PBC Mod: Ash Catcher

[fzxdoc]

PBC will soon roll out an ash removal accessory.

Kewl. I wonder what it's going to look like and how easy it will be to get out of the barrel.

My problem is that my arms are too short to reach the bottom of the barrel to fold up and retrieve the aluminum foil without balancing at the waist on the edge of the barrel. One of these days I'm going to tip a bit too far and end up doing a 1.5 gainer into the bottom of the barrel.

Kathryn

[Jerod Broussard]

Then your husband will come over and say, "click your heels together three times, and I will grab them to pull you out this barrel."

[fzxdoc]

Hahaha. That would be quite the sight! Jerod Broussard You crack me up.

K.

[PappyBBQ]

Hahaha! Must leave a nice grease ring! :-)

[krankster]

I bought a 16" pizza pan and use it to catch the ash, works great. The only thing I had to do was adjust the air vent a bit because the pan blocked the air just a hair. but I opened it another quarter (I'm at 1500 feet) and problem solved, and ash disposal is easy-peasy

[W.A.]

I pounded the edge down with a mini sledge hammer. Drilled two holes about eight inches apart on each side and fastened picture handing wire loops for handles. I grab those went I grad the basket so it all comes out cleanly.

[Breadhead]

Hmmm... Cleaning out a Big Green Egg the way BGE Corp recommends is a major pain in the ass.

I use a shop vac.

I would think if you PBC guys used a shop vac with the extended attachment you could just suck the ashes out.

Just a thought.😎

[BigBear]

Hey 7over what a great idea! I tried my best to replicate it with a 17" pizza pan and a couple of dollars worth of roof flashing and sheet metal screws from HomeDepot. Attached are my photos. Thanks again for your post!

[Brewmaster]

PBC just came out with there version, looks pretty simple to use

[oldsteve]

Here's the PBC version. Kinda pricey at $ 29.95

http://pitbarrelcooker.com/product/attachable-ash-pan

[PappyBBQ]

Yeah, but stainless steel and it looks pretty beefy. Attaches to the "feet" of the new style basket.

[BigBear]

By the time I screwed up the first one and had to order another pizza pan I could have paid for the PBC version. But then I wouldn't have had the pleasure of completing a DIY project! Oh well...

[Max Good]

The new PBC ash catcher is here!

http://pitbarrelcooker.com/videos/cleaning-and-maintenance?utm_source=Pit+Barrel+Cooker+Community&utm_campaign=cb8c3cba83-Attachable_Ash_Pan10_2_2015&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_fcff6660d6-cb8c3cba83-290152249

[Yno]

I ordered mine yesterday - but it won't be here in time for today's tri-tips.

When I ordered it, I somehow managed to put my billing address in as my shipping address. I called the office number, and Noah himself answered and helped me out. Nice guy, and good product.

[Jerod Broussard]

I like it. One day I will get one.

[kill2grill]

Has anyone tried out the new pan? I am starting to consider getting this smoker and are looking at all the mod's & suggestions that have been posted.

[fzxdoc]

If I got the PBC pan, I'd still cover it with aluminum foil, I think, just so I could wad the ash up and toss it, as opposed to dumping it off that disc into the trash and (in my case at least) inhaling all that ash that billows in the air.

I don't know if the new ash catcher is compatible with the First Generation of PBC baskets, though. I'll have to investigate.

Kathryn

[smarkley]

Yeah... Not sure they will fit either... But am interested

[Jerod Broussard]

Mine bit the dust so no worries there

[David Parrish]

I confirmed this with Noah. The ash pan works with all PBCs and there's no need to use foil.

[smarkley]

Thanks! I needed to hear that!

you da man!

[fzxdoc]

Well, I've used the PBC Ash Catcher for half a dozen cooks. I'm ready to give it away. If I was giving it a score, I'd say it scores an 8 for catching the ash and a 0 for catching the grease.

