PBC versus BHC

[tenphases]

I have had a Pitbarrel cooker for years. I was an early adopter and I have the original powder coat version. I love this cooker but holding temps is not as advertised in my experience. I'm constantly cracking and uncracking the lid, adding and removing rebar. Following fxzdoc has helped this dilemma but it still exist. But I didn't care because it produces a great flavor and its just a terrific product made by good people. If my PBC ever goes down I'm buying another one

Then it happened, I saw a barrel house cooker on clearance for 90 bucks. I know the whole story. They are a vacuum cleaner company and vaccum cleaners suck (stole that joke). They copied the pbc.....etc. But thats over now and PBC won. So I bought it and I put her through the paces. The food taste exactly the same but the set it and forget it promise is true. I lit it and walked away for 7 hours then lifted the base and refueled, six more hours. I really like this cooker and am shocked by how easy it is to use. Side note the pbc will last longer it feels like its made better.

[Mr. Bones]

I appreciate th personal experience, side by side review, good an useful info...

[TheQuietOne]

Yeah, I've found the same thing. I have a PBC and my dad has a BHC. They both have their strengths and weaknesses and in the end, it's about a wash. The vent on the PBC is just bad and is in serious need of what should be a fairly simple redesign. BHC's vent is better. The H-frame on the BHC works better than the rebar too. But the accessories on the PBC are, IMO, much better thought out. The turkey hanger on BHC is weird and cheaply made. The PBC's is easy to use and works great. The rest of BHC's are usually out of stock so dad usually buys PBCs accessories which are easily adapted. Finish on PBC is far superior. You really can't go wrong with either though.

[Uncle Bob]

Thanks for a frank side by side, real use rather than speculation, report. Someone on here made the observation a while ago about the existence of "tribal" loyalty for any number of products, cooking styles, materials, and so forth. There is an enormous amount of "tribal" loyalty to PBC around here...…………...….and that's not a criticism. It's clear MH has a strong affinity for the owner of PBC, and it's contagious. The guy has a good personal story and appears to run his business with passion and commitment. I hadn't given much thought to this style of cooker before becoming a member here and got motivated by the commentary bandied about. Ironically, it was some of the kludge comments/advice that had me doing a comparison to the BHC. From my point of view the fuel reload ease/capability, the "insulated" handles, the lid hanger, the H rack versatility rather than rebar, and the already designed in ability to raise the coals to the mid level were enough to sway me toward BHC. The two frequent "hate" (probably a bit strong) comments toward BHC are that they "ripped off" the design, and that they "lost" in the infringement legal battle. As good as it is, the PBC is hardly a novel innovation, drawing largely on the pre-existing experiences of the UBS world, more evolution than revolution. And BHC has folded in enough differences that I think they may have come to a stalemate had they pursued the legal fight. It's easy to see how folks read the settlement as a loss, BHC is making royalty payments to PBC. However, to anyone who's been involved more directly in such legal machinations, settlements like this one come about more because of the cost of litigation vs. royalty payments, rather than who was right and who was wrong. All that being said, it comes down to personal choice and how analytical someone is willing to be that steers personal preferences.

As a shout out to PBC I just opened a box of accessories I bought from them. BHC had a sale going last week on some of their accessories but after accepting my order they sent an email stating that they'd sold out on some of the items I wanted (as it happens they were the ones of most importance to me), and they had credited my card and were going to send the items they did have. I wrote back that I would prefer they back ordered the short items and send them when back in stock. They wrote back that they weren't going to restock those items, though that seemed odd since they were obviously popular enough to be sold out. Was that their way of not "losing" money on newer inventory? Who knows? Upshot is, I have little patience for vendors that give lame appearing excuses so I cancelled the entire order and ordered the equivalents from PBC, even though they weren't on sale. While I personally place higher value on some of the features the BHC offers, I very much appreciate the "smoother" business transaction I had with PBC as regards this particular transaction.

[tenphases]

Thanks for the royalty versus litigation/winning v losing thoughts, interesting perspective.

[Mark V]

I have had problems holding temps on the pbc also, especially after about 3 hours. I put something under the fire grate to reaise it up a couple inches and didn't have low temp problems anymore. It was more stable, still not perfect.

[fzxdoc]

What a good post, tenphases , thank you. I love using my PBC and have no intention of looking for another similarly-designed barrel. I'm with you when you said "If my PBC ever goes down, I'm buying another one."

That said, it's still good to know the strengths and weaknesses of both companies' products from your first-hand experience, expressed in a fair and impartial way. That's a feature here on The Pit that keeps me coming back--fair-minded people giving good assessments. Sure every now and then there is the more negative, biased comment, but hey, that's just human nature--we all express our views differently.

I have long wished that PBC would sell a lid with a vent on it as an option/accessory. I agree that managing the PBC temp with a top vent would likely settle the temps down much of the time for those of us who want to follow barrel temps. Many people here have done that and report good results.

And there are still many folks here who set and forget with the PBC for every single cook and are happy with the results. I wish I could be one of them, but I guess I'm just not wired that way. To each his/her own.

Kathryn

[tenphases]

I've thought about modding it with a chimney stack but I'm terrified of screwing it up lol. It was a gift from mom so I have to keep it in good shape!

[Surly Viking]

I really want a Weber Summit Charcoal to go with my Genesis gasser. But the more I read about these barrel thingies and the lower cost, I think may have to get one. How do they work in 10 degree temps in MN in January? Anyone have experience with that? Looking at both PBC and BHC right now.

[tenphases]

Lol sorry man but whenever it gets that cold I use my kamado. That being said, your used to that weather so tending the flame might be ok for you but personally, under your circumstances, I would go with the Weber Summit.

[RobertC]

You can buy a lot of welding blankets for the difference in price between a PBC/BHC and a charcoal Summit.

[TheQuietOne]

I use mine in Wisconsin. I usually just open the damper a smidge more and have no problem holding temperature. It does condense on the inside quite a bit more, but that hasn't been a problem.