So I finally made the decision on a PBC (vs a pellet smoker). There is so much information out there. Where do I start? A co-worker suggesting I do a bunch of pork butts to season the cooker? Do I need to monitor the cooker temperature or just the meat? I don't really feel comfortable modding the cooker to add a hole for a probe (I do not want to mess with the designed air flow)
Since it will arrive on a week day I wont be ablt to do anything until the weekend.
Any suggestions?
Thanks!
I have read a couple of her posts. So much good information. The good thing is I now have time to research a good charcoal before my first cook. I have only been a griller (Weber Summit E470) it will nice learning a new method of cooking.
Congrats on the new PBC. You are going to love it. No need to drill holes for probes as you can feed them through the rebar holes and yes absolutely set up to monitor barrel temp and meat temp. Kingsford blue bag charcoal works just fine and I wouldn't worry about seasoning the barrel per se, but you might want to start with a basic cook of chicken or ribs to get a feel for how the PBC runs.
Last edited by cgrover60; October 9, 2020, 09:22 AM.
I have a PBJ. After reading a lot of posts here, I monitor the temp of the meat only, not the PBJ. I let it "do it’s thing." It runs hotter than a conventional smoker, but I don’t know how much. I’ll check it one of these days out of curiosity, but it really doesn’t matter to the finished product. Use one of the rebar holes for the temp probe for the meat. I like the idea of a pork butt first, but it does a great job on ribs and just about anything else.
As one of our distinguished members will probably say, (but without changing the font as he will), PBC,PBC, PBC!
thanks for information. I currently can monitor the meat only so this is good advice. I need to save up for a monitor with multiple probes. I think this will be fun...
My toys:
Weber Summit Charcoal Grilling Center (WSCGC) aka Mr. Fancypants
Pit Barrel Cooker (which rocks), named Pretty Baby
Weber Summit S650 Gas Grill, named Hot 'n Fast (used mostly for searing and griddling)
Weber Kettle Premium 22" named Kettle Kid, eager to horn in with more cooks in the future
Camp Chef Somerset IV 4-burner outdoor gas range named AfterBurner due to its 30kBTU burners
Adrenaline BBQ Company Gear:
SnS Low Profile, DnG, and Large Charcoal Basket, for WSCGC
SnS Deluxe for 22" Kettle
Elevated SS Rack for WSCGC
SS Rack for DnG
Cast Iron Griddle
Grill Grate for SnS
Grill Grates: five 17.375 sections (retired to storage)
Grill Grates: six 19.25 panels for exact fit for Summit S650
gasser
Grill Grates for 22" Kettle
2 Grill Grate Griddles
Steelmade Griddle for Summit gas grill
Fireboard Gear:
Extreme BBQ Thermometer Package
Additional control unit
Additional probes: Competition Probes 1" (3) and 4" (1), 3 additional Ambient Probes. 1 additional Food Probe
2 Driver Cables
Pit Viper Fan (to pair with Fireboard Fan Driver Cable)
Pit Viper Fan new design (to pair with Fireboard Fan Driver Cable)
Thermoworks Gear:
Thermapen MK4 (pink)
Thermapen Classic (pink too)
Thermoworks MK4 orange
Temp Test 2 Smart Thermometer
Extra Big and Loud Timer
Timestick Trio
Maverick ET 73 a little workhorse with limited range
Maverick ET 733
Maverick (Ivation) ET 732
Grill Pinz
Vortex (two of them)
18" drip pan for WSCGC
Ceramic Spacers for WSCGC in Kamado Mode: 2 sets each 1/2", 1", 2". The 2" spacers work best with the 18" drip pan. The 1+1/2 inch spacers work best with the 14 inch cake pan.
