How long for temps to "settle in"

[DurhamBuckeye]

I'm a newbie on the PBC, working on my 3rd cook right now. I'm wondering if some of you could chime in and share how long it takes for the PBC to settle into it's regular cooking temperature after it hits it's initial temp spike at the beginning of the cook.

Right now, my lid's a bit leaky unless I really work to get the perfect fit, and I'm hoping that'll change as I get a grease buildup after several cooks. But today I struggled to get a good fit & it took 45 minutes to settle in. Just wondering if that's typical.

Thanks.

[MBMorgan]

Right now, my lid's a bit leaky unless I really work to get the perfect fit, and I'm hoping that'll change as I get a grease buildup after several cooks. But today I struggled to get a good fit & it took 45 minutes to settle in. Just wondering if that's typical.

Very typical ... especially with a clean new PBC. You can speed up the grease buildup process by spraying the rim of the lid with a little cooking spray.

[DurhamBuckeye]

Thanks. I've been spraying the lip of the lid with cooking spray with every cook, as I had seen that mentioned on here.

It seems like the answer to most problems/worries on here is "Don't worry about it, let the PBC do its thing". I thought that's probably the case here, too.

[kill2grill]

Mine is well seasoned and it's still normal for about 45 minutes to an hour for it to settle in.

[DurhamBuckeye]

Great, thanks

[jecucolo]

Yeah 45 minutes is about right.

[Huskee]

I still haven't figured it out, my PBC cooks are even less precise and predictable than my stickburner but it sounds like the pros have reached a consensus.

[fzxdoc]

Sounds like you've got a feisty PBC.

K.

[mountainsmoker]

That's a bummer. Maybe a reason to look at the new Oklahoma Joe barrel smoker for the same price. My Weber Kettle settles in, in 15 minutes with my DigiQ. Provides just as good Q maybe not as much, but I don't need as much for the wife and I or 10 friends.

[fzxdoc]

I'm assuming you mean the time it takes to settle into its sweet spot after you add the meat? Like others have mentioned here, 30 to 45 min is about right for my PBC. Usually more like 30 min. Depends on how much meat I add.

While you're waiting for your lid rim to gunk up enough to seal the lid leaks, try crimping a strip of heavy duty aluminum foil on the outside of the rim area, covering the lid and barrel lip together with the piece of foil in the area of the leak. That will bring the temp right into line.

A PBC lid leak can cause a lot of temp stability issues, especially at the beginning of a cook.

Kathryn

[DurhamBuckeye]

Great tip with the foil. Thanks!

[jfmorris]

I don't have a PBC, but smoke on a kettle and an offset. Don't sweat exact temperatures so much for when you put the meat on. If its stabilizing in 45 minutes, that's pretty good.

[JeffJ]

I follow Kathryn's lighting instructions verbatim. It usually settles in 10-15 minutes after putting the meat in. This past Saturday I got up at the crack of dawn to fire it up. I was cooking some short ribs and pork belly strips for a taco bar lunch and was figuring on them taking about 6 hours. Well, the PBC had them done in under 3 hours and they were properly cooked. I had to wrap and hold the meat until lunch.
fzxdoc

[FishTalesNC]

If I'm lighting it for a long cook like pork butts (as opposed to running it hot for poultry) using the 15/10/10 method mine is pretty darn consistent starting around 350F and gradually falling to 265F over the first 2 hours. Then the fall becomes even more gradual and it'll go another hour or two above 255F. At that point I'm usually doing something - taking the lid off to check the meat, cracking the lid to bring temps back up, whatever it may be. My experience seems different from the others mentioned here, but I've watched the ambient temp often enough without tweaking things to feel confident in this behavior in my PBC. I also don't sweat the temp UNLESS I'm cooking poultry - I just let it do what it wants to do and it cranks out great food. I think I'd go insane if I tried to micromanage it like I was when I was learning on my kettle. Trust in the PBC...

[DurhamBuckeye]

Thanks all. I don't stress too much about all of this because the PBC has been putting some really good food. But since I'm still new at it, this is helpful to know what to expect.

[fzxdoc]

Yup, that's the thing about the PBC, DurhamBuckeye . Even if the cook doesn't go as planned, the food almost always tastes great.

I used to tinker a lot with the temp, wanting the PBC to run like an appliance: steady temp. Once I started using 2 ambient probes several years back to monitor the PBC temp on either side of the barrel, I found that the temp readings between the two probes can differ by as much as 40° or more during a cook. So I began to look at the average of the two readings and found that the PBC runs pretty steady. So mostly it's hands off for me unless I'm cooking poultry and want the temps north of 350°.

Kathryn

[DurhamBuckeye]

Thanks. And I have to say thanks for all of the other info you've contributed to this forum. They were really helpful when I was trying to decide if PBC was right for me.

I use your lighting method & it has been great. I believe you said you don't cook chicken & ribs together, because you like to cook the chicken at higher temps. I used to do them together, but never again. The chicken on the PBC was the best I've ever made. It's my wife's favorite, so your tip is much appreciated!

[fzxdoc]

You're quite welcome, DurhamBuckeye . Happy to help.

Kathryn

[HawkerXP]

After 3 years with PBC I still on occasion need to put a couple of bricks on the lid.

[Green Caribou]

We are in the same boat apparently. Seems to run hot, but so far the results are hard to argue with (with a lot less handholding than my Weber kettle.)

[Huskee]

I ran mine again this past Friday at the campground, first time in a while. I would say I too agree with the 45 minute statements. I used the grate (forgot my meat hooks ) so no room for the re-rods to be inserted, and had to plug the 4 holes about 75-90% each with foil to keep it at ~290 but it held like a champ all day.