Pulled Pork / work in progress

[ByTor]

Haven’t been able to get Kingsford Professional so still using original. PBC doesn’t seem to hold temps like others experience. Work in progress. Excuse the scribble.

[ByTor]

My temps continually drop and it took removing both rebar to keep it steady in the 250 range. 5 hours the coals were toast. I need to try different charcoal I guess and use the remainder for chickens and short cooks. Lid is sealed. No wind. Not sure what else to do, LOL.

it cracks me up to see people talking about them running hot or not being able get temp’s down.

[jpsep]

Could be ambient temperature and elevation of your location. I’ve had good luck mixing Jealous Devil with Kingsford. Cooks hot and forms less ash. I also frequently use the Fireboard in conjunction with a fan.

[rickgregory]

Try to find some of the B&B briquettes. They seem too last way longer than KBB in my kettle.

[Red Man]

If I’m doing a long PBC cook, I overfill the basket. Fill it as full as you can get it.

[fzxdoc]

Gosh, it would drive me nutz if the PBC continued to drop in temp throughout a cook. In my experience, the PBC holds temp well for several hours at 250 to 290 ish until I have to crack the lid to do a Texas Crutch at 180ish meat temp. Then the magic is gone and I have to keep an eye on the temps from there on out. Fortunately that's only for an hour or two.

As I often say, the key is in getting a good light. Forget the formulas--do what is best for your PBC. For some types of charcoal, for example, I have to do a 20-10-10. For others, 10-10-10 is almost too much. The trick is to find the formula that ignites the coals so that they do their own thing, reliably and well.

A lot of folks swear by using lighter fluid. I've never done that, but can surmise that lighter fluid is the Great Leveler, especially for charcoal that may have been stored in more humid conditions. Just a thought.

Kathryn

[jfmorris]

Now, here's a question for you PBC users, and the whisperer fzxdoc Kathryn....

I noticed that he says he started with 40 coals that were ashed over. In my experience with my Weber kettles, if I wait for all thge coals to be fully ashed over in the chimney, I've lost about half the cook. I wait for the top of the chimney to START being ashed over on the corners of the coals, and there to be no smoke, and clean flames. I then dump it into the kettle. If I wait for everything to be fully ashed over, the full chimney has compacted to about 2/3 of a chimney, as the coals have burned up that much.

So, could he be waiting too long to dump his coals in, and be losing a ton of thermal energy?

[TripleB]

Me too. I utilize the same process in my chimney.

[Red Man]

I don’t let the coals ash over. I follow the PBC lighting instructions, which work great for me. I light three small starter cubes under the PBC chimney with 40 coals. Wait 12 minutes, then dump in the basket and spread out somewhat evenly then add 3 or 4 wood chunks. After 12 minutes the top coals might be just starting light at the corners. Give it 5-10 minutes and then add the food. Temps typically stabilize between 250 and 270 and hold there for many hours, typically until I need to open the lid at which point the temp rises.

[fzxdoc]

I don't let the coals ash over either. I let the chimney go until the topmost coals just begin to ash over, usually in the corners of the top briquettes. That's how I wrote the lighting instructions on the PBC sticky.

You're right, jfmorris , letting the chimney burn too long can often cause the PBC to miss its sweet spot for the cook without additional manipulation.

Kathryn

[jfmorris]

I suspected as much, glad for the confirmation.

[Polarbear777]

If you have access to a denser fuel like B&B char logs you can get a lot more time. Still use briquettes in the chimney to start. I also stack-overfill the basket.

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

[Red Man]

Char logs are awesome in the PBC! I’ve gotten 16 hours at 250-270 using them.

[Soonerpop]

I had the same problem with long cooks with my PBJ. I don’t let them ash over completely and maximize the amount of charcoal by double stacking it precisely as pictured. I also use Weber charcoal since I think it burns longer, although I think it’s been discontinued. Took care of it for pork butts and briskets.

[bbqLuv]

I don't have that problem with a pellet grill, but I decided not to.

[HawkerXP]

"Vented lid to 375*" ? Not sure what you mean. You left the lid off or cracked until 375*?

