PK 360 Low and slow charcoal lighting help.

[Peterbilt123]

Hey Guys, I just bought a 360 and was doing a low and slow cook tomorrow. I have tried the minion method with B&B briquets with fairly good luck. I was wondering if you guys recommend this minion method or a chimney full of hot lump and control the fire with the air controls. I would like to try lump charcoal on this cook to see if the flavor is different. I've watched some videos of guys cooking low and slow on this grill and it seems pretty 50/50. I would like to know what you guys think.. Thank you in advance.

[MsTwiggy]

Congratulations on your new cooker!! Those 360’s are really nice! I am not sure about using the minion method with lump as it is irregular shaped. Some consideration will be how long you need to be cooking for your slow n low. Lump will work great for an indirect 2 zone cook, just make sure you have a straightforward way to add more mid cook if you need to. Lump produces less ash and choky smoke than briquettes which is nice. I typically use a chimmney to light lump. When I light lump in a chimmney I like to light my hardwood pieces at the same time. I put them on top of the stack. This way I dont get any acrid smoke from the smouldering hardwood and I still enjoy nice wood flavor. Most of the smoke flavor is absorbed early on in the cook so this can be enough depending on what your preference is. I usually use milder wood like oak - if you want a darker finish/flavor from hickory or fruit wood i think the method still applies.
I have seen a fire brick used to hold the fuel on one side or maybe you have a basket for your coals. Thats about all I can think of. Good luck on this cook! Don’t forget to post your cook over on Show Us What You’re Cooking Channel 🔥🔥🐿️

[briano52]

I have a PK360 and I like it a lot. But for low and slow, the minion method across the whole grate is not really practical. The distance between the charcoal grate and the cooking grate is quite close. This a good feature for direct heat grilling but doesn't work for indirect low and slow. But you can use the PK360 for low and slow if you push the charcoal to the far-right side, opposite the thermometer. I use a divider by Kick Ash but you could use other dividers or just keep the charcoal to the right most 25% of the charcoal grate. I recommend a divider for best results. That said, I do light the charcoal on the divider side at a point corner using a waxy starter. This is kind of a mini minion method.

[Polarbear777]

As said above all coals on one side (I made a basket for mine before kick ash and theburnshop came out with dividers sievific for the 360.

I can usually get 1.5 chimneys worth of briquettes in there.

For 225F I ligt a wax cube in the corner and switch on my fan. For 350F I pull a dozen out of the basket and light them fully with a chimney.
without a fan, I would use a chimney to light 6-8 briqs for 225 and about 12-15 fir 325. Without a fan I usually have coals on the right and lower left vent and upper right vent closed. I also use foil under the left side so all incoming air goes to under the coals. Top left vent open 25-50% and bottom right vent dials in the temperature. If you have foil in place you can open both bottom vents if you need to to get temp up.

Details here (mostly with Dan but you get the idea).

https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/forum/accessorize-your-pit/thermostatic-controllers-aa/591780-convenience#post591780

https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/forum/charcoal-grills/portable-kitchen-pk/448991-need-advice-to-keep-temps-going-longer-pk360?p=449366#post449366

[Peterbilt123]

Thank you all for the advice! I used all of your ideas and combined them into one. I'm using B&B competition oak briquettes along the side wall of the grill, started about 8 of them in my chimney, and put a piece of apple wood on top of them to get it started. I'm smoking a 4lb chuck roast like a brisket today so hopefully, everything turns out good.

[RlsRls]

I too have Low n Slow temp issues with my PK360. Always chasing temps, too many adjustments, open and closing etc. (probably due to being impatient!). Today, St.Louis ribs. No chimney! Just gonna use cubes buried in a pile of lump. We'll see how it goes.

[MsTwiggy]

Woohoo 🥳 🔥🔥 Hope that cooks goes great for you!! 🔥🔥🐿️

[Bluetail66213]

What about adapting a blower and a temp controller to control the cook?

[Sweaty Paul]

I have tried the Minion method with both lump and briquettes (I use Jealous Devil for both). I have found the briquettes more reliably maintain temps without the swing. I usually keep the air flow on the bottom and top wide open when I light the grill with a couple of tumbleweeds on the front right corner. To keep the briquettes on one side I use a couple of fire bricks stacked on top of one another (I don’t have saw to cut them down and it works fine). As the grill gets to 210-220 degree I close down the bottom left air flow and top vent on the right and then partially close down the top left vent and dial the pit to 250. I can get it to hold this temp for a very long time. During the last 10 hour cook I did rake the coals tighter together twice, however, there wasn’t much maintenance at all.

[briano52]

I didn't know that Jealous Devil made charcoal. I love their pellets for my MAK pellet grill. I will look for their charcoal too. Thanks for the tip.

[Peterbilt123]

So good you guys! Turned out juicy and delicious. Thanks again for all of the advice!

[MsTwiggy]

Hats off to you!!! What an awesome cook 🤩🫶🥳🔥🔥🐿️

[RlsRls]

Looks Yummy! As far as my ribs went, very good as well. Basically went with the 2,2,1 method. But still found myself tweaking the vents too much and using my BBQ dragon fan to keep coals up to temp etc.. only to have to tamp down the heat on occasion! Can't imagine doing that for a 10 hour cook! Really don't want to use a fan controller if I can help it!