PBC: Humidity (climate)

[yowza]

Question: does anyone know how humidity impacts briquette burn? There's guides for elevation (I.e over 2000 ft ASL) however nothing I've seen on humidity. Any guidance how it may impact vent positioning etc?

I'm in Singapore and it's constantly 70%+ humidity.

Mike

- Pit Barrel Cooker - Weber Q - @ Singapore

[pittkappasig]

I'm in Pittsburgh PA and it gets quite humid here as well and I have noticed that cook times lengthen and temps are more challenging to keep up. I usually leave the vent alone and will periodically crack the lid a half inch or so for a few mins if I'm having trouble maintaining temps. Similar to cold weather cooking

[Jerod Broussard]

All that wet air is magnified in the Pit Barrel since it holds in so much humidity to begin with.

I definitely have to kick things up a notch when the humidity kicks up.

[Stevehtn]

I love the pbc. But I can without a doubt tell you that there's a significant increase in cooking time here in East Tennessee, with our high humidity, on any cut of meat, compared to what the times are showing for the pbc videos on YouTube. Colorado has much drier air. I'm at 1237' above sea level here, and I definitely use more than the recommended 1/4 opening for 0-2000'

[yowza]

OK, that's good to hear, thanks. On my first cook I really struggled to get the temp above 200f / 90c, even with the vent wide open. Once I cracked the lid a little it rocketed straight up. A lot to learn! Thanks for the feedback.

Mike

[_John_]

Somehow you are not getting enough air, you should be in the 270 range naturally and even buried in snow be over 200. The fact that cracking the lid spike the temp proves that there is an airflow problem of some sort. We are usually in the 50's or 60% humidity and have spent most of this year in the 80% to 100% range and I might see a half hour added to an 8 hour cook, nothing significant. Maybe that is just because it is usually humid and what I am used to.

Either way, the fire isn't lighting off enough from the beginning, or your vents aren't open enough, or you have a problem I haven's seen yet.

[pittkappasig]

if its a super humid day, i will do what Kathryn (and some others) do when lighting and leave the lid off for a couple mins to make sure the fire is burning hot, then i snuff it with the lid and rebar. wait a few mins, hang the meat on the hooks, toss in some smoke and hang the meat.

[Stevehtn]

This of course being the reason that, IMO, EVERY cooker needs a thermometer, even the pbc.

[yowza]

So, you guys were spot on. Thanks for the help.

Problems solved on my latest cook. for future reference on humidity, here's what I found:
- All briquettes MUST be fully white / lit before lid goes on. It's a slow and very smokey job to do this in the cook
- This also dramatically reduced smoke (a good thing in this case)
- I ran the PBC vent at half open (more than recommended for <2000asl), and maintained around 250f for a good 4-5 hours
- I bought a laser temp gun which was invaluable for instantly checking the drum temp and adjusting the vent

The pulled pork was amazing!
Mike

Sent from my iPhone