I only use the Kingsford Pro for poultry cooks.

I believe your starting temp is to low if it was 316* just as you closed the lid. Probe to close to the cold meat?
I don't really time anything except after inserting basket with lit 40 coals spread out. I set alarm for 10 min as I don't want to let it run away with the lid off. If I see the startup smoke is gone I put the lid on no matter how long its been. (6 min yesterday) I put rebar in as I insert the meat. Temp will climb up into the high 300s + and will slowly come on down to the 270s. Now a days I don't even pay attention pit to temp for the first 30 min. Good luck and don't despair. PBC, PBC, PBC!

[HawkerXP]

You don't say where you live. I see your vent is quite a bit open. Here in northern VA I can run mine closed. Have you tested your pit probe with the icy and boiling water check?

[ByTor]

Ohio. I haven't tried full opening or closing vent. Added the coalsand let it go about 10 minutes uncovered. Then added the pork on the grate and covered for about 10. Temp was below 300 so I cracked the lid till it got to 375 and then closed which got me to the starting time 8:45. 9:05 was 316. I was hoping it would settle at 270. I also tried moving the temp probe, lol. It's nuts. only thing I can think left is the charcoal.

[HawkerXP]

That is what I was trying to say. If the coals are ready and you put the meat on, close it up, the temps should climb into the high 300's.
Set the vent as per PBC and don't mess with it.

[ByTor]

Now, here's a question for you PBC users, and the whisperer fzxdoc Kathryn....

I noticed that he says he started with 40 coals that were ashed over. In my experience with my Weber kettles, if I wait for all thge coals to be fully ashed over in the chimney, I've lost about half the cook. I wait for the top of the chimney to START being ashed over on the corners of the coals, and there to be no smoke, and clean flames. I then dump it into the kettle. If I wait for everything to be fully ashed over, the full chimney has compacted to about 2/3 of a chimney, as the coals have burned up that much.

So, could he be waiting too long to dump his coals in, and be losing a ton of thermal energy?

The reason I went longer is because of this problem. I was thinking I never let things get initially hot enough so I let the basket get really cooked and added it. Same results.

I also was wondering if wind was the culprit so I moved it and there was no wind to speak of.

I also thought it was a bad batch of charcoal so I bought a new bag. I even checked my thermometers.

Got me?? I think my initial burn and temps probably led to the coals not lasting. The mind gets fuzzy so I decided to take notes and see if anything stood out. It eventually settled in the 250 range which works, but everyone seems to run a lot hotter. That takes me removing both rebar.

The bright side is none of this seems to be effecting the outcome, lol. The pulled pork was amazing LOL

[jfmorris]

As long as the results were good, no arguments from me!

I can see why you are puzzled as to your temperatures running lower than other users report for the PBC. And, the design of the PBC makes refueling mid-cook a little more challenging than on my offset or Weber kettle, for sure. 250 works for me on a kettle or offset, but with the PBC, that lower temp keeps it from finishing the job and being the "magic barrel" it is supposed to be.

I am sure folks here will help you sort it out.

[fzxdoc]

I'd take 250° on my PBC any day.

K.

[mnavarre]

Well, you should be getting more than 5.5 hours of burn time so somethings going on, but maybe not what you think. I've noticed when a big hunk of meat hits the stall range the pit temp will drop. My last butt cook on Junior it ran around 275 until the meat hit 140 or so then the pit temp dropped down to 240ish and stayed there until the meat hit 180 and then the temp popped right back up to 275. It didn't really stall, it went from 140-180 pretty steadily over a couple of hours, but I think once it hits that range the meat starts really pumping out a bunch of moisture and either lowers the pit temp or makes it look like it does. Looking at your notes it looks like that might be what's going on. That first couple hours looks like a pretty typical PBC temp curve, so I wonder if just letting it ride might have gotten you through.

[ByTor]

Interesting. Could be. It does it with stuff like chicken as well though. I was thinking I wasn't getting it hot enough to start but maybe that was then and the temp dropped because of the meat. that could just be the nature of it. As I said, the temp of the food always seems pretty normal and turns out great.