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.
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
Sounds pretty good. Next time if the temp dips lower than you like just crack the lid slightly (1/4") for a few minutes. Watch your temp the PBC can heat up fast.
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
I think that temp profile looks pretty doggone good, bergmef , just to echo David Parrish 's comments. In my experience (I've only cooked on 2 different PBCs) each PBC cooks at its own best temperature. I wouldn't want to cook ribs much higher than 280 or so, and your PBC did just that, tapering down as time went on, as expected.
You may want to open your vent just a bit more than the 1/4 way. I have found on my PBCs that a bit more intake air than specified for my altitude works great. After that, a wider-open lower vent does virtually nothing. As with many things in BBQ setups, there's a sweet spot.
I don't extinguish the coals; I just let them burn themselves out overnight. For the cost of charcoal, I don't figure I'm saving much by trying to re-use what's left in the basket. That said, a lot of folks here extinguish their coals for future use. One Pitmaster here, as I recall, dumps 'em in to an ash bucket with a lid.
The ribs sound great. What's next on the list to cook?
Yours got up to temp fine, but it got too low for my taste and the fact that it spikes so high and so quickly there at the end tells me you have a PBC like mine, go ahead and open that bottom vent to about twice what you have now and try that. Also as soon as you dump the coals let it sit with no lid for 10 minutes, then put the lid on and let it cool down to 300 or less and then hang your food on.
Considering you were cooking St. Louis ribs, and they were done in 4:45, I would think your temp isn't going too low by any stretch. I can't see you temp profs pics though, but that's pretty quick for St. Louis.
I think I will open the bottom vent a little more. I think the way it faded in temperature is what made me wonder about how it started, was it hot enough ... etc. It also made me wonder if it would handle the time to do a pork butt or something that would take longer. As for next, I have some chicken thighs (wed) but I hope to try a small (is 6 or so pounds small?) pork butt on Friday.
On extiguishing the coals, I did it this time because I couldn't leave the cooker there, in the middle of the driveway. I have to get a few pavers to extend the grilling area.
The first couple of times I did ribs I didn't monitor the temps, but this weekend I did. Four racks of St. Louis cut ribs were done in three hours. I am at 165 ft elevation, and it was a warm day with low humidity. This is what I saw, with the vent open 1/4. From now on I will probably not worry about the temps and just enjoy the ribs.
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
That looks like a nice solid cook, Yno. How did the ribs turn out?
Frank ( bergmef ), makes sense, putting those coals out. The first few months I had my PBC, I cooked on the side terrace, figuring the concrete wouldn't be damaged by the heat coming from the bottom surface of the barrel. I stuck a candy thermometer underneath and monitored the temperatures just to check. I'd store the PBC, covered, in the garage, when not in use.
Then convenience won out and I moved the PBC to the screened-in, enclosed deck, just outside the sliding glass doors to the kitchen. MUCH more convenient. The PBC sits, covered and well-protected from the elements there.
However, I didn't want to damage the Trex decking, so I made a sandwich of two cement-surfaced mats with a felt-type grill mat in between. I always err on the side of safety, hence the 3 (!) mats under my PBC. It's worth the peace of mind. Inadvertently dropping a burning coal on the deck is a concern as well, so the large mats help avoid that potential problem.
I got the mats at Lowe's:
Here's the fiber one:
And here's the cement-covered one:
Kathryn
P.S. My husband always tells friends that my PBC cost $300 but all the accessories I continue to buy for it cost $1000 . That guy is such a kidder.
How much time do you have to cook the butt? My last 8 pound butt took me almost 9 hours, and that was with trying to crank the temps up so I could eat before midnight I'd think about cutting it in half and getting the extra surface area for bark and smoke.
Did you wrap it in foil, or just power through the stall? Wrapping (crutch) takes a load of time off. I'm speaking from offset grill experience, but I'm sure a PBC works the same way.
Equipment:
Brinkman Gas/Charcoal duo with offset firebox
Pit Barrel Cooker
Maverick Remote Temperature Gizmo with Pit and meat probes
Thermopen Instant thermo
New2Cue I have no time schedule, I plan to put it on early and I can keep it in a cooler if it is done early. How long can I keep it in the cooler before I need to think about getting it in the fridge? I might end up doing the quick cooldown and use it the next day.
Not New2Cue, but you can wrap it and keep it for a pretty long period. I've finished a prime rib for Christmas dinner, wrapped it, went to Christmas Eve Service with the candles, come back, and served, easily 2 hours. It was still plenty hot. Danger zone is between 40 F and 140F, so outside of that should be good to go!
Jay, sorry, I couldn't figure out how to directly reply to your comment. I crutched it after it hit 160 per the PBC website. It was stuck in the high 150s for probably 45 minutes though. I probably should just just crutched it earlier. Now I know!
Bergmef, I'm pretty new to smoking so unfortunately I can't answer your question. Hope someone else can!
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