Baby Back Ribs in the Pit Barrel

[Thomassen]

I purchased one of Noah Granville's Pit Barrel Cookers back in late July. I have had the best results with hanging baby back ribs. The most I've cooked are 4 racks at a time. Do Pit Barrel users experience longer cooking times the more racks they cook? If so, how much longer? I know some of my times were affected by meat temperature. Colder ribs, longer cooking time.

Im in Oakland, CA and am cooking at sea level.

July 20th Cook
3 Racks Swift's Premium from Costco
Coals lit per instructions
Checked at 2 hours, pulled and sauced
Pulled at 2.5 hours
They were great!

July 27th Cook
2 racks Baby Backs from Trader Joe's
Same as above

Labor Day Cook
3 Racks Swift's Premium from Costco
​Coals lit per instructions
Had to thaw slightly as my fridge is giving me problems. One end started freezing. Water bath for 15-20 minutes.
Checked at 2 hours
Checked at 2.5
Checked at 3 hours, temp a was 145
Checked at 3.5 hours, same temp
I was bringing them to a friend's house and people were getting hungry, pulled and sauced
People thought they were good.
Not as good as my first two cooks

October 3rd Cook
2 Racks from Berkeley Bowl Meat Coop, 2 racks from Trader Joe's
1/4 of a basket of coals lit on a chimney and dumped in after 15 minutes
Checked at 2 hours
Checked at 2.5 hours
Checked at 3.0 hours
Checked and sauced at 3.25 hours
Pulled and served at 3.75 hours

[Livermoron]

I put down 4 SLCs in the PBC last weekend. Took me about 4 hours, but it was a very windy day in Livermore. I'm still having issues getting the lower vent dialed in...how do you have yours set?

[Thomassen]

I've left it at the factory setting of 1/4 open. Sometimes I think about opening it a little more. I usually start it with a full level basket of charcoal with lighter fluid. Last time I are sure I used a lot of lighter fluid. How did your ribs turn out?

[Livermoron]

They came out great! I put in a chunk of apple and one of hickory. The wind really affected temps, and I ended up pulling the ribs earlier than I wanted to, so they weren't quite as tender as I would like, but the flavor was fantastic!

(We were testing four kinds of Kinder BBQ sauce. I like the Sriracha sauce the best...)

[Jerod Broussard]

I've not found the bottom vent to do a whole lot. Unless I have a strong wind blowing right into it.

How you light, pre-heat, and how much cold meat you load that thing down with, will affect the cooking temps more than I could ever get out of adjusting the bottom vent.