What's up with Pit Barrel Jr. not being available

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Blue Kettle

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Been thinking of getting a PB Jr. for a bit. Had about decided to pull the trigger but lo and behold, they don't seem to be available anywhere online anymore. I emailed the company directly and got a response of, 'we don't know when we'll be able to restock them' and a sales pitch to just buy the 30 gallon version.

What gives? Isn't the Jr. just a 16 gallon steel drum with the same holes and enamel of the 30? Seems odd that they have been able to continue making the 30 gallon variant but are having some sort of supply chain difficulty with the Jr.

From what I gather some people on here actually have spoken to the owner. Anyone gather any insight as to what's up?
 
I was waiting on a big markdown sale. Never happened- just disappeared.
 
Just me but I have never understood the point of the smaller PBC. You can always cook less meat in the 18.5 inch model if you want......
 
Springram said:
Just me but I have never understood the point of the smaller PBC. You can always cook less meat in the 18.5 inch model if you want......
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Portability and lower cost are both attractive to me versus the full size one. Lower fuel capacity is less than great but then again adding charcoal here and there wouldn't be much of an issue with that design I wouldn't think.
 
Springram said:
Just me but I have never understood the point of the smaller PBC. You can always cook less meat in the 18.5 inch model if you want......
Click to expand...

Portability John. It's great for picnics, tailgating, the cabin etc. I'm glad I grabbed one. I love mine and you can cook a mess of food it. I have said this before but Imo it even runs and is more efficient than big brother. The narrower cylindrical shape provides for much better airflow. I really like mine.

6 racks of baby backs in 4 hours unwrapped

MBrFdzLh.jpg


4 chicken halves, a rack of spares and and XL fatty

Cgpp76nh.jpg
 
ssv3 said:
Portability John. It's great for picnics, tailgating, the cabin etc. I'm glad I grabbed one. I love mine and you can cook a mess of food it. I have said this before but Imo it even runs and is more efficient than big brother. The narrower cylindrical shape provides for much better airflow. I really like mine.



6 racks of baby backs in 4 hours unwrapped



MBrFdzLh.jpg




4 chicken halves, a rack of spares and and XL fatty



Cgpp76nh.jpg
Click to expand...



Man, I didn’t even realize that I want and NEED a PBC Jr til you just posted this... thanks a lot! [emoji35]
 
Just looking at those photos of the various cooks on the PB Jr. I'm inclined to suppose that there may not be a more useful smoker for small/medium gatherings on the market today given the amount of food one can get into that thing relative to its diminutive size. Pound for pound, inch for inch, dollar for dollar the greatest smoker ever?
 
Blue Kettle said:
Just looking at those photos of the various cooks on the PB Jr. I'm inclined to suppose that there may not be a more useful smoker for small/medium gatherings on the market today given the amount of food one can get into that thing relative to its diminutive size. Pound for pound, inch for inch, dollar for dollar the greatest smoker ever?
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I suppose now that you put it that way :becky:

I fed about 20 people with it easy. With the accessories it's very versatile. For example, New Year's on the beach in San Diego where my truck or an SUV is a no no due to parking and combined with fire restrictions she was perfect.:clap2:

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They came back in stock earlier this year for several days but a manufacturing issue was discovered and they recalled all of the ones that were sent out and shut off the ability to order any more of them.

I bought one but was asked to return it and all of the accessories that I had bought for it. At the time, they had no idea when they would be available again for sale. I had to return mine anyway because it got damaged somehow.
 
70monte said:
They came back in stock earlier this year for several days but a manufacturing issue was discovered and they recalled all of the ones that were sent out and shut off the ability to order any more of them.

I bought one but was asked to return it and all of the accessories that I had bought for it. At the time, they had no idea when they would be available again for sale. I had to return mine anyway because it got damaged somehow.
Click to expand...

Interesting. Must have been something pretty significant to warrant that (I'm thinking possibly implicating products liability). Just goes to show, these smokers look simple to the layperson but there's a lot more that goes into being able to manufacture one of these at mass production levels than we probably appreciate out here in the general public.
 
Do any of you know any comparable barrel/bullet smokers of this size and quality out on the market?

The PBJR sitting in the back seat is making me re-think things!
 
Blue Kettle said:
Interesting. Must have been something pretty significant to warrant that (I'm thinking possibly implicating products liability). Just goes to show, these smokers look simple to the layperson but there's a lot more that goes into being able to manufacture one of these at mass production levels than we probably appreciate out here in the general public.
Click to expand...

There really wasn't any product liability. The lid was designed wrong so that when you put the lid on, it rested on the rebars and wouldn't let the lid fully seat.

Instead of trying to remake just the lids to work correctly, they decided to quit taking orders until they could figure out why the issue happened and to recall the drums that had already shipped out since they weren't planning on just making lids.
 
70monte said:
There really wasn't any product liability. The lid was designed wrong so that when you put the lid on, it rested on the rebars and wouldn't let the lid fully seat.

Instead of trying to remake just the lids to work correctly, they decided to quit taking orders until they could figure out why the issue happened and to recall the drums that had already shipped out since they weren't planning on just making lids.
Click to expand...


Oh. Good to know the company took it that seriously. Lot of companies would have said 'eff it' and tried some half measure rather than going to the cost/expense of a complete revamp.
 
Has anyone heard any news about when the Jr will be out again? I have called twice but haven't heard back.
 
I've not heard a thing. I usually get their emails about products or new videos. They just revamped their website so I had to re-register on the new one. There was no Jr. for sale yet and I'm not sure what is taking so long for it to come back out.
 
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