Stlsportster
09-05-2016, 04:07 PM
I have had the Pit Barrel Cooker for about 3 weeks now. In that time I have done about 8-10 cooks and have learned a ton. This review attempts to provide a fairly comprehensive summary of my opinion at this time for anyone that cares.
Prior Pellet Experience
I cooked on a Traeger Jr pellet grill for about 18 months prior to getting the PBC. I struggled to get a deep smoke flavor and had several electrical issues that culminated in me tossing the Traeger off my deck and throwing away. Mind you everything I cooked on that pellet fired convection oven came out tender and moist and flavorful….just not like wood smoke…or barely. I swore I would never be reliant on electricity again and also would jump into charcoal and wood to get the flavor profile.
Cooks
So far I have done 5 racks of baby back ribs, a 13lb prime packer brisket, 3.5lbs of smoked salmon, 4 chicken halves, 20 chicken wings, a naked and a stuffed fatty, burgers and Italian sausages, dozens of ABTs and even tofu burnt ends.
Taste
For the most part, outstanding. Most cooks I have added a few hickory chunks to the Kingsford original briquettes. The fatties, brisket, ribs and salmon have been outstanding. The first time I did the chicken halves they were the best I ever made. The second was tough, dry and not as flavorful. The chicken wings were done on skewers in order to fit them all. A bunch slid off the skewers into the fire and the skin on the rest turned out rubbery and hard to bite through although the flavor was good.
This cooker imparts a good deal of smoke flavor and with very little wood.
Temp Control and Fuel Consumption
To be honest it has been more of a struggle to maintain the temps I want than indicated by the manufacturer and on various forums. I have had trouble with temps too low and others too high as I have tried to adjust the intake, the lighting procedure, the amount of charcoal. By design there are very few levers to play with. When you start off too hot or too cool it is hard to adjust mid stream. Finally for my last cook or two I managed to get it to settle at the 275-280 range for the entire cook.
I have only used the Kingsford Blue Briquettes so far, but have some Stubbs in the garage for the next cook. A full pan of charcoal will easily last 8 hours or more…I have had to put magnets over the intake and rebar holes to snuff out the fire when done. One of the problems I see with this cooker is the lack of adjustable vents. I know the design is to light and forget, but I wish it had the option to open a bit more for higher heat, close a bit for lower heat and close them all to snuff out the fire. I often want to do a short cook of 2-3 hours for some salmon and ABTs and I find the whole pan is a waste of charcoal. I have seen posts by people using firebricks to cut the pan in half and use less charcoal. I will have to try that at some point.
Low temp cooking….unless you mess with a baffle or deflector you can't really do it. I want to do some jerky which needs a low temp…and on the PBC I am smoking salmon at 275 or above….but the salmon turns out better if done at 225. The PBC just doesn't have that low of a range.
One other limitation is access to the charcoal pan to add more wood or charcoal. If using either of the grates it's not practical. Whatever you load at the beginning is it.
The burn pattern of the pan of charcoal has been interesting. One of my first smokes I tried to use lighter fluid. One side of the pan of charcoal caught better than the other and it acted like a minion burn…slowly rotating around the pan catching a little as it went and the pit stayed about 225 or so. Could get it to increased of about 275 by cracking the lid but would settle back to 225 when I pit the lid back on tight. As I have adjusted my lighting procedure it has leveled out about 275-290 during early phases of the cook but always seems to drop to 255-265 after a couple of hours. Not that the lower temp is a bad thing as I know lots of guys strive for 225-250 smoking but that's definitely not what PBC claims is normal temp.
Space vertically
Using the hanging meat method this thing is a beast. I can literally hang 8 racks of ribs or 3-4 full packer briskets. Pork tenderloins or half chickens would also hold 8 hooks. I do worry a little about things getting overly tender and falling off. I had an issue with some skewers and chicken wings falling off although the ribs I cooked have been fine.
Space horizontally
Huge limitation. I often cook ABTs and salmon and fatties at the same time. There is no room. I can fit 14 ABTs on one side if they are mashed together and about 2 lbs of salmon on the other or 2 fatties. I bought some Frogmats and the smallest is still too large to fit on one side.
I have seen some mods to install a second shelf but that would limit access and I'm not sure it's a good solution.
When I use the optional hinged grade then the horizontal space is severely limited and to be honest it reduces the amount of space to hang. 4 hooks is a tight fit in between the sides of the grate.
Fit and Finish/Accessories
So far the fit and finish are good. I do have a small spot on the bottom rim of the barrel that is showing rust after 3 weeks. I have the barrel set on some paver stones on my wood deck and it's possible it got slightly scratched while dumping the ash. May have to touch it up with some high heat paint.
I purchased the fitted cover and while it covers the entire smoker it is a bit tight and I have to wrangle it to get it over the horseshoe handles on the side. I wish it was a bit looser.
The hinged grate should come standard. Kinda sad it's an option as it seems that's just a money grab. No reason not to make it the standard shelf.
The optional ash pan is kinda the same way. I smoked the first two weeks without one and cleanup with it is so much easier I don't know why it's not just included.
Next Steps
Doing a pork butt today and am using some Stubbs instead of the KBB. At some point I'd like to try lump as well to see what that does. The idea of a deflector to lower the heat is interesting and I may try to figure that one out too.
Summary
Overall this is a good little cooker. I love the smoke flavor and it is fairly easy to set and forget once you get it going. It does ribs exceptionally well.
