PBC First Cook

[BrentNice]

Hello everyone!
This is my first post in the forums and just wanted to share my experience with my first cook on a "real" smoker. I'm new to smoking. I've been smoking in a small electric for about a year and recently purchased a PBC. I decided to start with a pork butt and a whole chicken split in half. I followed the instructions for the bottom vent opening according to my elevation (1/4 open - elevation 100 m) and did a full small chimney (approx 40 coals) for about 13 minutes. I dumped into the coal basket, immediately hung my butt, and boy did that smoker run hot (around 380) for the next hour and a half. The temperature dropped steadily until around 5 hours later when it dropped to 230. At this point I checked on the coals and they were pretty much burnt out. This was not at all what I expected, but I directly attribute this to the coals I started at the beginning going too long in the chimney. With the coals burnt out and my pork butt in the middle of its stall around 160 internal, I loaded up a 3/4 small chimney going for about 10 minutes and dumped over top a basket full of fresh unlit charcoal. This produced a much more stable heat that stabilized quickly between 275-300, and when I was done a few hours later the temp was still steady and I could tell the coals still had plenty of life left in them. I hung the butt the whole time and, had I not suffered the heating issues with temperature drops initially, would have went the whole time without wrapping. I ended up crutching to speed things along so didn't quite get the bark formation I was hoping for, but all in all it turned out to be some of the best pork butt I've ever had. On a side note, I trussed the butt because I was a little apprehensive hanging for so long, though next time I don't think I'll bother with this step. I also did a dry brine for salt and memphis dust for the rub. Can't thank everyone on the site enough. The advice of Meathead and learning from the posts of others has got me inspired.

[Spinaker]

Welcome to The Pitmaster Club! It sounds like you had a great first cook. One thing you can do to help keep the temps down is to put weight on the lid. (I used bricks.) This will help to seal the lid down tight. I like to spray the inside on the lid with oil, by the rim, to allow a layer of gunk (official term) to build up. This gunk will help your lid seal and make your temp more stable. After a few cooks, you won't need the weight any more.

When I am lighting the basket, I fill it to the brim with unlit coals. Then I hollow out the middle, and place the briquettes in to a chimney until it is about 3/4 full. Then I light the chimney and I let the coals get red hot. I give the chimney a good shake to get all the ash off, then I add it to the middle of the basket. Then I place it in the barrel. Throw the lid on, put some weight on the lid and let it rip!

If you haven't already, make sure to check out fzxdoc 's thread on all things PBC!

[RonB]

Welcome to The Pit Brent. Many here use two hooks when hanging protein in a PBC. Stuff can fall apart when ready if you don't pull promptly.

[shify]

Looks great. Surprised that the coal didn’t last that long. Did you fill the basket to almost overflow before pulling out the 40 briquettes to light?

Using a weber half chimney, I find it takes me close to 20 min until the top coals are just ashy around the edges. Then I dump on top of the remaining coals and let go for 10 min before putting in rebar and let it go another 5-10 min before adding my meat. Haven’t done a butt yet but still had plenty of coals after a 5 hour cook of 3 full racks St. Louis ribs.

[JGo37]

Gonna +1 Spinaker and tell ya you had a great first cook. It's really all about chronicling what you do and participating in the cooking blogs to progressively become better, and BETter, and BETTER,

We're all standing on the shoulders of Giants...

[Skip]

Welcome BrentNice . Good looking pork butt!

[fzxdoc]

Congrats on your successful first cook, BrentNice , and for joining The Pit. You're going to love smoking on your PBC and hanging out here on The Pit. Everyone is so helpful and friendly.

Pork butts tend to soften as they smoke, so you were wise to truss it if it is to be hung on the rebars, which is what I prefer as well. I love those juices self-basting the pork and sizzling when they hit the coals. I usually double serial hook (a lower hook loops through the upper hook which is hung on the rebar--see how Noah does the same thing in his brisket video on the PBC site) my pork butts for extra insurance and if I haven't trussed them, I move them to the grate at about 160°F internal so they can ride all the way without crutching.

I'm guessing that you had a bit of smoke leaking out the lid of your PBC, as Spinaker mentioned. It doesn't take much of a lid leak to goose the temperature up to the 300°-400° range, which is perfect for poultry but not for other meats. And of course that higher temp is why the coals burned through so quickly. Usually my PBC can run at 275°F for 8 to 11 hours on a full load of coals.

Good for you for adding hot coals to the basket so your meat didn't acquire a charcoal taste from cold charcoal heating up. I learned early on to remove the meat first when adding more hot coals so the ash doesn't fly around and land on the meat. When the ash settles, I add the meat back. It comes back up to temp pretty quickly.

