PBC tweaks

[Green Caribou]

So I got a PBC, which is my first dedicated smoker. I've done a few things on it now - ribs, chicken, steak, pork loin roast - and the results have been great! However, it does run hot...even hotter than I expected: 330 +/-. I was surprised to find that the way the vent cover is mounted it cannot be closed any farther to try to adjust (or to kill the fire and save charcoal).
I asked PBC and they pretty much said, "Yup. That's the way it is."

In spite of them telling me I shouldn't use less charcoal because it may not get up to temp, I tried reducing it. It worked fine for the shorter cook time, but didn't really affect the temp.

So far it hasn't ruined anything but timing (the ribs took way less time than PBC's own video suggested. But if I go for something that should generally be lower and slower, like pork butt, is this going to be an issue? Any tips out there to tweak the performance?

[Steve R.]

Pork butt is about the most forgiving cut of meat there is. It will be fine.

[fzxdoc]

If your PBC is consistently running at 330°+ you may possibly have a lid leak. Normally the PBC can peak that high or higher during or right after the lighting process but should settle in to the 275° range relatively quickly, as within half hour to 45 minutes or so if the lid is well secured.

Even a very small leak through the lid seam is enough to send temps skyrocketing, especially at the beginning of the cook.

Check for leaks around the lid. If you see faint smoke wisps, there are a few ways to fix the problem: weighting the lid down with bricks, spraying the inside rim of the lid lip with cooking spray to help gunk it up enough to make a better seal, and/or crimping a strip of aluminum foil around the area of the leak (on the outside of the barrel rim) to seal it up. Any of these actions should help bring the temp into the normal PBC range with is 260 to 290°F or so.

To bring the PBC's temp down you can always plug one or more of the rebar holes with aluminum foil. I've never had to use that method on my PBC, but many people do that until the temps fall into their desired cooking temp range.

The only meat I cook on my PBC in the 330 to 350 or more range is poultry. I wouldn't be comfortable smoking pork butts, briskets, etc. at that temp, although hot 'n fast is a thing now in BBQ circles.

Kathryn

[Green Caribou]

Given the amount of gap around the rods and such I wouldn't think a small lid leak (like the wire for a thermometer) would be enough to make much of a difference. But there is definitely smoke that comes out from the lid.

I was also surprised the vent cover is set up to not be able to close, because restricting the air a little more would be my first thought, as it is on my Weber.

[fzxdoc]

Green Caribou , you are not alone in your thinking that the lower vent cover should act much like the lower vent on a Weber kettle. However, on a PBC, that's not quite the case. The lower vent cover is meant to be set with respect to altitude and then not changed during any given cook. In fact, once set pretty close to the recommended opening size, it does very little to cause temperature changes within the PBC, at least in my experience.

There is a great deal of draw through that barrel, and believe me, a very small lid leak can shoot the PBC temps northwards of 350° in a cook. I speak from experience; I did not have a lid leak until 2 to 3 years after I purchased my PBC and used it heavily. The leak occurred in the area of the barrel seam, so strictly speaking it was not the lid but most likely a small change in the barrel rim circumference that made the difference. I purchased and installed a Lava Loc gasket and the problem of unpredictably high temps went away immediately. My PBC began again to behave more like an appliance with solid temps around 275° throughout much of each cook.

If you are threading your thermometer through the lid/barrel rim area, perhaps you'll want to try sending it through the rebar hole for the next cook and see if you record a difference in your PBC's temps.

HTH,

Kathryn

[Bobmcgahan]

Dumb question, but did you put the gasket on both the barrel and lid or just one of them?

[Polarbear777]

Agree with adding the gasket. I just added it in the lid underside, and that works fine.

To run your wires, instead of running probes under the rim, run then through the rebar holes.

A small lid leak will really make a difference.

[fzxdoc]

What Polarbear777 said, Bobmcgahan. I cleaned the inside of the lid rim well and affixed the gasket into that indentation. Works like a charm.

Kathryn

[Polarbear777]

Here’s a thread with a plot of what you can expect with a gasketed lid. The Plot has stock configuration settings (smoother lines) and thermostatic controller comparisons (variance caused by the controller modulation)

https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/forum/grills-and-smokers/charcoal/pit-barrel-cooker/457459-pbc-calibration-tests

[Spinaker]

I would almost guarantee that the issue is from your lid leaking. I take some PAM or animal fat and put it up on the inside rim of the PBC lid then press it down on the barrel. This will help to create a natural seal as the food cooks. This should solve the problem of the leaking lid. It take a few cooks to get the build up that you need, but once it is built up, you are more than good to go. This has worked on all of my PBCs like a champ.

I also add weight to the lid to help press it down for the first few cooks. This helps to seal the lid while the natural seal is developed.

Even if you don't spray PAM or use animal fat, the lid will naturally build up this seal, all I am trying to do is help it along.

Adding gasket, as others have mentioned, works as well.

[HawkerXP]

I use a couple of bricks on the lid if temp is running high.

[au4stree]

I purchased a used PBC (off CL), the guy claimed he only used it twice. Apparently he won it at some type of raffle. The long an short of it is that I didn't know the history and mine was similar to your cooker, it would initially spike to around 375F + and settle at around 325F +/-. I did in fact have a lid leak and thanks to the threads in here, I was able to fix my problem with a gasket in the lid. My PBC is now cooking as designed. I run my meat probes through the rebar holes.

[pkadare]

Just to clarify here, those of you who have applied a gasket, did you apply it to the "channel" in the lid that sits on the barrel?

[au4stree]

correct, i did some minor cleaning of the seasoning so the felt gasket would stick, but that is where I placed my gasket.

[Polarbear777]

Yes In the channel. I did it first thing when mine was new, so I didn’t have to clean at all first. (I had read a hundred PBC posts on here before getting it so I was prepared).

[RustyHaines]

I agree with fzxdoc and Spinaker. The issue is most likely the lid leak. In my opinion PBC's (although they are not airtight) act kinda' like an airtight wood stove. If you have ever heated your house with a tight wood stove the slightest change in airflow (air intake or combustion exhaust) can make the stove a huffing, puffing super heated chunk of metal or a nicely regulated, pleasant radiating heat source. Seal up the lid and as fzxdoc points out I'm sure your temps will come down.

[Green Caribou]

This is great, folks! Appreciate it.

[Brookie]

Get the gasket and be done with your problem. It is the easiest to do and efficient. To do a hot cook buy some 1/4” or 5/16” steel rods to use in place of the rebar. You will then have a very flexible smoker/cooker. Brookie