Pit Barrel Cooker (PBC) Appreciation Thread

Found some petite sirloins in the bottom of the freezer (my go to for beef stews in the winter) so i hung them in the PBC after they got needled & a 24 hour bath in Sweet Baby Ray's Teriyaki marinade. Turned out much better than on a kettle where the marinade burns so easily on the meat. I didn't season beyond that but will SPOG next time. Found some venison steaks as well. Has anyone here made jerky on their PBC? Time for me to try i'm thinking.
 
Hello, I’m thinking of buy a PBC. I have two questions.
If cooking ribs it looks like the lower half of the ribs would get done sooner or even maybe burn being so close to the coals? I’ve watched video and it doesn’t seem to happen, but I cant see how it wouldn’t.
Also, I don’t suppose you can smoke for long periods of time in a cold climate because these units aren’t insulated very well?
Thanks
 
Tbro said:
Hello, I’m thinking of buy a PBC. I have two questions.
If cooking ribs it looks like the lower half of the ribs would get done sooner or even maybe burn being so close to the coals? I’ve watched video and it doesn’t seem to happen, but I cant see how it wouldn’t.
Also, I don’t suppose you can smoke for long periods of time in a cold climate because these units aren’t insulated very well?
Thanks
Click to expand...

-Depends on the length. If the end of the ribs aren’t at least a couple inches from hot coals, mine get a little toasty if they hang the entire time. Sometimes I’ll hook it an extra bone “up” to avoid that problem. It’s no biggie usually.

-I smoke all the time in cold. Still get 6+ hours easy. Way back in the early pages of this thread FWI has pics of a product from Home Depot he wraps his PBC in to insulate it. I always thought that was interesting but never did it. Mine goes fine without.
 
Tbro said:
Hello, I’m thinking of buy a PBC. I have two questions.
If cooking ribs it looks like the lower half of the ribs would get done sooner or even maybe burn being so close to the coals? I’ve watched video and it doesn’t seem to happen, but I cant see how it wouldn’t.
Also, I don’t suppose you can smoke for long periods of time in a cold climate because these units aren’t insulated very well?
Thanks
Click to expand...

I don't experience the temps you probably do, but I don't notice a difference in performance if it is 100 degrees or 20 degrees.

As for the ribs, sometimes the fat cascading down the ribs will burn and create some burnt fat icicles. At worst you lose the last bone. Being able to do 8 racks with so little fuel in so little space makes up for this for me.
 
Rookie Rolls Fatty

Before i try to insert some pics, i have to ask brethren veterans- are fatty's considered gateway q?

Anyway, last thursday i rolled a fatty and found a small pork loin in the freezer.

IMG_0064 by Mark Tate, on Flickr

IMG_0065 by Mark Tate, on Flickr

Then i moved the PBC to the cool side of the house

IMG_0067 by Mark Tate, on Flickr

started it up and put in the meat. Blended 2 different fastbreak sausages and made 2 patties to compare taste and to get fatty to 1.5#.

IMG_0066 by Mark Tate, on Flickr

IMG_0068 by Mark Tate, on Flickr

The cherry loin was excellent if a lil overdone; the fatty was good. Next time i will have a lil hotter fire and start the maple glaze sooner.
 
So. It still works:mrgreen:

Did the whole slabs of beef short ribs first. Wrapped at 160 and pulled at 205. Bone fell right out. Tossed about a dozen fresh Stubbs bricks in before I put the grate on and easily smoked theses wings that I had in thawing while the short ribs cooked. This thing is money.
 

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Where I cook gets alot of wind so I was getting big temp swings. I first started by putting a high temp seal on the lid. This helped some. Then caught the weber coal on sale and stocked up. With the size being so big was having trouble getting my temps where I wanted. It was either 230 or 350. The burn was uneven due to the wind. Saw mention on here of the Ry starting technique and used it yesterday. Temp got high at first but I had the lid off too long. Went to 330 and then settled in around 270 with a range from 260 to 280. Ill take that every day. Was a normal breezy day. The pic of the cook is 3 hours in.
 

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So I picked up some Prime Tomahawks from Costco and I want to hang them, but trying to decide if it's worth the bother to "reverse sear" or just cook them to temp and then serve?

Was planning to dry-brine over night, then hang them until like... 115, then sear them on a separate grill on high heat to like 130, but the second grill is a bit of work and looking at some of the youtube videos, might not be necessary.

Thoughts?
 
EpOxY said:
So I picked up some Prime Tomahawks from Costco and I want to hang them, but trying to decide if it's worth the bother to "reverse sear" or just cook them to temp and then serve?

Was planning to dry-brine over night, then hang them until like... 115, then sear them on a separate grill on high heat to like 130, but the second grill is a bit of work and looking at some of the youtube videos, might not be necessary.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...

If the searing on a second grill is a pain, just sear on a CI skillet. You’ll already have the flavor you want from the slow hang in the PBC. You don’t have to fire up another grill just for the sear. It’s also possible to get the PBC up to hot enough temps to sear on its own grate.
 
Last edited:
stickbit said:
very cool! I can't wait to try this starting method. Thanks for sharing this.
Click to expand...

i've already modified the coffee can and picked up a small weber chimney! just waiting to put a dent in all the leftovers in the frig and then it's on!
 
I nearly fill the pbc chimney to the top and light with a paraffin cube and run for it for 12 minutes exactly and pour the coals over a full basket. It runs me about 275-290 for almost 8 hours (the few times I’ve fired it up). The coffee can method looks awesome
 
Kind of Spatchcocked Chicken on Racks

Missus wanted some pulled chicken for her salad. Usually hang the halves, but ended up trying something different (Read: after cutting out the backbone on the two birds, the kids started acting up and I had to abort the rest of the butchering...). Didn’t get them totally flat.

I think it took a little bit longer compared with hanging. End product was still as good as always on the PBC!
 
Last edited:
EpOxY said:
So I picked up some Prime Tomahawks from Costco and I want to hang them, but trying to decide if it's worth the bother to "reverse sear" or just cook them to temp and then serve?

Was planning to dry-brine over night, then hang them until like... 115, then sear them on a separate grill on high heat to like 130, but the second grill is a bit of work and looking at some of the youtube videos, might not be necessary.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...

I didn't see any need for a sear after hanging for about 50 minutes or so, just crack the lid of the PBC to raise your temp towards the end. I did trim the bones down so the meat was not sitting in the coals. I pulled these around 123 to 125, next time I will pull around 120.

Cowboy Raw by David Miller, on Flickr

Cowboy Cooked by David Miller, on Flickr

Cowboy Sliced by David Miller, on Flickr

Cowboy Pit Barrel by David Miller, on Flickr
 
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