Pit Barrel Cooker (PBC) Appreciation Thread
- Thread starter AClarke44
- Start date
AClarke44
Babbling Farker
I figured you'd get plenty in that barrel. Yeah let us see the pics when you get them.
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bradymartin
Guest
im so torn between the pbc and pk grill. weeks of research, sigh.
anyone own both?
anyone own both?
Both are awesome. PK is like a huge Weber Go Anywhere and PBC is like a portable tandoor grill. Geez! Now you got me confused on which one to recommend since they're both awesome. Lol.. I'd personally go PBC due to the simplicity of it. Set it and forget it cooker with no second guessing and outstanding results.
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bradymartin
Guest
i just dont cook the amount of food the pbc can. with the pk i can smoke a couple pound pork butt and a couple of steaks and wotn use much charcoal.
with the pbc id use like 1/3rd of a 20lbs bag of kingsford just for a few pounds of meat. i cant get around that. the reason im still looking at the pbc is the set and forget it aspect.
hard decision for me
You can snuff out the coals on PBC and reuse it. I do that all the time. I myself just cook for one to three people on the PBC all the time. A bag of charcoal will last me at least 4-5 cooks easy.
defib
Knows what a fatty is.
I watched a video where a guy used just a chimney full of charcoal. He cooked chickens then some sausage. He got about 2 1/2 - 3 hours out of it. I'm saving up to get one of these. Maybe for Christmas :-D
AClarke44
Babbling Farker
I cook quite a bit of short cooks. Chicken, tri-tip, one rack of ribs...tomorrow I'm cooking a small pork loin and a flank steak. I use a half basket of coals on those cooks and firebrick to bank it. Works good and as long as you start it with the same amount of lit briquettes it'll maintain the same temp as a full basket. If I have charcoal left when using a full basket (or half) I will reach in with a leather grill glove and get the coal basket out and put it in my kettle to shut it down. I've also used thin flexible magnets to cover the intake vent and the exhaust holes to shut it down and save coal.
Here's a pic of the half basket with firebrick setup. I've placed the firebrick on the other side of the bar as well to cut back even further on coal. Basically one brick on each side of the bar. That works well too.
Attachments
I've messed with the PBC more than most and I'll tell you that you can't skimp on coals. It performs at its optimum with a full basket of coals even for the smallest cook. If you're really concerned about fuel, you just snuff out the coals and reuse. That's all.
AClarke44
Babbling Farker
I agree with Sako for the most part. You definitely don't wanna just dump a full chimney of coals in and cook. For one thing it'll get too hot in my opinion.
The method I use posted above is the only way I would go to use less coal. I believe the fire brick helps it cook properly by evening out the heat acting similar to a diffuser.
Pretty cool Andrew!
There you go. That's another way. Andrew is another guy with great PBC resources.
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bradymartin
Guest
interesting.
so basically if i want to cook half the amount of food with half the amount of charcoal, position charcoal to one side of the basket like clarke said.
the important thing is to light charcoal per pbc instructions. ie amount of briquettes in a chimney, like 36 or so briquettes and wait 15 minutes (i am in L.A.) from my reading so far?
in the end the cook/kingsford will last half as long (around 4 hours), and the temperature will be constant and the same as if i had filled the basket full of charcoal?
so basically if i want to cook half the amount of food with half the amount of charcoal, position charcoal to one side of the basket like clarke said.
the important thing is to light charcoal per pbc instructions. ie amount of briquettes in a chimney, like 36 or so briquettes and wait 15 minutes (i am in L.A.) from my reading so far?
in the end the cook/kingsford will last half as long (around 4 hours), and the temperature will be constant and the same as if i had filled the basket full of charcoal?
Yep! The firebricks absorb and retain heat real well so you're condensing your fire from what I can see thus using less fuel and keeping your cooker running at its optimum for smaller cooks. Genius!
