PBC cook #2/Brisket pRon and lots of questions
 

OK Brethren..here was my 2nd experience.
As with my first cook, lit everything up as directed, coals all ready to go at 20 minutes, just as advertised.
Prepped the brisket, trimmed and seasoned with the Pit Barrel Beef and Game rub while the coals were starting.
The brisket is a small one around 7.5 pounds trimmed, outside temp at about 42*F, light breeze, rigged up a block to protect the air intake.

Hung the brisket at 12:20 and tossed on the lid, also had the ET-732 set up from the start to monitor the pit and meat. The pit probe was hung right next to the brisket about a third of the way down from the top on a hook with foil.
http://i1072.photobucket.com/albums/...g?t=1360716988
http://i1072.photobucket.com/albums/...g?t=1360716988
Not sure if you can see it in the pic's but the probe is there.
And here is a table of how it progressed from there.
Time
PBC temp
Meat IT
12:25
360 pit
41 meat IT
12:50
410 pit
73 meat IT
1:25
424 Pit
138 Meat IT

Initial temps started high, I was hoping that once the meat was in the cooker and all buttoned up that the temp would drop as others have reported, as you can see, that was not the case. At the 1:25 mark I blocked the air intake, the PBC temp began dropping right away.
1:35
356 Pit
160 Meat IT

Brisket pulled and wrapped and then placed on grate in PBC, closed it up and;
1:55
482 Pit
156 Meat IT

I had the lid off the PBC while I wrapped, so I’m guessing that is why the temp went up so much. Cook progressed as follows, intake still covered;
2:25
307 Pit
181 Meat IT
2:55
244 Pit
203 Meat IT
3:00
236 Pit
205 Meat IT
3:25
205 Pit
210 Meat IT

Probed the brisket for tenderness, did not probe like butter, opened up the air intake, cook continued.
3:55
297 Pit
212 Meat IT

Brisket probed tender here, pulled from cooker and placed in cooler to rest for 2-3 hours.
I expected the Brisket to be pretty dark, I did not open the PBC to peak, I let the temps run just as you see above until I pulled and wrapped. Here is how it looked when I took it off at 1:35:
http://i1072.photobucket.com/albums/...g?t=1360716996
As you can see, a little dark at the one corner, otherwise very nice color.

I will post a pic or two of the finished product when I slice it up. I don't expect much of a smoke ring with the cook progressing so rapidly. I did put in some hickory and mesquite.

Probably way more than any of you wanted to know, just passing it along for everyones FYI.

I'm not sure if anyone else is having these issues with temp control on their PBC, but I would love to get your ideas and thoughts on this.

I will probably call Noah tomorrow to get his thoughts.

Sorry for the long post, just wanted to make sure you all get all the info.

KC

Sorry all, I had this all layed out in a table format in word, didn't copy and paste as expected, so probably hard to follow.

Do you have the vent pointed into the wind?

BTW, that looks like a pretty nice color on that brisket. I prefer it a little darker, but, man, I wouldn't hesitate to put that on the table.

Nope, the vent was not pointed toward the wind, I even set up a block of sorts, so the wind would not have an affect.

Please post what Noah says because mine runs about the same way.

Nice color on the Brisket !!

My take is this...don't light it as directed. You are letting the fire set up WAYY too hot to start off. Fill the basket, take 10 briquettes out and light in a chimney. When they are lit and stop putting off smoke (just heat) dump them back into the center of the basket. Place the basket back into the drum and let it settle in and start rolling sweet blue. Once that happens, put the meat on and let it go.

I get MUCH better cooking temps when I do this sort of minion type burn. Just my $.02

That looks like a mighty fine brisket to me. Did that take about 3.5hrs at those temps until it probed tender? Was it a flat or a small packer?

Also, I'm curious if you noted any difference between hanging first then laying on a rack vs. other briskets that have laid flat on a rack from the get go?

Update
 

In spite of all the temp issues, the brisket came out wonderful! Not much of a smoke ring as I expected, but the smoke FLAVOR was great. The brisket was moist, tender and very tasty. for a first attempt and the other issues involved, I was pleasantly surprised.
http://i1072.photobucket.com/albums/...g?t=1360728291
http://i1072.photobucket.com/albums/...g?t=1360728289






http://i1072.photobucket.com/albums/...g?t=1360728289
http://i1072.photobucket.com/albums/...g?t=1360728284

Thanks for looking, and I will get back to you all, as far as what Noah has to say about the temp control issues.

KC

Nice looking brisket. Did you have both re-bars installed? If you only used 1 then the added open area of the other re-bar would cause it to draft more.

That is one of the options I was considering, the other option was to readjust the intake valve. But I initially wanted a second try with everything factory set........the PBC is pretty much advertised as set it and forget it to at least some extent. I had similar issues with the first cook, so I'll see what Noah or the PBC folks have to say about the temp issues.

KC

It was a small packer, and yes, about 3.5 hours with a 2.5 hour rest in the cooler, really turned out good, very tasty. It was my first brisket so I can't really address the difference between the hanging and lying on the grill.

Both rebars were in place.

Code3rrt. I run my Pbc like what the flying bassman said. Fill the basket and then take out about 10-12 coals let them get started very well and then add to my basket. Much easier to keep a constant temp where it is not out if control from the get go. You may want to try this method. Hope this helps

Now you're just showing off :grin: That brisket sliced up beautifully. I'm quite jealous!

Ginmme some of that Phat on that brisket!