juicy as all get-out (even leftover) and had nice smoke flavor. I think I should have removed the unused rebar to allow for a hotter fire which would have improved the skin.
Anyway, this is what it looked like:
On Saturday we had another family over. On the docket: Chuck roast sandwiches, roasted brussel sprouts and grilled corn.
The PBC ran around 295 (a little hotter than I'd like, but I rolled with it). After a couple of hours the temp climbed to 306, so I put foil in 1 rebar hole and brought it down to 280. It again climbed to 295 and pretty much stayed there until much later in the cook. I double hooked both sides slightly off-center of the chuck. When it hit 280 I decided to pull and wrap it. When I was trying to lift the hooks off the rebar it tore away and fell into the coals (I rite of PBC passage, I'm told). I fished it out, wrapped it and put it on the grate to finish. When it hit 205 I went to cambro. Now, for the rest of the meal...I took brussel sprouts, tossed them with olive oil, salt and pepper and onto the Arteflame they went. I also had the meat department cut me 2 thick slices of bacon that were chopped and cooked on the Arteflame as well. At the 35 minute mark the sprouts had good color so I liberally spritzed them with basalmic vinegar and I did this again at the 50 minute mark. At just over an hour I pulled them and tossed in the bacon. Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture, which is unfortunate because they came out really good. At this point the coals were kind of spent so I tossed in a couple of small logs to heat things back up. I sauteed bell pepper, onion and mushrooms. I took some butter and put it on the surface and then put down the bread. I put the chuck on one slice that had been hit with some brown mustard, drizzled on a mix of my KC sauce and J-1 sauce and sprinkled on some gruyere cheese. I covered this with the lid from my 14.5 WSM. I had my guests add on the mushrooms/peppers/onions/homemade hot sauce based upon personal preference. While this was going on I poured a chimney of coals into the SnS on my Performer. I started the corn directly over the SnS until I developed nice color. I then had some olive oil, salt and pepper in a baking tin and rolled the corn in it. I then finished the corn indirect (did not take pictures of the corn, either). I didn't take pictures of the finished sandwiches. I will tell you the bread looked like bread from a grilled cheese sandwich. The food turned out really well - everyone was very pleased. Here are the pics I did take:
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