Pit Barrel Cooker

[BobBrisket]

Originally Posted by Midnight Smoke

I looked as some pictures but not seeing how the Intake and Exhaust are located. Edit, okay I see the Exhaust...

For those of you that have one, the four holes are the exhaust. Do you feel they are adequate? In other words, can they keep up with the draw from the intake?
We've seen what poor intake and exhaust can do on any type pit if not balanced correctly.

[landarc]

If you hang a chicken, leg end down (there is a reason this is better) then the column of hot air rides along the length of the chicken. If you have it flat on the grate, then the column of hot air hits the bottom of the chicken and has to wrap around the chicken. If you think about airflow, it will be smoother if it is hitting the rounded end of a chicken half, then the flat bone side cavity of the chicken half. Now, if you think about how a chicken cooks in a wood fired oven, any meat for that matter, you can see that the PBC, or any vertical cooker with the meat hanging, approximates a traditional wood fired oven, with a chicken on a rack (for me, the ultimate roasted chicken cooker is a wood fired oven, there is simply no better chicken than that). Wherein the hot air flows over the chicken surface. You simply get better rendering and better skin texture.

There is no such thing as self-basting meat, and that is fine. I think the need to baste meat may well be a myth, other than for appearances sake.

I saw in that video how they did a 13 pound packer, they do use two hooks. It makes sense.

[Freddy j]

Originally Posted by lkissell

After reading all of the back and forth regarding the Pit Barrel Cooker I thought I'd throw out my two cents.

I went ahead and ordered one to add some additional smoking capacity to my back deck, and the $104 off coupon code sealed the deal. The cooker arrived a few days ago (4 days after ordering), and it is a quality product. Well made, well packaged, and easy to set up.

For my fist cook I prepared Tri Tip. It was very good. Not the best I've ever made, but very tasty.

Last night I cooked two chicken halves and it was the best chicken I've ever made. Very tender, juicy and flavorful.

This weekend will be ribs (with pron).

I realize that this cooker isn't for everyone, but it definitely fills a niche in my backyard.

It's very simple to use and so far my results have been great. For me it will be my go-to chicken cooker, and for that alone it was worth the investment.

Hi, do you have any photos of the chicken? Like, how you hung it in the pit? Also, how did you prep the chicken? What spice did you use, oil, etc?

I'm gonna do some PBC chicken soon and would like to know more about how you did it.

Thank you.

[Freddy j]

Originally Posted by BobBrisket

For those of you that have one, the four holes are the exhaust. Do you feel they are adequate? In other words, can they keep up with the draw from the intake?
We've seen what poor intake and exhaust can do on any type pit if not balanced correctly.

Again, great question. I wondered the same when I unpacked it today. It MUST work great based on results I've seen, but I'd like to hear more opinions based on user experience.

[Robicus129]

Found this, a member did a 13 pound brisket.
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/sh...d.php?t=151828

[BobBrisket]

Originally Posted by landarc

If you hang a chicken, leg end down (there is a reason this is better) then the column of hot air rides along the length of the chicken. If you have it flat on the grate, then the column of hot air hits the bottom of the chicken and has to wrap around the chicken. If you think about airflow, it will be smoother if it is hitting the rounded end of a chicken half, then the flat bone side cavity of the chicken half. Now, if you think about how a chicken cooks in a wood fired oven, any meat for that matter, you can see that the PBC, or any vertical cooker with the meat hanging, approximates a traditional wood fired oven, with a chicken on a rack (for me, the ultimate roasted chicken cooker is a wood fired oven, there is simply no better chicken than that). Wherein the hot air flows over the chicken surface. You simply get better rendering and better skin texture.

There is no such thing as self-basting meat, and that is fine. I think the need to baste meat may well be a myth, other than for appearances sake.

I saw in that video how they did a 13 pound packer, they do use two hooks. It makes sense.

Here is where I was going with my thinking. Going with this approach, could we say that a PBC achieves that better product on chicken (for this thread's purpose) due to the fact that as it hangs and since you have dark and white meats at different temp spectrums, then that alone is helping the dark meat cook at maybe just a bit hotter temp than the white meat, thus getting that even cooking you mentioned and that others are showing vs. flat on a grate and white and dark meat getting hit with one same temp.
As you stated with flat on a grate, that's one main reason for turning the chicken over skin down on a flat grate to char the skin, render it more and improve the appearance.
I'm liking the info in this thread!

