Hi all,
Just bought a PBC last weekend after years of using a ProQ. I have the ProQ figured out to the point where I can get it going and then do essentially nothing for the next 8-10 hours apart from maybe top up the water. I went to the PBC for the bigger capacilty, as even in rib racks I was quite limited trying to do larger cooks (I only have the small one). Anyway, bought the Kingsford Standard for the first cook, and things worked a treat. The ribs were ready much quicker than in the ProQ due to the higher temp, but they turned out great.
Anyway, here in Australia the Kingsford is very expensive compared to our local Heat Beads brand, and to be honest, Heat Beads burn hotter and far longer. For my second cook (a small 4lb brisket) I used Heat Beads but only lit 30, and it seemed to work fine. Last night I tried doing doing 2 chickens and lit the 30 Head Beads, but it took forever. I had also used fewer unlit briquettes in the basket, as I thought it would be a shorter cook. I entually took them off after 4 hours, but the PBC didn't seem to come to temp unless I had the lid cracked. Probably something about the lower thermal mass.
Anyway, all of this makes me realise that the PCB is quite sensitive to fuel type and volume, which is a bit of a bummer when the Kingsford is an imported 'boutique' brand over here. Next time I am going to test the Heat Beads by using a full basket and lighting 40. I anticipate it will run way too hot, but I need to start from there and work back.
Anyway, I thought I'd post this so that the next Aussie trying to do the same at least has a reference point, as I could find no threads on the net discussing this. The PBC is very rare over here.
Matt
Just bought a PBC last weekend after years of using a ProQ. I have the ProQ figured out to the point where I can get it going and then do essentially nothing for the next 8-10 hours apart from maybe top up the water. I went to the PBC for the bigger capacilty, as even in rib racks I was quite limited trying to do larger cooks (I only have the small one). Anyway, bought the Kingsford Standard for the first cook, and things worked a treat. The ribs were ready much quicker than in the ProQ due to the higher temp, but they turned out great.
Anyway, here in Australia the Kingsford is very expensive compared to our local Heat Beads brand, and to be honest, Heat Beads burn hotter and far longer. For my second cook (a small 4lb brisket) I used Heat Beads but only lit 30, and it seemed to work fine. Last night I tried doing doing 2 chickens and lit the 30 Head Beads, but it took forever. I had also used fewer unlit briquettes in the basket, as I thought it would be a shorter cook. I entually took them off after 4 hours, but the PBC didn't seem to come to temp unless I had the lid cracked. Probably something about the lower thermal mass.
Anyway, all of this makes me realise that the PCB is quite sensitive to fuel type and volume, which is a bit of a bummer when the Kingsford is an imported 'boutique' brand over here. Next time I am going to test the Heat Beads by using a full basket and lighting 40. I anticipate it will run way too hot, but I need to start from there and work back.
Anyway, I thought I'd post this so that the next Aussie trying to do the same at least has a reference point, as I could find no threads on the net discussing this. The PBC is very rare over here.
Matt
Comment