Anything else I could be doing to lower temp on my PBC?

[Mr. Bones]

Fantastic Job, amigo!
Out-Chuckin-Standin!!!

[texastweeter]

Rip

[texastweeter]

maybe a water pan

[JeffJ]

Nowhere to put one.

[gwelfare65]

I cooked a 9lb pork shoulder on Saturday and experienced some higher temperatures than I wanted. I lit it with the chimney starter with 40 briquettes (Kingsford Prof.) and then put the meat on the grate, didn't hang. I noticed it maintaining a temp of about 290-315. I was on a time crunch and wrapped it when it hit 150, and took it out at 203, took about 7 hours. I had the lid on tight, both bars in, and the vent basically closed (I am at sea level). Temp finally started to go down once I realized that the wind was blowing directly into the vent. Once I spun the PBC about a quarter turn to get it out of the direct path of the wind, the temp came down. Just something to think about next time. Those burnt ends look great!

[phoccer]

Looks like a great temp range to me but I prefer right around 300. That temp works great in the PBC for me.

[jfmorris]

I wouldn’t worry about temps of 290-315 with the PBC - that sounds to be in its sweet spot. And a butt is one piece f meat that can take that temp I learned recently.

[hogdog6]

It took me a while to realize this but the Pit Barrell Cooker, is just that a "cooker" not a smoker it runs different. Since that realization I no longer keep track of the cooker temp I just keep a temp probe in the meat and let it run. I’ve now ran it long enough that I know if I light it correctly it’s going to do what it does best "Cook". I do touch the lid now and again to make sure it’s hot and that’s it. It was hard to not want to control its temps but once I stopped trying to control what for the most part can’t be, I believe my food is better and cooks are definitely funner. With poultry I do run it hotter by running the rebar diagonal leaving two holes open and always turns out great.
However you run it enjoy the food out of that magic little Barrell.

[Bromo33333]

We tried ours (just got one) and we wer4 gardening all afternoon in the back, and the PBC was cooking awayon a small Brisket and two racks of ribs. Everything came out beautifully, but the ribs "announced" they were done by falling off the hook (want "fall apart tenderness?" well there is a downside ... LOL

But the smoke flavor was perfect, and the Brisket was possibly the best i have ever had. It wasn't 100% set and forget, but when I saw there was no way to adjust the cooking temp lower than it was, I just put both probes in the meats we were cooking and let it run it's magic.

And, frankly, a perfectly cooked Brisket in under 5 hours with a deep smoke ring is magical. I'm bought in.

Previously I have used a SMokey Joe and "The Good One" - Both aren't bad, but I like that you just need to keep one eye on the cooker and get on with a day's activities. Look forward to trying a smoked Turkey for T-Day.

[Polarbear777]

Gotta double hook those ribs. I’ve lost a few also.

[JeffJ]

The Pit Barrel is designed to run at whatever temperature it feels like running at. Just let it cook.

[Spinaker]

Put weight on the lid. I find that is, by far, the most effective way to control rising temps.