Breaking in new PBC with chicken 🐓

[FishTalesNC]

Santa brought a PBC this year (and 80lbs of KBB), and what do ya know - we had a couple chickens in the fridge! I split them both at 7:30am and rubbed each half down with something different:

• MMD - because we love it on chicken
• PBC All Purpose Rub - because it came in the PBC box
• Heath Riles Everyday Rub - recent purchase that is subtle and I thought itd really let the PBC itself shine thru
• Jimbos Chicken Rub - because it has a Mexican flare to it and we’re making enchiladas with it on Friday

I did a bunch of reading on the PBC forum, particularly about lighting it (huge thanks to fzxdoc and everyone else), and on this first cook tried what I think you’re calling the 10-10-10 method. Worked pretty well, I did end up cracking the lid a bit to raise the temp at first. But generally it settled at 290F and slooowly fell down to about 250F over time. A little more experience and I don’t foresee any issues, I was happy to see a nice seal around the lid. I think my only clumsiness was with running probe wires thru the rebar holes after the PBC was hot, just need to iron out the wrinkles. Also forgot to line up the basket handle with the rebar, but oh well. I had a probe in the breast of the biggest one, took 2 hours to hit 160F. Halfway thru I added some corn on the cob cuz... well, someone got me that accessory, kind of a strong hint. 😆 The chicken was great, we took down the PBC All Purpose half and the HR Everyday half - we are all completely STUFFED with yardbird right now. Both were yummy, HR was the winner tho. We also had some Jimbo’s Alabama white sauce for it, man that stuff is killer. The corn was good as well, just... corn on the cob with butter and the HR Everyday on it.

All in all I felt like it was a really successful cook on a new smoker, my first time using something other than a kettle. Have a couple of other things lined up soon, anxious to fire it back up already. Also have the ash catcher and the hinged grate coming. Ready for the PBC journey! 👍🏻

[marshall]

great gift! and great looking birds!

[Spinaker]

Great looking cook! Congrats on the new rig!

Try lighting more coals to get the temps up. I like to give the chimney a shake to get all the extra ash off of the coals before I add them to the basket. I generally run in the 385-400 temp range. Although it looks like you lit almost all of them.

[FishTalesNC]

Spinaker I actually removed and lit 40 briquettes (for 10 min), then put them back evenly across the top of the basket. I let that go in the open drum for 10 min, then put the top on with the rebar out for 10 min. Then put my probes and meat on. I might try the instructions on the PBC site next time and see what happens. I expect some experimentation (and failures) while I figure this out. Do you run that hot even for non-poultry?

[Spinaker]

No, just for poultry. Pork shoulders can run hotter. (325 F range) FishTalesNC

[mnavarre]

Congrats on the new toy! I love my PBJr., these things are a heck of a lot of fun to figure out. With chickens you might want to go with more of a 10-15-10 lighting, just to let more coals light since chickens are pretty drippy. With the PBC AP rub I've had good results using it as a dry brine. It's a very salty rub and applying it in advance both dry brines the bird and mellows things out a bit.

[FishTalesNC]

Ah thanks mnavarre I never considered the drippyness factor. I typically would have started dry brining the night before, but being Christmas night it just didn’t happen. I was impressed the the PBC AP tho, good stuff!

[BKYDBBQ]

Santa brought me a PBC last year and I have loved it ever since. I had stopped cooking chicken until I tried it on the PBC.

My ribs and chicken game have definitely been upped with the PBC.

Enjoy to good eats.

[wcpreston]

I agree on the 10-15-10. I had issues w/not all the coals ending up getting used when I only did 10-10-10

[Frozen Smoke]

Nice looking yard bird and nice new cooker!

[FireMan]

Greatlookin cook FishTails. You have convinced me to try chicken in my barrel. I normally cook only one YB, so I roto on my Napolean It’s an excuse for havin some fiends over. Cook maybe 3 or 4. 👍👍👍 🕶

[FishTalesNC]

Thanks FireMan looking forward to those pics! Roto on a Napolean would be a nice option to have too... 👍🏻

[RonB]

I wouldn't mind someone giving me the bird if they looked like that.

[FishTalesNC]

RonB we’re gonna have to call you "Butter" cuz you’re on a roll lately! 😂

[RonB]

FishTalesNC - I'd eat that...

[JeffJ]

With Spatchcocked chicken, consider putting only 1 rebar in diagonally. You'll get considerably higher temps.

[wcpreston]

Gonna get that PBC fever

[jecucolo]

Chicken looks fantastic! I just picked up some 1/4” diameter rebar to use when cooking chicken. This has been reported to increase the temperature when cooking poultry. I’ll let you know how it goes!

[Black99vette]

Great gift and good looking birds.

[hogdog6]

Love the pics. The PBC rocks out some great food. Congrats

[RustyHaines]

The PBC is a chicken and rib cooking machine. I agree on the 10-15-10 (sometimes 10-20-10 when it's cold outside).