I'm just about to try Meathead's Ultimate Smoked Turkey for Christmas dinner and I'm wondering if anyone has used a Pit Barrel to cook it and if so how did you set it up to catch drippings?
It's a 17lb bird, so ideally it would be in the PBC or my Weber kettle to free up oven space.
Hi, my name is Darrell. I'm an OTR truck driver for over 25 years. During my off time I love doing backyard cooks. I have a 48" Lang Deluxe smoker, Rec-Tec pellet smoker,1 Weber Genesis 330, 1 Weber Performer (blue), 2 Weber kettles (1 black and 1 Copper), 1 26" Weber kettle, a WSM, 8 Maverick Redi Chek thermometers, a PartyQ, 2 SnS, Grill Grates, Cast Iron grates, 1 ThermoPop (orange) and 2 ThermoPens (pink and orange) and planning on adding more cooking accessories. Now I have an Anova sous vide, the Dragon blower and 2 Chef alarms from Thermoworks.
I did a whole turkey on the PBC right after Thanksgiving and it may have been the best turkey I have ever had and I am long in the tooth.
Unfortunately, I don't think anyone has figured out how to catch drippings in the PBC. Although you can always buy extra turkey wings or legs and go from there.
Hi there,
the pbc does amazing with turkeys! Ive read in the past that its easier to just roast some extra parts for drippings because as @Ischweig said best turkey ive ever had as well. I never missed the gravy either it was that good.
Jim
And here I thought you were going to say, " to Pit Barrel or not to Pit Barrel, that is the question".
Pray tell, get out the PBC & smoke it man, smoke it!
You will never do turkey any other way after you do one in the PBC. As far as drippings are concerned, I made gordon ramseys turkey gravy but i used the neck and giblets and a small pack of chicken wings to make the gravy and it came out excellent.
Pit Barrel Cooker Slow 'n Sear for 22" Kettle Weber 22" Kettle (Craiglist) Slow 'n Sear for 22" Kettle Weber Rapid Fire Chimney Maverick ET-732 Kingsford Original Charcoal
Kingsford Competition Charcoal
Anova Sous Vide
Cookers:
Weber Kettle (used/fair condition; a gift).
Grilla OG.
Pit Boss 3-Burner Ultimate Lift-Off Griddle.
SnS Kettle.
Everything Else:
Sous Vide equipment.
Instant read and leave-in thermometers.
Grill Grates.
Kingsford Blue Bag, Royal Oak Lump Charcoal, Weber lighter cubes, Weber charcoal chimneys.
BBQr's Delight Hickory & Apple flavor pellets, propane torch, 6" smoke tube.
Grilla apple & hickory pellets, Royal Oak charcoal pellets.
Rubs with salt: Meat Church, Meathead.
Rubs without salt: SnS Grills Rocky's Rub and Not Just for Beef.
Rubs home-mixed: None at this time.
Spices: Lots of 'em.
I do my turkey in the PBC, always great. I have a Hovergrill the I place over coal basket, it holds the pan with all the stuff in it to catch the drippings and make the gravy. Without a Hovergrill, perhaps a couple of bricks holding the PBC's grate over the coal basket would work.
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
Sy_662 Part of the wonderful flavor imparted by the PBC comes from those drippings vaporizing as they hit the coals. For that reason, I don't catch the drippings.
I make my gravy, as some have said, from the backbone, wings, etc using Serious Eats recipe.
I spatchcock my turkey for the PBC, but you can do it whole, with or without PBC's turkey hanger.
If you're only doing one turkey, use only one rebar, placed diagonally, and leave the other rebar out. That way your PBC temperature will hover around 350 the entire cook, and you won't have to fiddle with cracking the lid to get the temperature up.
And be prepared for the best-tasting turkey you ever had! The PBC rocks turkeys (and chickens too).
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