However the lack of horizontal rack space and the inability to cook at low temps when desired make me believe I'm still looking for a reverse flow horizontal offset or a vertical cabinet for the long term.
Prior Pellet Experience
I cooked on a Traeger Jr pellet grill for about 18 months prior to getting the PBC. I struggled to get a deep smoke flavor and had several electrical issues that culminated in me tossing the Traeger off my deck and throwing away. Mind you everything I cooked on that pellet fired convection oven came out tender and moist and flavorful….just not like wood smoke…or barely. I swore I would never be reliant on electricity again and also would jump into charcoal and wood to get the flavor profile.
Cooks
So far I have done 5 racks of baby back ribs, a 13lb prime packer brisket, 3.5lbs of smoked salmon, 4 chicken halves, 20 chicken wings, a naked and a stuffed fatty, burgers and Italian sausages, dozens of ABTs and even tofu burnt ends.
Taste
For the most part, outstanding. Most cooks I have added a few hickory chunks to the Kingsford original briquettes. The fatties, brisket, ribs and salmon have been outstanding. The first time I did the chicken halves they were the best I ever made. The second was tough, dry and not as flavorful. The chicken wings were done on skewers in order to fit them all. A bunch slid off the skewers into the fire and the skin on the rest turned out rubbery and hard to bite through although the flavor was good.
This cooker imparts a good deal of smoke flavor and with very little wood.
Temp Control and Fuel Consumption
To be honest it has been more of a struggle to maintain the temps I want than indicated by the manufacturer and on various forums. I have had trouble with temps too low and others too high as I have tried to adjust the intake, the lighting procedure, the amount of charcoal. By design there are very few levers to play with. When you start off too hot or too cool it is hard to adjust mid stream. Finally for my last cook or two I managed to get it to settle at the 275-280 range for the entire cook.
I have only used the Kingsford Blue Briquettes so far, but have some Stubbs in the garage for the next cook. A full pan of charcoal will easily last 8 hours or more…I have had to put magnets over the intake and rebar holes to snuff out the fire when done. One of the problems I see with this cooker is the lack of adjustable vents. I know the design is to light and forget, but I wish it had the option to open a bit more for higher heat, close a bit for lower heat and close them all to snuff out the fire. I often want to do a short cook of 2-3 hours for some salmon and ABTs and I find the whole pan is a waste of charcoal. I have seen posts by people using firebricks to cut the pan in half and use less charcoal. I will have to try that at some point.
Low temp cooking….unless you mess with a baffle or deflector you can't really do it. I want to do some jerky which needs a low temp…and on the PBC I am smoking salmon at 275 or above….but the salmon turns out better if done at 225. The PBC just doesn't have that low of a range.
One other limitation is access to the charcoal pan to add more wood or charcoal. If using either of the grates it's not practical. Whatever you load at the beginning is it.
The burn pattern of the pan of charcoal has been interesting. One of my first smokes I tried to use lighter fluid. One side of the pan of charcoal caught better than the other and it acted like a minion burn…slowly rotating around the pan catching a little as it went and the pit stayed about 225 or so. Could get it to increased of about 275 by cracking the lid but would settle back to 225 when I pit the lid back on tight. As I have adjusted my lighting procedure it has leveled out about 275-290 during early phases of the cook but always seems to drop to 255-265 after a couple of hours. Not that the lower temp is a bad thing as I know lots of guys strive for 225-250 smoking but that's definitely not what PBC claims is normal temp.
Space vertically
Using the hanging meat method this thing is a beast. I can literally hang 8 racks of ribs or 3-4 full packer briskets. Pork tenderloins or half chickens would also hold 8 hooks. I do worry a little about things getting overly tender and falling off. I had an issue with some skewers and chicken wings falling off although the ribs I cooked have been fine.
Space horizontally
Huge limitation. I often cook ABTs and salmon and fatties at the same time. There is no room. I can fit 14 ABTs on one side if they are mashed together and about 2 lbs of salmon on the other or 2 fatties. I bought some Frogmats and the smallest is still too large to fit on one side.
I have seen some mods to install a second shelf but that would limit access and I'm not sure it's a good solution.
When I use the optional hinged grade then the horizontal space is severely limited and to be honest it reduces the amount of space to hang. 4 hooks is a tight fit in between the sides of the grate.
Fit and Finish/Accessories
So far the fit and finish are good. I do have a small spot on the bottom rim of the barrel that is showing rust after 3 weeks. I have the barrel set on some paver stones on my wood deck and it's possible it got slightly scratched while dumping the ash. May have to touch it up with some high heat paint.
I purchased the fitted cover and while it covers the entire smoker it is a bit tight and I have to wrangle it to get it over the horseshoe handles on the side. I wish it was a bit looser.
The hinged grate should come standard. Kinda sad it's an option as it seems that's just a money grab. No reason not to make it the standard shelf.
The optional ash pan is kinda the same way. I smoked the first two weeks without one and cleanup with it is so much easier I don't know why it's not just included.
Next Steps
Doing a pork butt today and am using some Stubbs instead of the KBB. At some point I'd like to try lump as well to see what that does. The idea of a deflector to lower the heat is interesting and I may try to figure that one out too.
Summary
Overall this is a good little cooker. I love the smoke flavor and it is fairly easy to set and forget once you get it going. It does ribs exceptionally well.
However the lack of horizontal rack space and the inability to cook at low temps when desired make me believe I'm still looking for a reverse flow horizontal offset or a vertical cabinet for the long term.