[Carbon]

Almost like propping chicken upright on the grate, I get very even cooking this way with my UDS where heat rises from beneath, including the tiny Cobb grill.

[Midnight Smoke]

Originally Posted by BobBrisket

For those of you that have one, the four holes are the exhaust. Do you feel they are adequate? In other words, can they keep up with the draw from the intake?
We've seen what poor intake and exhaust can do on any type pit if not balanced correctly.

Still looking for the Intake. I would like to know how the 4 hole exhaust is working out. My gut tells me the draw would be increased with a more centered exhaust.

Like a fireplace the air flow is in and strait up, not to the sides.

[Ron_L]

Originally Posted by Midnight Smoke

Still looking for the Intake. I would like to know how the 4 hole exhaust is working out. My gut tells me the draw would be increased with a more centered exhaust.

Like a fireplace the air flow is in and strait up, not to the sides.

You can see the intake clearly in the first picture in this thread from Sparky, Terry.

[bbqbull]

BBQ Pits by Klose - Paul Kirk - YouTube

BBQ Pits by Klose - Paul Kirk - YouTube

I have seen this cooker personally and it does one heck of a job FWIW!

[Midnight Smoke]

Originally Posted by Ron_L

You can see the intake clearly in the first picture in this thread from Sparky, Terry.

Thanks Ron, I guess the vent was closed in the pictures I was looking at, just blended in. So there is just one Intake on these cookers?

[Ron_L]

Originally Posted by Midnight Smoke

Thanks Ron, I guess the vent was closed in the pictures I was looking at, just blended in. So there is just one Intake on these cookers?

That's my understanding, and from reading the posts here it sounds like it is preset by the folks at PBC when they ship the cooker.

[Bbq Bubba]

Originally Posted by BobBrisket

Bubba, with your background, what would you consider as an advantage of hanging meat vs. flat? How about stationary flat vs flat/rotatating grates?

Bob

First let me say...Damn you Landarc for trying to bring science into bbq.
I understand his comments on flow and reverse kinetic energy but dont cook that way. lol

I saw the brisket cooked. 14 lber in 5 hrs. No shots of it cooking or whole. I call that grilling over direct heat. This would be a primo chicken cooker because everybody knows grilled, or "roasted" chicken is far superior to slow smoked bird. The ribs in the demos looked great but again they were cooked over direct heat, thus grilled.
I am absolutely not bad mouthing this unit. Actually im pretty pissed i didnt come up with his sales ideas when i was building 20 drums a year!

[Nate749]

I will post pictures of the brisket during the trimming part I didn't take pice of it fresh out of the package and I have 1 pic of it cooking. I will post in a little bit for ya.. And yes I has 1 intake vent and 4 exhaust ports. The charcoal basket has plenty of room for fuel..my pbc was still chugging along 2 hours after the brisket was done.

[landarc]

A note about the nature of intake, exhaust, drafting and how it all balances...

In any system with a passive flow of air, that is to say where there is nothing either pushing air in, or pushing air out, the balance of the intake and exhaust in going to naturally balance. In a cooker, this relies upon the basic principal of heated air rising. Thus, if there are four one inch holes as exhaust, and one four inch hole as intake, the rather complex calculations for balancing these areas of flow do not apply. And no, it is not as simple as calculating the area of four little circles versus one large circle.

Rather directly, the chamber will exchange air only as rapidly as it exhausts air first. Other wise, pressure must build up in the chamber, which it clearly cannot in a PBC or most any other cooker. Thus, the amount of air in the cooker is controlled by how much air can escape the four exhaust holes. The intake could be any size, it will only draft as much as it can exhaust. Subtle pressure variations can occur at both locations based upon heat, as hotter air rises faster. In a way, the PBC seems to be self-regulating. Like most of our cookers. The biggest difference is that the air moves over the meat better in a PBC, due to the meat hanging.

I would add, this does not apply quite the same in an offset, as if the exhaust does not draft properly, the air will not move across the chamber correctly. This is why when designing an offset, the calculations should be done. Or you slap a 6" exhaust on it, like a Jambo, and let that control intake, which is why a Jambo is controlled from the exhaust and not the intake grate. Or so it said at the Holiday Inn I stayed at once,