That pork butt sure looks delicious, and who doesn't love a smoke ring like that? You had some good eats out of that cook, sounds like.

BTW, how did the chicken turn out?

Kathryn

[JeffJ]

I don't even bother hanging pork butts. Just put 'em right on the grate. Just flip once after 4 hours (the side facing down will get a lot more color than the side on top). No trussing and no fussing with hooks. It's easier and produces the same results as long as the meat gets flipped during the cook. These days only long pieces of meat like ribs or a whole packer get hung in my PBC. The only downside is that after you hang meat you get to say, "That meat is well hung." Can't make that claim when it's on the grate.

[BrentNice]

Wow thank you all so much for your comments and feedback! I definitely did see smoke coming out of the lid so I really like the idea of weighing the lid down and/or getting that gunk buildup to create a tighter seal. Thanks Spinaker. The basket was filled to the top so I think my problems were probably due to the lid seal. I'll probably be able to revert to the basic charcoal lighting instructions with a tighter lid seal.

fzxdoc Now that you mention it, you're probably right that I should still truss if I hang. Better safe than sorry. I don't have any pics of my chicken but I cut in half, dry brined, and rubbed with simon & garfunkel. I shied away from using the PBC brand rubs because of the salt content. I think I saw in another post from you that you can essentially dry brine with those PBC rubs, the salt will settle in and the rub will be left on the surface. But honestly I like these Amazing ribs recipes so I"ll probably just give the PBC rubs as gifts.

That double serial hook does look like a good method for hanging big meats. I may also try just setting on the rack and flipping as JeffJ mentioned but we'll see. There is something novel and cool about the way the juice drips when you hang. On a side note, my wife said the meat produced (both the butt and chicken) was the best BBQ she's ever eaten. We live in North Carolina so that is pretty high praise! I also did some smoked brie with apricot preserves and herbs de provence (a PBC recipe). Turned out great for an appetizer while we waited for the main course. Thanks again for all of the comments and advice everyone. What I love about smoking is I can combine all of these different techniques and advice to come up with a process I can call my own. Hopefully I can stay active in these boards and start contributing once I've gained a little more experience.
-Brent

[Spinaker]

Keep us posted on your progress, we are more than happy to help!

[JeffJ]

BrentNice If you flip the grate upside down and put it on top of the rebars you can fit potato rounds on the grate just underneath the lid if you are hanging meat. They need to be flipped once during the cook, but it's a real efficient way to maximize the use of your fire. PBC also makes a half grate where you can hang meat on the one side and put whatever you want on the half grate.

[JeffJ]

FishTalesNC I want to say roughly 20 minutes per side. I can tell you, these potato rounds are really, really tasty and are a textural delight.

[FishTalesNC]

Thx JeffJ can’t wait to try it, just brilliant.

[JeffJ]

FishTalesNC I put the rounds in a bowl first and tossed with olive oil, salt and pepper. The oil helps develop the color (and flavor).

[BrentNice]

Thanks JeffJ! I have that hinged grate but this sounds like a great trick to create even more space.

[jecucolo]

You have received lots of good advice. I love my PBC! Feel free to ask questions on future cooks. Getting the lid sealed will solve 95% of you problems. It might be worth purchasing some Lavalock off the internet. Pretty cheap solution. Good luck and welcome to the pit.

[BrentNice]

Thanks jecucolo. I may try that. The Lavalock appears to come in a standard 1/2 x 1/8 but I've seen some other brands also sell a 3/4 x 1/8 size. Do you know what size would be a better fit for the PBC? Also, I've read some reviews saying the adhesive isn't great and to purchase RTV silicon to apply extra on the back. What do you think?

[jecucolo]

I think I purchased the smaller size. Something I would do if I were to do it again is just purchase fire rated caulk from Lowe’s and apply bead on the lid. I saw this on YouTube. You will need to apply some Vaseline to the rim of the barrel to keep the caulk from sticking to the barrel. The place the lid back on the barrel and gently apply pressure. Wait 4-5 hours and you should have a nice seal. A tube of caulk is about $5.

[JeffJ]

Once it's seasoned the PBC shouldn't need anything to seal the lid.

[BrentNice]

Sweet thanks. For now I may roll with bricks to weigh down the lid and try to get some gunk to build up to seal the lid. And if I'm not getting the seal I need after 4 or 5 cooks I"ll look into the caulk.

[mnavarre]

Spray the inside rim of the lid with cooking spray for a few cooks. It really helps build up the gunk. Also get in the habit of twisting the lid a bit to make sure you've got it seated.