First PBC Cook -- And How It Saved Me From Myself

[Michael_in_TX]

Wow, I did so many things sub-optimally and it still turned out great ribs!

Okay, so I really wanted to use it and tomorrow's weather is forecast to be terrible. So this morning I picked up two slabs of St. Louis cut ribs from HEB. Both (and their entire lot) were essentially still partially frozen. (oh dear, have I learned nothing?)

Just prior to lighting up the PBC for the first time, I prepped the ribs. I removed the membrane and trimmed both. One I seasoned with the PBC Beef and Game rub and the other with Aaron Franklin's rib rub (pepper, salt, garlic & onion powder, chili powder, and paprika). At this point parts of the ribs were still a bit frozen, yet pliable.

I lit the PBC exactly as they tell you to: vent 1/4 open, fill basket, take 40 coals out, light in PBC chimney for 12 minutes, pour in, add rebar, add food.

I added the ribs, closed the lid, and walked away, intending to check on them in an hour. Temps gradually rose to about 320-330 during that first hour. As expected, it was running a bit hot.



(Humorous aside: About 30 minutes in, I realized that last night during the unpacking, I never saw the hook tool. I looked around. I simply can't find it. It must not have been in the box. No problem, one strangely-frantic Home Depot trip on Black Friday later, I quickly fabricated two of my own: )

It was now 90 minutes into the cook. I decided to check on the ribs. Wow, the meat had already pulled back from the bone on both -- on the parts that were not partially frozen. Sigh.) I thought 90 minutes would have been really early to pull ribs, so I let them go until the two hour mark. Annoyingly, now my temps were rising in the 350-370 range. I nudged the vent to 1/8 open, and it knocked the temp down to around 360.

At two hours, I pulled both ribs. The Texas style one was nearly done and exceptionally tender when I probed it with my Thermopop. I sauced the B&G rub (with KC Masterpiece Classic) and put both sets back on, intending to go just 20 more minutes.

Here is where things go really, uh, suboptimal. As I turn to go back inside, I hear a light "thump." I quizzically look at the PBC and notice a puff of smoke come out from the vent. Interesting. It takes me a moment to realize what just happened. Yep, lifting the lid, there is a lone little hook swinging all by itself where the Texas ribs are supposed to be. I don my welder's glove and lift the fallen ribs out. Thankfully, they mostly fell outside the charcoal basket.

I put the lid back on and dust off the little bit of ash that got on the Texas ribs. Unfortunately, my temps go crazy at this point going 450-460 degrees! I don't want the sauce to burn, so I pull the B&G ribs and the sauce is significantly caramelized.

Even with all of that, these are the best ribs I have ever cooked in my life. And they aren't even close to perfect. Only about 1/2 of each slab was the desired tenderness, due to my haste in using partially frozen ribs. Also, as some of you warned, the B&G rub is very salty. I also over-salted the Texas-style ribs, too. Still, wow these were so good. And the PBC flavor....it is hard to describe....it's grilled, but something much more. (Oh and the smell as these cooked, it is exquisite.)

For the parts of the ribs that were perfectly cooked.....exquisitely tender, good pork flavor, complemented by a bit of bark. Which did I like better? For me, the sauced one. For me, even in Texas, pork needs some sweetness.

Texas-Style:



B&G Sauced:



So things I will do differently next time:

• Use fully defrosted meat (sigh....lol).
• Go easy on the rubs; it is not a brisket.
• Have some foil plugs at the ready in case my temps get away from me.
• Keep that lid on as much as possible! Arrange things such that the lid is off for the least amount of time possible.
• Double-hook all meats.

One interesting observation. I didn't use any wood smoke. The ribs didn't need it. So there you go, my first cook on the PBC. With as crazy as it got, these ribs turned out better than any ribs I have ever cooked on the Weber kettle!

[Byrang]

I also dropped a rack on my first cook, ironically they were the best of the bunch! It’s fun learning to cook on the PBC, I’ve go two whole cooks on it... still learning

[Greygoose]

U can not fail with the PBC !!!!!
My first cook was SL ribs and baby backs
lost one rack off the hook and they were,,,delicious
they were thawed out
ribs,chicken, brisket ,,,all good

[Red Man]

Nicely done! I had my first rack fall also...but not in the PBC. I took it out to sauce it. When I was lifting it off the sheet pan to put back in the PBC, it luckily fell back into the sheet pan. My PBC was running hot so they got done much faster than expected.

You’ll get it dialed in soon and temps will stay very stable.

[surfdog]

Nice...and if they fall off again, just remember that "charred & scruffed" is a thing. ;-)

[Polarbear777]

Couple ideas
1. Install a gasket in the lid. Seems to help keep things under control better. You could wait until it gets gunked up, or try to bend the lid to fit tighter but for $20 you’ll never have to deal with lid issues again.
2. Triple hook all rib racks. I did lose partial racks at first and haven’t since tripling up.