That's what I love about this forum. As much as you "think" you know, you still learn. :thumb:
AClarke44
Babbling Farker
Yep you got it! You could probably get away with lighting 2-3 less briquettes but unless you are OCD about temps (llike I tend to be :becky
you won't notice a big difference. I usually lite 36 Briquettes in my full basket setup. Where my vent cap is set, I will consistently get temps between 260-285°. My target temp for just about anything is 275° so I'm good with that. If I light 34 briquettes I get about a 15-20° lower temp.
With the half basket method I've noticed lighting 36 briq's will have me closer to 300°. Most of the time I do chicken that wayway so it doesn't bother me to be a little higher. But if i want a 275°ish temp on the half basket I'll light 34 briquettes.
This is what I've found that works for me and I use a Maverick et-733 probe thermometer to monitor temps. Not saying you'll get the same exact results but the PBC is very easy to practice with and quickly figure out what works for you......:thumb:
I'll post a pick of my coal basket today. Same basic setup as the earlier post but it'll use a tad less fuel and cook about 30min-1hr less. I'll try to provide inputs as well, as far as how many coals I lit and temps I'm getting.
AClarke44
Babbling Farker
Ok, today I cooked a couple small pork loins, and a flank steak. Everything turned out great as usual. I didn't get many food pics because I was concentrating on taking pics of my setup. This setup will probably get you 2 1/2-3 hours. I cooked for right at 2 hours with this setup and maintained 275-300 temps.
Here is a pic showing the placement of the brick with coals added then 34 removed to the chimney. I then put 3 small chunks of apple wood in with the unlit coals. The coal was Kingsford hickory
I placed the coal basket in the PBC and light the chimney over a propane burner. Here it is in the PBC. I like to keep the coals towards the intake as the fire likes to burn that direction anyway.
Coals are hot and ready to be poured over the unlit in the PBC. Again this is 34 briqs..Oh and that's a weber MINI chimney....lol
Here it is just after pouring over. You can also see my temp probe setup. At this point the lid goes on and we wait 15-20 min
Here we are about 15 min later temps had settled at 262. The meat was just hung on the rods. The temp will raise some because of opening the lid. And if it doesn't I will just crack the lid some. Today was the first cooler day that I've used the PBC so it may cook at a cooler temp. Another thing the half basket will do is allow you to keep some food from dripping on the coals. I wanted to flank steak over the coals but not the pork loin. I could have placed them in differently if I wanted them over the coals too.
Fire brick removed and basket placed in my kettle right after removing the food. This was what was left after 2 hours. Maybe 30 min to an hour at most left. If you want a longer cook, place both fire brick on the other side of the basket bar which will allow or more coal. Ive gotten 4-5 hours that way. I posted a pic of that setup a few posts back.
Here's the only food pron. This is one of the pork loins cut in half. Again they were small!
Here is a pic showing the placement of the brick with coals added then 34 removed to the chimney. I then put 3 small chunks of apple wood in with the unlit coals. The coal was Kingsford hickory
I placed the coal basket in the PBC and light the chimney over a propane burner. Here it is in the PBC. I like to keep the coals towards the intake as the fire likes to burn that direction anyway.
Coals are hot and ready to be poured over the unlit in the PBC. Again this is 34 briqs..Oh and that's a weber MINI chimney....lol
Here it is just after pouring over. You can also see my temp probe setup. At this point the lid goes on and we wait 15-20 min
Here we are about 15 min later temps had settled at 262. The meat was just hung on the rods. The temp will raise some because of opening the lid. And if it doesn't I will just crack the lid some. Today was the first cooler day that I've used the PBC so it may cook at a cooler temp. Another thing the half basket will do is allow you to keep some food from dripping on the coals. I wanted to flank steak over the coals but not the pork loin. I could have placed them in differently if I wanted them over the coals too.
Fire brick removed and basket placed in my kettle right after removing the food. This was what was left after 2 hours. Maybe 30 min to an hour at most left. If you want a longer cook, place both fire brick on the other side of the basket bar which will allow or more coal. Ive gotten 4-5 hours that way. I posted a pic of that setup a few posts back.
