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New to PK360- Controlling Temperatures- Direct and High Indirect.

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    #16
    Originally posted by jfmorris View Post
    Winchester44 something I have found for doing lower temperatures on my kettle is that if I close down the upper vent, it helps keep more heat in, and while I might see an initial drop, it comes back up. I only do that for cooks below 300 though. For everthing else, I have a full basket of lit charcoal, and open all vents wide open. I would think the same type vent operation would work on the PK. The only thing I cook wide open is chicken, or direct grilled stuff like burgers.
    Thanks so much! That advice is very much in what I read on everything on the PK 360. Everything wide open = Max Temp.

    Comment


      #17
      One of the non-obvious keys to maximizing temps is to ensure every bit of intake has to go through the coals. In a Weber kettle with a vortex, putting foil outside the vortex accomplishes this and can get you over 500F.

      My plan to maximize indirect temp in the pk would be to foil coat the left 50% of the charcoal grate, and add a wall or steel firebox so the incoming coals could be stacked up all the way to the cooking grate. Open both lower vents and upper left fully. Close upper right fully. Light fully three full chimneys of coals and fill the right side of the pk with those. The lit coal bed would be 4” high and take up the right 50% of the pk between the charcoal and cooking grates.

      Indirect on the the left side should be maximized.
      What is that max indirect temp and how long? Don’t know yet. Might try when I get a chance.

      Comment


        #18
        Originally posted by Polarbear777 View Post
        One of the non-obvious keys to maximizing temps is to ensure every bit of intake has to go through the coals. In a Weber kettle with a vortex, putting foil outside the vortex accomplishes this and can get you over 500F.

        My plan to maximize indirect temp in the pk would be to foil coat the left 50% of the charcoal grate, and add a wall or steel firebox so the incoming coals could be stacked up all the way to the cooking grate. Open both lower vents and upper left fully. Close upper right fully. Light fully three full chimneys of coals and fill the right side of the pk with those. The lit coal bed would be 4” high and take up the right 50% of the pk between the charcoal and cooking grates.

        Indirect on the the left side should be maximized.
        What is that max indirect temp and how long? Don’t know yet. Might try when I get a chance.
        First off Polarbear777, thanks a million. You are a wealth of information and then some. I have definitely seen your photos of doing foil on the left half of the bottom grill grate and have done the same. Will send photos when I get time. It makes perfect sense and also keeps it cleaner. I actually tried without it on my last cook and I think it actually hurt me. I don't have exact numbers to compare, but it stabilized around 245 degrees with 1.5 chmineys in and everything open when in the past I was able to stabilize at 250-280 depending on how much charcoal I had in there.

        Also, here is a photo of the charcoal basket I'm using instead of the PK version. The PK version doesn't seem very well ventilated and clogs with ash. It also will only hold about 3/4 of a chimney. I bought this one is from Smokin Hot BBQ @Smokinhotbbqs on Facebook. (Made in Fort Collins, CO, very friendly to deal with)

        It's much larger than the PK Basket and comes with two dividers. With the center divider in will hold about 1.5 chimney's and still allow the hinged grill to close. It doesn't follow the radius perimeter of the grill but is otherwise a perfect fit coming all the way up to the base of the grilling grill. I would say it is still not as cool as Polarear's custom basket that probably holds even more as it follows the rounded contour or the perimeter.
        Attached Files
        Last edited by Winchester44; September 13, 2019, 09:01 AM.

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          #19
          I’m set up for low and slow for the weekend. After that a may try a max temp test.

          Comment


            #20
            I put most of my pk360 calibration tests here:

            18.5 hours at 225F. Did short ribs for he first 7 hrs. Left it running. Ambient temps around 30-40F. No refuel at all. pk360 with fireboard and pit viper control. Guess I can’t


            I’m running a max indirect test now. It’s starting to level off at around 475F. I’ll post the results in this linked thread.

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              #21
              When I’m running manual (without a fan) if I want to increase temp I’ll crack open the top vent above the coals just a smidge. On average a L&S cook will rise 1 degree per minute on the indirect side doing this.

