There is a rumor going around that PBC is now made in China. I cannot find anything current on where it is made. Their website used to say Made In the USA. Now, there is no info about manufacturing location on their website. Can anyone confirm/debunk this? Besides being veteran and family owned, Made in the USA has been a big selling point. Not that it effects the quality of the cooks, but Inquiring Minds want to know...
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Club Member
- May 2019
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- San Clemente, CA
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Sam
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Originally posted by GolfGeezer View PostThere is a rumor going around that PBC is now made in China. I cannot find anything current on where it is made. Their website used to say Made In the USA. Now, there is no info about manufacturing location on their website. Can anyone confirm/debunk this? Besides being veteran and family owned, Made in the USA has been a big selling point. Not that it effects the quality of the cooks, but Inquiring Minds want to know...
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John "J R"
Instagram: JRBowlsby
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They are not made in the USA. I would assume they are made in China or Mexico, but I am not sure.
(See our review here)
I am sure Noah has gone to great lengths to make sure the quality is still there. I have one of the later models that were made in the USA as well as a couple that were made over seas and I do not notice any difference in quality of performance. Actually the coating on the newer ones is much better, and the barrel is actually more heavy duty than the one I bought back in 2013.
That being said, I certainly understand your desire to have these made in the USA. That is always a selling point for me.
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I contacted PBC and got this response:
Thank you for contacting us. The manufacturing of the Pit Barrel Cooker moved to China more than two years ago. However, we do continue to sell items on our website that are made in the USA. All packaging is labeled appropriately as to where the item was made. We continue to be veteran and family owned. We are very proud to have our largest workforce ever in the USA including customer service, sales, operations, fulfillment, etc. We are also proud to keep our quality high and our price low so that we are able to donate to many domestic organizations that benefit first responders and their families. If you have any other questions about this, please feel free to call.
Kindest regards,
Angie Barlow
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Thanks for the direct story. I can understand their business decision and their efforts to maintain quality. I worked for several high tech companies that had all our manufacturing in mainland China and we made many trips to the contract manufacturer's site, had our own employees there on site all the time in our efforts to control the production of our products. We had some misses, but ours were much more complex, with a number of "downstream" Chinese suppliers to the main one.
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Club Member
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Club Member
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Jim Morris
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I looked into this in my research and hem-hawing around thinking of buying a PBC (haven't yet) or a WSM (nope, not that either!). I am pretty sure that production shifted to China when they went to a porcelain enamel finish and thicker gauge metal on the barrel, several years ago. The ones made in the USA just had a high temp paint. Spinaker mentioned that the finish on the newer ones seemed better, as well as the metal being thicker.
Tariffs required Weber to increase the prices of all their kettles and grills a year ago, PBC is a year behind the curve on the increase. The tariffs affect raw materials such as steel, as well as finished goods coming out of China.
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Club Member
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If you look at the data plate on your barrel it will say Made in the USA if it was made in the USA.
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Club Member
- Jul 2019
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Name: Scott, Chemical Engineer
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Cooking, wine, guitar, golf, beach, board games, travel, herb gardening
Want to get into BBQ and Smoking.
The reality is the barrel is made of steel and is the main cost driver. So companies move supply to where their costs are lower. For all we know, the Made in the USA may only apply to the forming of the barrel in the US and the steel source could still be from overseas. It gets very complicated. Many overseas steel companies also have many owners and investors, some of which are from the US.
What I do like it buying from companies that are either local or US owned to support my local economy.
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Club Member
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To all you flag waving guys, I'm with you. As I'm typing I'm shouting out U...S...A, U....S...A !! Having said that, how many other production items, including bbq cookers, are made in China? Some of it is utter crap but some is quite good as well. Traegar took some grief over moving their production to China but all I ever hear are praises for their units. Unfortunately it's a fact of today's life in this global economy. If you start boycotting Chinese made or sourced goods you may find yourself empty handed as to the alternatives. I don't particularly like that we've sold our souls, but there you have it.
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Club Member
- May 2018
- 1672
- Northern Illinois / Southern Wisconsin
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Weber Kettle 22; Broil King Signet; OKJ Bronco
It's not just about economics, it's also about safety:
On Wednesday, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recalled more than 30,000 units of BSN Sports rubber critter toys because of lead contamination. Despite Congress enacting stronger protections for toys and other children’s products 10 years ago this month due to a rash of China-manufactured lead contaminated toys, some toys with lead paint contamination are still reaching store shelves and getting into kids’ hands.
In recent years, Chinese-made products from toothpaste to drywall have been recalled for containing toxic — even radioactive — chemicals
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These brands can have their grill made in China, boxed up, and shipped back to the US and head straight to retail for less than I can buy my materials. But that says a lot about the quality of materials. As a grill manufacturer it's very frustrating dealing with the high price of materials and high cost of labor compared to these other big brands who can literally have a grill built for $100 or less and retail it for $700 or more.
When I see these brands selling a cooker, all I see is a customer actually buying a cooker that's probably worth a 1/4 or less of the retail price. I am manufacturing cookers that are worth 3/4 of the retail price.
This is exactly why I started manufacturing my own line of grills. I was tired of buying the cheaply made, over priced (for what they are) grills and smokers.
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