[RonB]

Congrats on a successful cook.

[Michael_in_TX]

Yeah, definitely going to double-up on hooks for hanging stuff. I'm also very curious to try Kathryn's 15-10-10 method (or 10-10-10 adapted for my altitude, sea level). One thing she does differently than the PBC method is waiting, essentially, 20 minutes before adding the food. I noticed that when I poured the lit coals onto the unlit ones, you are met instantly with a thick cloud of white smoke from the unlit coals just beginning to light. This is probably a bit much of that for the food.

I also want to get one of those long tongs that are designed for moving charcoal around. Even being careful trying to pour the lit coals in the basket, they were not all that evenly distributed. I noticed during the cook that the left side of the basket -- where most of the coals fell -- was far more lit than the other side (as would make sense).

My current plan is to do several runs of chicken thighs (cheap, tolerant of high temps) while I get the hang of this thing. (Also lets me use the grate, which will at least get me a consistent height for my temp probe.)

Another accessory I am thinking of picking up is one of those dutch oven lifters. That would allow me to remove the charcoal basket (once the coals have burned down to a safe level) and move it over to the grill of my Weber Kettle and put the lid on and snuff it out, allowing me to shut down faster and get the cover on the PBC.

[Mark V]

Be careful about moving charcoal around when you have meat in the PBC. I have had ash swirl around and coat the meat.

[Michael_in_TX]

Absolutely! I meant that I'd re-arrange the charcoal before putting any meat on.

[Duanessmokedmeats]

That just adds more to the BBQ taste...

[Michael_in_TX]

While waiting for the coals to extinguish, I ran across some of the threads on here about lid leaks. When putting the cover on my PBC this evening I took a close look at how the lid fits. It seems to fit fine, but then, so does my Weber Kettle's lid and that thing leaks like crazy. I can see how the rebar holes venting could easily mask some lid leaks.

I don't think I want to go down the full gasket route. (I'm just sure I would muck it up trying to put a gasket on a round object.) But, next cook I do plan on using two bricks wrapped in cloth or foil atop the lid. When I pressed down on the lid with gentle pressure, there was a little bit of give. Moreover, the lid slides around atop the barrel a decent amount. Weighing the lid down certainly won't hurt, albeit it detracts a bit from the convenience (but it works best we few lid lifts anyway, I suppose).

[holehogg]

And some muscle building excercise ☺

[Polarbear777]

Self stick heat proof nomex gaskets are easy. Clean grease off the surface and Peel and stick. It’s like felt tape with a sticky back. I put them on my kettles etc also.

here’s just one example.
LavaLock® 1/2" x 1/8" High Temp Nomex BBQ HT Gasket Smoker Seal, self Stick Grey https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JO00S04..._oyE4DbCF7E2P3

[adamcoe]

+1 for sealing the lid. Won't absolutely make it ultra leakproof but is still definitely an improvement. My particular barrel came with nomex tape already on the lid, but I bought some for my kettle and it definitely helps. Cheap and easy to do.

Oh and definitely double hook ribs. I always do for spares at least...baby backs usually aren't heavy enough to worry about them falling but sometimes I'll even double it up on those just cause why not. Sounds like a great cook!

[bep35]

I kept expecting to hear that the hook tool was in the PBC and was what gave it that smokey goodness. If you contact PBC they would probably send you a tool NC.

[Michael_in_TX]

lol....yes, before putting the charcoal basket in I spent a long gaze looking around the interior of the barrel, thinking I had just foolishly missed it.

[Michael_in_TX]

Next weekend, if the weather holds, I plan on doing some South Carolina-style (i.e. mustard) BBQ chicken thighs. I'll try Kathryn's 10-10-10 method and the grill grate. (The grill grate will allow me to put the temp probe in a steady place, rather than just hanging down one side of the barrel. Also will weight down the lid.

In true scientific fashion, I will change too many variables at once.

[Alabama Smoke]

I found that after a half dozen or so cooks, my barrel started cooking quite a few degrees cooler. I think its because gunking up the lid and barrel insides tends to reduce reflected heat as well as help seal the lid to the barrel. Also, if excess heat is a problem, try loading up the cooker with more meat. I smoked 4 large chickens (more like the size of chicken hens), Thanksgiving to go with the ham my wife did in the oven inside. I used 12 hooks to hold it all and the cooker was stuffed! Problems initially with getting up to temp, but cracking the lid got me above 300 easily. This is added as an additional thought for you in addition to some of the earlier comments. I totally agree that tight lid placement is crucial to keeping temps down. Keep it up, you will get much better soon. And as you have already found out, that darned barrel will save your a**s most of the time. Its a great cooker.

[Michael_in_TX]

Yep, I am hoping that once the "gunk" starts happening, I'd be able to dispense with the weighting down the lid with bricks. Looking forward to cooking with it again this weekend!