Hi everyone,
interested in possibly purchasing a pit barrel cooker. Does anyone have any experience on how they perform in cold weather. Nyc resident here and currently watching the snow fall out of my window. My only current grill is a Weber genesis 2 e410.
My toys:
Weber Summit Charcoal Grilling Center (WSCGC) aka Mr. Fancypants
Pit Barrel Cooker (which rocks), named Pretty Baby
Weber Summit S650 Gas Grill, named Hot 'n Fast (used mostly for searing and griddling)
Weber Kettle Premium 22" named Kettle Kid, eager to horn in with more cooks in the future
Camp Chef Somerset IV 4-burner outdoor gas range named AfterBurner due to its 30kBTU burners
Adrenaline BBQ Company Gear:
SnS Low Profile, DnG, and Large Charcoal Basket, for WSCGC
SnS Deluxe for 22" Kettle
Elevated SS Rack for WSCGC
SS Rack for DnG
Cast Iron Griddle
Grill Grate for SnS
Grill Grates: five 17.375 sections (retired to storage)
Grill Grates: six 19.25 panels for exact fit for Summit S650
gasser
Grill Grates for 22" Kettle
2 Grill Grate Griddles
Steelmade Griddle for Summit gas grill
Fireboard Gear:
Extreme BBQ Thermometer Package
Additional control unit
Additional probes: Competition Probes 1" (3) and 4" (1), 3 additional Ambient Probes. 1 additional Food Probe
2 Driver Cables
Pit Viper Fan (to pair with Fireboard Fan Driver Cable)
Pit Viper Fan new design (to pair with Fireboard Fan Driver Cable)
Thermoworks Gear:
Thermapen MK4 (pink)
Thermapen Classic (pink too)
Thermoworks MK4 orange
Temp Test 2 Smart Thermometer
Extra Big and Loud Timer
Timestick Trio
Maverick ET 73 a little workhorse with limited range
Maverick ET 733
Maverick (Ivation) ET 732
Grill Pinz
Vortex (two of them)
18" drip pan for WSCGC
Ceramic Spacers for WSCGC in Kamado Mode: 2 sets each 1/2", 1", 2". The 2" spacers work best with the 18" drip pan. The 1+1/2 inch spacers work best with the 14 inch cake pan.
Two Joule Sous Vide devices
3 Lipavi Sous Vide Tubs with Lids: 12, 18 and 26 quarts
Avid Armor Ultra Pro V32 Chamber Sealer
Instant Pot 6 Quart Electric Pressure Cooker
Instant Pot 10 Quart Electric Pressure Cooker
Charcoal Companion TurboQue
A-Maze-N tube 12 inch tube smoker accessory for use with pellets
BBQ Dragon and Dragon Chimney
Shun Classic Series:
8" Chef Knife
6" Chef's Knife
Gokujo Boning and Fillet Knife
3 1/2 inch Paring Knife
My PBC works fine in cold weather, but to me, cold is 25 degrees or more. I use it on my screened-in deck, so there is some protection from the elements there. I really don't notice an increase in cooking time nor do I have a different experience with maintaining the temp. I have the old first generation PBC, not the newer one with the better wall construction.
Some folks wrap their PBC in a welding blanket. And some folks use their PBCs in harsher conditions and at ambient temps much lower than I experience in my region. They'll be chiming in soon, hopefully.
used mine all year in all temps. when it's been very cold (teens and below) I've removed 1 rod to get the temps up....this did cause slightly more/faster coal consumption, but things still get done.
I've only had mine for a couple of years and haven't used it in really cold temps yet. But I've found that it performs similarly to my Weber kettles and 14.5 WSM in the high 30's and I have used my kettles and WSM in the teens and they performed fine - just account for the coals burning more quickly.
Cold just effects how much fuel you need. The real killer when it’s cold out is the wind. If the air is still it’s no big deal, but get some good wind going and you’ll have trouble keeping a steady temp. I made a plywood wind break that completely encloses my PBC. Holds temp real well no matter how cold and windy it gets.
I am in Wisconsin and have used my PBC down to about 8-10 degrees. First time cook when it was that cold I used a welder's blanket and it turned the PBC into a rocket. Could not get the temp under 450. Took the blanket off and it returned to normal. I agree with other posts about the wind. You have to shelter your PBC when the outside temperature dips. I did a 3 rack rib cook at about 20 degrees outside temperature with no wind and the cook was normal.
John "JR"
Minnesota/ United States of America
******************************************** Grills/Smokers/Fryers Big Green Egg (Large) X3
Blackstone 36" Outdoor Griddle 4-Burner
Burch Barrel V-1 Karubeque C-60 Kamado Joe Jr. (Black) Lodge L410 Hibachi Pit Barrel Cooker Pit Barrel Cooker 2.0
Pit Barrel PBX
R&V Works FF2-R-ST 4-Gallon Fryer *******************************************. Thermometers
FireBoard (Base Package)
Thermoworks ThermaPen (Red)
Thermoworks MK4 (Orange)
********************************* Accessories Big Green Egg Plate Setter
Benzomatic TS800 High Temp Torch X 2 Bayou Classic 44 qt Stainless Stock Pot
Bayou Classic 35K BTU Burner Eggspander Kit X2 Finex Cat Iron Line FireBoard Drive Lots and Lots of Griswold Cast Iron Grill Grates Joule Water Circulator
KBQ Fire Grate Kick Ash Basket (KAB) X4 Lots of Lodge Cast Iron Husky 6 Drawer BBQ Equipment Cabinet Large Vortex Marlin 1894 .44 Magnum Marquette Castings No. 13 (First Run) Smithey No. 12 Smokeware Chimney Cap X 3 Stargazer No.10, 12 ******************************** Fuel FOGO Priemium Lump Charcoal Kingsford Blue and White B&B Charcoal Apple, Cherry & Oak Log splits for the C-60 ************************************************* Cutlery Buck 119 Special
Cuda 7' Fillet Knife Dexter 12" Brisket Sword Global Shun Wusthof ********** Next Major Purchase Lone Star Grillz 24 X 48 Offset
I cook with mine all the time in cold weather. I've cooked with it serval times in sub-zero weather. When it gets down really cold, I will wrap mine with a welding blanket. That keeps it nice and toasty, then it runs much more efficiently.
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