Pit Barrel Cooker (PBC) Appreciation Thread

Deebo said:

Hey Kanco, I was in your neck of the woods this week. I was in Colorado Springs for a work conference from Sunday to Thursday. This is my second time hitting up the area. I checked out Front Range BBQ and Bird Dog BBQ. I shoulda let you know I was gonna be in your area.

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Hey Deebo! Yep, hit me up next time. Bird Dog is popular for some reason—not very good IMO. Front Range a little better but not great either. I like some of the offerings from Bourbon Bros BBQ, but maybe that’s just the great selection of bourbons...

Hi everyone!
I'm making my first post here instead of the intro section because my account just got validated and I have my shiny new PBC on and I just put stuff on it and I need to post about it now!
It's a rainy weekend here in Fort Worth, but that's not gonna stop me, since I have a garage.
I've read through the last 100 or so pages of this thread to get ideas. I've decided to go "all in" on my first cook, as I've got a full slab of spare ribs, a 5lb pork butt, and, why yes, that is indeed a block of Spam in there, too. The Spam was an idea suggested by a post in this thread some 30 pages back, where one member posted some pics, another asked for some of that to be sent to them, and the first responded with something like "already all gone, but I can mail you some Spam". So, Spam on the PBC! :biggrin1:

I'm using the Killer Hogs BBQ rub on the ribs and butt, with a bit of salt added. Got a bag of all natural Royal Oak charcoal from Walmart a couple weeks back that I'll be using. Two chunks of mesquite wood are in there (because Texas).

Now, why did I get a PBC? I already have a Big Green Egg, and when I did some spare ribs on it a couple weeks ago, I could only fit one slab on it. I couldn't even put them upright using the v-rack as they would touch the lid (they're untrimmed ribs).

So, I started looking at smokers, and ended up with the PBC. I didn't tell the wife, so it was a nice surprise when she got home and found me standing next to it in the living room where I had unpacked it. I got "a look", but I'm still alive. :wink:

Got it going, and I will be strong. I will not check the temperature. I will let it do its thing. I will only check the butt's temperature for doneness. Admittedly, that's all a bit easier as the only thermometer I have is a cheapo meat thermometer that wouldn't be able to check the PBC's temp, anyway.

Oh, and did I mention I'm doing a big cook for the extended family tomorrow with three slabs of ribs and two pork loins?

Looks great.

Welcome, Kevin! Lookin good!

Aaand, my first finished product: PBC Spam!
Nice and hot, very juicy, with a bit of a skin on it.

Can’t believe I’m saying this.....but that spam looks great

Ok, one last picture for the day. Took the ribs off at the four hour mark, put some Stubb's Sticky Sweet sauce on them, and then put them back on for another half hour. They tasted great, but could have used another half hour before saucing them, as they weren't as tender as I like. And I think I may go ahead and trim the other three slabs into St. Louis cut for the family tomorrow, just to make everything fit easier.

Tannhauser42 said:

Ok, one last picture for the day. Took the ribs off at the four hour mark, put some Stubb's Sticky Sweet sauce on them, and then put them back on for another half hour. They tasted great, but could have used another half hour before saucing them, as they weren't as tender as I like. And I think I may go ahead and trim the other three slabs into St. Louis cut for the family tomorrow, just to make everything fit easier.

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What I call "Doin' it right!" Awesome posts. :thumb:

Beautimous, Tannhauser42!

Well, everyone's gone now after the big family get together I cooked for today. For eleven people, I did: three slabs of spare ribs (trimmed to St. Louis cut), one pork loin (cut into two, as it was definitely too long to hang in the PBC), and the pulled pork butt I did yesterday. Not much of the pork loin was eaten, but most of the ribs and about half of the pulled pork was gone by the end. Lots of compliments all around, especially for the ribs. No pictures, sorry.

Tannhauser42 said:

Well, everyone's gone now after the big family get together I cooked for today. For eleven people, I did: three slabs of spare ribs (trimmed to St. Louis cut), one pork loin (cut into two, as it was definitely too long to hang in the PBC), and the pulled pork butt I did yesterday. Not much of the pork loin was eaten, but most of the ribs and about half of the pulled pork was gone by the end. Lots of compliments all around, especially for the ribs. No pictures, sorry.

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In my universe, that's called, SUCCESS.

Did some beef dino bones in the PBC this weekend. LOVE them dino bones!!

Did my first Brisket this weekend. Wasn't a full brisket. around 1.4 kg. wagyu grassfed. Since it was small I laid it on the rack instead of hanging. at 160 I followed the PBC guidelines and wrapped it in foil, added some beef stock then put it back on the PBC until 200. I let it rest in a cooler for 45 minutes since any longer and the family would kill me.

The bottom half was perfect but the top half was a bit dry. Wondering how to resolve this. Is it that I should have hung it? Or maybe its that when I wrapped it I should have flipped it over? Or maybe at like 90 degrees I flip it?

Deebo said:

Did some beef dino bones in the PBC this weekend. LOVE them dino bones!!

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Probably a silly question, but where does one acquire these beef bones? I don't seem to ever run across them in the grocery or Costco but they look AWESOME!

gatorjj said:

Probably a silly question, but where does one acquire these beef bones? I don't seem to ever run across them in the grocery or Costco but they look AWESOME!

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I get mine at Restaurant Depot. They ALWAYS have them in stock here. That last dino rib cook was a practice cook for an annual competition I have coming up this weekend between a few buddies and I. I'll be hitting up RD again tomorrow to get both some beef and baby back ribs.

Here a question for anybody who may have the inside scoop on what Noah and the crew may or may not have goin on with the Pit Barrell. I'm currently considering picking up Weber Ranch Kettle but if Noah happens to have any plans on putting out a 55 gal PBC senior (since they did a Jr.), I'd be picking up one of those in a heartbeat!! Anyone know if one is in the works?

Deebo said:

Here a question for anybody who may have the inside scoop on what Noah and the crew may or may not have goin on with the Pit Barrell. I'm currently considering picking up Weber Ranch Kettle but if Noah happens to have any plans on putting out a 55 gal PBC senior (since they did a Jr.), I'd be picking up one of those in a heartbeat!! Anyone know if one is in the works?

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I may be wrong and should not even comment, but I might think that a 55 might not work as well as the shorter barrel for the cooking system. I am sure he has a good thing going right now, but I am sure there are future products coming his way.

Just fired it up today. Keeping it simple this weekend. Just doing two large meatloaves(meatloafs?) for dinners this week, a roll of Jimmy Dean sage sausage with a bit of Killer Hogs rub on it, and another block of Spam. All on a grate rather than hanging.

thedommer said:

Did my first Brisket this weekend. Wasn't a full brisket. around 1.4 kg. wagyu grassfed. Since it was small I laid it on the rack instead of hanging. at 160 I followed the PBC guidelines and wrapped it in foil, added some beef stock then put it back on the PBC until 200. I let it rest in a cooler for 45 minutes since any longer and the family would kill me.

The bottom half was perfect but the top half was a bit dry. Wondering how to resolve this. Is it that I should have hung it? Or maybe its that when I wrapped it I should have flipped it over? Or maybe at like 90 degrees I flip it?

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Looks good, Dom! Never grated my brisket so not sure what to tell you. I don't think a lot of guys are flippers though. My best guess is the moist side had the fat cap and that was the diff.