Still Running Hot

[Butchman]

Good luck, hope that fixes your issues. I'd hang on to the old lid for chicken and higher heat cooks.

[fzxdoc]

Even with the new lid, jlhilden , follow PBCDad 's advice if that lid leaks as well, which it easily could, being new and all.

I would venture to guess that your problem with the current PBC is not the amount of fuel you are using, but the fact that your lid leaks like a sieve. What a photo! Even the relatively small leak that my PBC developed after a couple years of use would send the temperatures soaring, especially in the first few hours of the cook. I put a gasket in the inner rim of the lid and it took care of the problem. I got tired of foiling that area and went the gasket route. Never looked back.

Here's the link to the LavaLok gasket that many PBC users, including myself, have installed:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01F9FE60K/?tag=amazi0a8-20

Let us know how the new lid works out. You can't beat PBC's customer support.

Kathryn

[Spinaker]

When I first got my PBC, the lid was leaking like crazy. Then I sprayed the inside of the lid rim with cooking spray and put it on the PBC. Then I placed a 30 lb weight on the lid to make sure that it was pressed down tight. This allowed for a layer of gunk to build up as the cook progressed. The lid sealed great, problem solved. I did this for about 5 cooks or so. Now the lid seal is so good, sometimes when it is cold, the lid is hard to remove. A leaking lid is often the number one cause of the PBC running hot.
A rope gasket is also a great idea as PBCDad mentions.
Make sure to let us know if you are having any more issues. We can do as much as we can to help you out.

[jlhilden]

I plan to create another thread that digests and reports in more detail my trials with the PBC after labor day, I still want to do a long cook with it - looking at a butt or chuck next.

The new lid has not arrived yet and since the current lid will be surplus, I bought and installed the gasket recommended by PBCDad and fzxdoc and did a few cooks. I can say with certainty that the source of my issue with the PBC was 100% the lid.

Since installing the gasket, the PBC has been very manageable. Still some minor things I'm trying to grasp and getting a hold of the idiosyncrasies, but it is stable and more in line of what I expected; like when I open the lid and place it back, the temp spikes and comes back down, not run away into the 400's and not look back. To summarize in one sentence: I have yet to plug the holes with foil since installing the gasket.

For one cook I bbq'd chicken. I asked the wife to bring home two 4lb wholes and she purchased one whole, and one whole cut up. I think she does things like this so I'll stop asking her. I cut one in half and hung - did nothing to it but dry brined overnight. The other, I took the pieces, rubbed with PBC AP rub, and placed on the hinged grate.

It was divine. I got what I expected from the PBC, a chicken that was only dry brined with salt, nothing else added, and tasted absolutely awesome.

[PBCDad]

Woohoo!!!

[jlhilden]

...and the beef backs were phenomenal. The PBC Beef and Game rub really tasted good on them.

[Pirate Scott]

Looks like you got past the Learning curve. Great Stuff!

[hogdog6]

Wahooo you got this!!!