Here's the only food pron. This is one of the pork loins cut in half. Again they were small!
Bob C Cue
Quintessential Chatty Farker
Ok, today I cooked a couple small pork loins, and a flank steak. Everything turned out great as usual. I didn't get many food pics because I was concentrating on taking pics of my setup. This setup will probably get you 2 1/2-3 hours. I cooked for right at 2 hours with this setup and maintained 275-300 temps.
Here is a pic showing the placement of the brick with coals added then 34 removed to the chimney. I then put 3 small chunks of apple wood in with the unlit coals. The coal was Kingsford hickory
I placed the coal basket in the PBC and light the chimney over a propane burner. Here it is in the PBC. I like to keep the coals towards the intake as the fire likes to burn that direction anyway.
Coals are hot and ready to be poured over the unlit in the PBC. Again this is 34 briqs..Oh and that's a weber MINI chimney....lol
Here it is just after pouring over. You can also see my temp probe setup. At this point the lid goes on and we wait 15-20 min
Here we are about 15 min later temps had settled at 262. The meat was just hung on the rods. The temp will raise some because of opening the lid. And if it doesn't I will just crack the lid some. Today was the first cooler day that I've used the PBC so it may cook at a cooler temp. Another thing the half basket will do is allow you to keep some food from dripping on the coals. I wanted to flank steak over the coals but not the pork loin. I could have placed them in differently if I wanted them over the coals too.
Fire brick removed and basket placed in my kettle right after removing the food. This was what was left after 2 hours. Maybe 30 min to an hour at most left. If you want a longer cook, place both fire brick on the other side of the basket bar which will allow or more coal. Ive gotten 4-5 hours that way. I posted a pic of that setup a few posts back.
Here's the only food pron. This is one of the pork loins cut in half. Again they were small!
Great detailed info and photos. Noah would be proud of the way you have fine-tuned your startup process and share your knowledge with the Brethren. For me I have been using lighter fluid lately. Just a bit less work than the chimney and runs a little hotter, which I like.
Different strokes...
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bradymartin
Guest
man i was set on the pk grill but the ease of temp control and cleanup on this thing. that and you dont need to fill the whole charcoal basket for a smaller cook like you showed probably took this one over the top.
oh, and also i always stock up on the $10 for two 18-20lbs bags of blue kingsford sales. i have 10 bags in the garage. thie pbc should be a no brainer for me and im not sure why i dont pull the trigger now. ill force myself to choose one of the two tonight.
oh, and also i always stock up on the $10 for two 18-20lbs bags of blue kingsford sales. i have 10 bags in the garage. thie pbc should be a no brainer for me and im not sure why i dont pull the trigger now. ill force myself to choose one of the two tonight.
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bradymartin
Guest
there i go again trying to talk myself out of the pbc.
i read kingsford changed their formula slightly. their bags are now 18.6 lbs instead of the old 20. and the briquettes are now a tiny bit smaller and more efficient?
didnt noah do his testing with the old formula kingsford?
did this new kingsford briquettes affect the lighting instructions and temp control etc? im sure its not a big deal though, just change a couple things here and there and the pbc still perform the same way.
i read kingsford changed their formula slightly. their bags are now 18.6 lbs instead of the old 20. and the briquettes are now a tiny bit smaller and more efficient?
didnt noah do his testing with the old formula kingsford?
did this new kingsford briquettes affect the lighting instructions and temp control etc? im sure its not a big deal though, just change a couple things here and there and the pbc still perform the same way.
AClarke44
Babbling Farker
Thanks! I forgot to mention in the post that I did end up cracking the lid slightly to get the temp up some. But the PBC Is very responsive so it's easy to get it where you want it pretty quick. I should have actually started with a couple more lit coals because I was wanting closer to a 300° temp for the flank steak.
As far as coal goes I'm a Stubbs fan. I typically only use KBB for stuff like burgers or searing where I'm lighting them all at once. I've tried the Kingsford Apple and the Hickory (which I used and finished today). But Stubbs is still my favorite.