From the very beginning, I found that there was always a ring of fine ash on the bottom of the barrel around the edge of the ash catcher. No biggie, I figured; I just shop vac'd it out and was good to go. Then I decided to just put the aluminum foil back down first to catch that spillover ash and that worked fine. Remove the basket, dump the ash, remove and wad up the aluminum foil and move on.

Then came yesterday when I smoked 3 six-pound chickens in my PBC. It was the first really full cook that I had done since getting the ash catcher. Fortunately I did put the double-layer heavy duty aluminum foil down in the bottom of the barrel before adding the basket with the ash catcher attached.

I had a ton of grease from those chickens, and it caked up along with the ash on the top of the ash catcher and pooled under the ash catcher. If I had not had the aluminum foil under the ash catcher, the floor of the barrel would have been coated in chicken grease.

Now I don't keep the sides and lid of the PBC clean as a whistle, but I never like the idea of letting a pool of grease stand in the bottom of it. I keep the bottom clean. I don't like surprise incendiary events if I can avoid them--for one thing, I like keeping eyebrows on my face.

So at this point I don't see much benefit in continuing to use the PBC Ash Catcher. It doesn't really catch all the ash, and it certainly doesn't contain the grease. It's just something for me to scrape off after each cook and/or scrub the grease off from the underside and from the bottom of the barrel. I'd rather just wad up the two layers of heavy duty aluminum foil that I place in the bottom of the barrel under the coal basket and throw them away at the end of each cook. Cleanup is so much simpler that way.

I'm hoping that someone can tell me that I could be using the ash catcher in a better manner--hints for the well-behaved PBC Ash Catcher will be gratefully accepted!

Kathryn

[danmahoney]

Thanks for the insight on short-comings of "ash catcher". I have only used PBC once and have yet to accumulate sludge/grease.

[Jerod Broussard]

You should see the metric ton of grease under an ash pan after a 4 brisket cook.

If you cook enough it cooks out.

Mine was so big I needed slits to bypass the tabs. It barely held all the ash. The super hot B & B warped that dude pretty good.

[MBMorgan]

I've had an Old Smokey electric for years. In it I keep a thin layer of Oil Dri absorbent granules (the stuff that you spread on a garage floor for oil spills) in the bottom. I'm thinking I'll try the same thing in the new PBC to make grease catching & cleanup easier and more effective. Basically just set the charcoal basket with PBC ash catcher directly on the Oil Dri granules and see what happens ...

[fzxdoc]

Would the Oil Dri granules stay in the bottom of the PBC of the all the time? Would you ever vacuum them out and replace them? If so, how often? Would they be impervious to the high heat that is generated directly under the coal basket?

I'm not familiar with the product, MBMorgan , so am really interested. Thanks in advance.

Jerod Broussard , you immediately came to mind when I saw all that grease on the bottom of my PBC. I remember once you mentioned that on some of your cooks, the grease pours out of the vent opening. Wowza, that's some grease!

I seem to recall you made an ash-catcher mod and wondered how it worked with so much grease. Did you buy the PBC Ash Catcher too?

Kathryn

[MBMorgan]

I tend to replace them whenever they get gunky enough. In the Old Smokey (which has a pretty effective dripping catching bowl under the grill grate), that's averaged once a year, or so. The granules appear to be made of a clay-like material that has been unaffected by proximity (approx 1/2 inch) to the electric heating element ... which is admittedly not running as hot as charcoal. My assumption (hope, really) is that the PBC ash catcher will provide some shielding from the direct effect of the burning briquettes. It's probably a good idea to try a burn with only a few granules at first in case of a problem. I suspect that the granules we manufactured by a process employing kiln-drying which, if true means they've already seen more heat than charcoal can produce. Additionally, the manufacturer says they are specifically for use in "barbecue grills". I figure that it's at least worth a shot.

Edit: Just confirmed on the Oil Dri website that is indeed kiln-dried with no additives ... pure clay.

Mike