Two Joule Sous Vide devices
3 Lipavi Sous Vide Tubs with Lids: 12, 18 and 26 quarts
Avid Armor Ultra Pro V32 Chamber Sealer
Instant Pot 6 Quart Electric Pressure Cooker
Instant Pot 10 Quart Electric Pressure Cooker
Charcoal Companion TurboQue
A-Maze-N tube 12 inch tube smoker accessory for use with pellets
BBQ Dragon and Dragon Chimney
Shun Classic Series:
8" Chef Knife
6" Chef's Knife
Gokujo Boning and Fillet Knife
3 1/2 inch Paring Knife
You're going to love cooking on that PBC, Kascon11 . The minute you get it set up, it's ready to go--no seasoning necessary. You can literally pull it out of the box, pour some charcoal in the basket, light it up, and start cooking.
To echo what others have said, just get a bag of Kingsford Original charcoal, light your cooker and throw some meat on.
For a quick introduction and a quick first cook, I always recommend starting with hanging a chicken the way that Noah shows on the PBC website on this video:
You should always keep an eye on the meat temperature. Cooking by time alone on the PBC is risky because it depends on how hot you got your fire during the lighting process and where the PBC temp settles.
About monitoring the PBC's temperature: I prefer monitoring the PBC temperature by hanging the ambient probe off the rebar a few inches away from the meat at the mid-level of the meat because it helps me to gauge future cook times. Everybody hates having a hungry family staring us down, wanting to know when the 'Q will be ready.
Just make sure all temperature probes are threaded through the rebar hole. Keeping the lid tight as possible is essential on a PBC so you don't get runaway temperatures.
Have fun with your new PBC! Let us know how your cooks go.
I am getting ready for my first cook. I have dry brined the chicken set it over night uncovered in the refrigerator. The only issue i have is when i cut the back out I also cut the thigh or the leg as it is not attached any more. I am going to attempt to cook half on the grill and hand the other half. I will monitor the temp of the half on the grill and spot check the hanging one. I hope this turns out OK. Thanks for the tips.
too late to change now. I am not ruling out a future purchase of a pellet smoker. Just want a charcoal unit (so I can still cook without being dependent on electricity or Propane or natural gas). Thanks!
Everything Kathryn said. She guided me and answered my questions prior to my purchase. Chicken is indeed a great start because it's instant gratification. But cook all of the meats! You'll get a feel for it. When I have it going for something else, I will sometimes throw a steak on for an hour - the fam loves smoked steak! Thanks to this group, I just picked up the Fireboard 2 and pit viper fan so I can sleep soundly while a brisket smokes away.
Congrats! You’ll get used to it fairly quick. Just be careful with the peeking as even a min with the lid off and the temp will jump.
As far as monitoring the cooker temps, it’s not strictly necessary as you aren’t chasing some magical number but I like to do so most of the time just to make sure it’s working well and nothing catastrophic happened. This is mostly on longer cooks. For shorter cooks I don’t bother with it.
Congrats on your PBC!! You're going to love it. Looking forward to seeing your cooks.
The biggest thing, I would say, is getting it lit. Follow the directions on the sticky.
Second biggest thing is making sure it's not leaking under the lid. You might want to spray it with cooking spray to help gunk it up a little.
I'd definitely either do a pork butt or chickens first. Pork butt is pretty forgiving. Chickens do fine at higher temps. This way, if your new PBC leaks a little, and your temps go up, you should be ok.
Welcome to the Barrelhead Club! Yes, as stated above. Starting your PBC correctly is the most important thing to get consistent cooking temps. Now the temps your barrel will likely want to run at is 270ish with rebar in. Remove one rebar for poultry cooking and it will go up into the 340ish range. Relax and have fun! PBC, PBJ, PBC!
LSG Adjustable Grill/Smoker, MAK Pellet Grill, Large BGE with Several Attachments from the Ceramic Grill Store, Weber Gasser, Cast Iron Pans & Griddle, Grill Grates, Mostly Thermoworks Thermometers, Avova SV Stick, BBQ Guru Controller and Fan
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