First cook with my one day old PBC ...

[bergmef]

I think so. I poured them in till I thought it was level, then I took 45 out and started them in the chimney. Then poured them into the basket and put it in. It still had some just now, I had to pull the basket and extinguish them tonight. I started the fire at 11:30am

[David Parrish]

Frank that actually looks pretty good. Just keep doing what you're doing.

OK one thing, was that basket FULL of charcoal? looks like you may not have filled it quite all the way.

[bergmef]

Received my PBC yesterday. Today, I cooked 3 racks of St L style ribs. They took 4:45 total time. At 4:30, I added some sauce and put them back for 15 more minutes. They were juicy and I was happy. I do have a question though. Everyone talks about how the pit runs hotter than most smokers. Mine didn't seem that hot and now I'm trying to figure what I did. Essentially I'm at sea level (about 80 feet) so I set the vent to 1/4. Did I let my chimney go too long? Should I have left the barrel open after adding the chimney bricketts to the basket? I'll try to add pics of the temp and vent. I did enjoy the ribs ... so did the neighbors.

Thanks,
Frank