              I Got the idea from owning a Pit Barrel. The bottom vent did nothing, if you needed heat you crack the lid. It works here too, but with that said I use a fan for poultry so I can’t offer great advice. Killer Hogs has some PK videos and he uses competition briq’s, maybe try some of that with the cracked top vent.
              Last edited by Larry Grover; September 14, 2019, 02:04 AM.

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              • Polarbear777
                Polarbear777 commented
                Editing a comment
                All vents open runs about 560F max (about two hours above 450) That’s the highest I could get it to run with KBB. I suppose with lump it could go a bit higher.

              #22
              My max test made it just over 500 but not for long. Sustained was 450F for a few hours.

              If you want to do a lot of indirect over 500, a 22” kettle with a vortex is a lot more efficient.

              If if you are happy with 450F indirect, a fan will do that for a couple hours in the pk360 with 1/3 less charcoal required than without the fan. But without also works.

              Comment


              • Polarbear777
                Polarbear777 commented
                Editing a comment
                Re-did the rest with all vents open and it ran 560F max.

                Any more charcoal and I don’t think there is room for an indirect cook.

              #23
              Originally posted by Polarbear777 View Post
              My max test made it just over 500 but not for long. Sustained was 450F for a few hours.

              If you want to do a lot of indirect over 500, a 22” kettle with a vortex is a lot more efficient.

              If if you are happy with 450F indirect, a fan will do that for a couple hours in the pk360 with 1/3 less charcoal required than without the fan. But without also works.
              Thanks again polar bear. Planned to do a test last night, but ran out of time with some overdue yard work. I just wanted to confirm this was the method you used:

              "My plan to maximize indirect temp in the pk would be to foil coat the left 50% of the charcoal grate, and add a wall or steel firebox so the incoming coals could be stacked up all the way to the cooking grate. Open both lower vents and upper left fully. Close upper right fully. Light fully three full chimneys of coals and fill the right side of the pk with those. The lit coal bed would be 4” high and take up the right 50% of the pk between the charcoal and cooking grates."

              Comment


                #24
                Posts 11-12. Have pictures of the set up. Did it with upper right closed and the rest wide open and also with everything open.

                https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/fo...80-convenience

                you can get 50F extra by opening the top right vent, but at the cost of about an hour extra runtime at 450F.
                Last edited by Polarbear777; September 16, 2019, 05:28 PM.

                Comment


                  #25
                  Get the grill grates they are fantastic. Just cooked these, they are still resting.
                  Attached Files

                  Comment


                    #26
                    Nice testing as always Polar! Lots of good data in that "Convenience" thread as well. Love that picture of 3 chimney's blazing!
                    Last edited by Larry Grover; September 18, 2019, 04:35 PM.

                    Comment


                    • Polarbear777
                      Polarbear777 commented
                      Editing a comment
                      Yeah since I got all the calibration data onto the convenience thread would be nice to change the name to "pk360 temperature tests" or something but can’t edit thread titles.

                    #27
                    First off huge thanks to Polar!!! Learned a lot this weekend. First off here is a photo of my set up using polar’s suggestion to use foil on the left side bottom grate.
                    Attached Files

                    Comment


                      #28
                      Next here is the charcoal I used. I used one heaping chimney of Weber briquettes followed by a chimney of B and B lump. I didn’t go for polars recommender 3 full chimneys as I didn’t think my basket would hold that much.
                      Attached Files
                      Last edited by Winchester44; September 24, 2019, 11:06 PM.

                      Comment


                        #29
                        Here is the charcoal going in. I lit the first chimney of Weber briquettes and gave them a full 40 min to fully ash over. I immediately closed the lid with all 4 vents wide open and refilled the chimney with the B and B lump. The factory thermometer temp rapidly climbed to almost 400, but then stopped just under 400.

                        Attached Files

                        Comment


                          #30
                          The B and B lump was faster to light and within just 20 minutes it was ashes over and I dumped it on top of the Weber briquettes I added earlier. So I am at 1 hour since I started. I also added my FireBoard thermometer and placed it close to the factory thermometer sensor.
                          Attached Files

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