Pit Barrel Cooker (PBC) Appreciation Thread

AClarke44 said:
I would keep the vent cap at 1/4 open and maybe light 2 less coals next time. 335 isn't bad for chicken.....I think it just got too hot initially and couldn't recover fully.

Also, once you are able to get a stable temp with your vent cap set, get some magnets or use a leather glove to partially block the intake if you get a temp spike and need it to come down. Doesn't happen often but it'll drop quick when you choke it down some.

How'd the chicken turn out?
Click to expand...

It was easily the most moist chicken I have ever had! Wasn't crazy about the PBC All Purpose Rub, so maybe Yardbird or Kosmo next time. Ribs planned for the weekend (beef and pork) so I'm going to really dial down the vent at first. 300+ is just too hot for those.
 
Gnolydnar said:
Going to cook a full brisket tomorrow. First one in the PBC. Two questions for you brisket veterans. Point up or down? Wrap or not? Thanks.
Click to expand...

Nice!

Point up. You always want the heavier side up

Double hook at point like Noah demonstrates in his videos

Cook until your desired bark, color or 160ish IT

Wrap in foil or butcher paper and place it on the grate

Cook until probe tender


Never had a bad brisket off the PBC
 
^^^^

Gnolydnar,

Forgot to mention to make sure you properly rest it for at least 2 hours. When it probes tender open up the foil/butcher paper, vent for 5-7 mins to stop the carryover, wrap tight in foil and place it in cooler or Cambro if you have one. If running a cooler open the lid and let the cooler warm up. Not hot but warm.

It's imperative you rest it properly. I've learned a rest makes or breaks your brisket.

One last question is do you plan to make burnt ends or will you slice the point and serve??
 
hs106 said:
It was easily the most moist chicken I have ever had! Wasn't crazy about the PBC All Purpose Rub, so maybe Yardbird or Kosmo next time. Ribs planned for the weekend (beef and pork) so I'm going to really dial down the vent at first. 300+ is just too hot for those.
Click to expand...

I don't use the chicken rub either. I much prefer either of the two alternatives you mentioned. I use Yardbird the most but only because it's easier for me to get, KosmosQ's Dirtybird is great too though....PBC beef and game rub is very good but not on chicken :becky:

Don't go too far closed on the vent cap I'd keep it at about 1/4 open....you may end up with the opposite issue or worse a "dirty" smoke if you don't give it enough air flow....
 
ssv3 said:
^^^^

Gnolydnar,

Forgot to mention to make sure you properly rest it for at least 2 hours. When it probes tender open up the foil/butcher paper, vent for 5-7 mins to stop the carryover, wrap tight in foil and place it in cooler or Cambro if you have one. If running a cooler open the lid and let the cooler warm up. Not hot but warm.

It's imperative you rest it properly. I've learned a rest makes or breaks your brisket.

One last question is do you plan to make burnt ends or will you slice the point and serve??
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tips. I plan to make burnt ends with the point. That is, if this storm ever clears and I can get outside to fire it up.
 
Gnolydnar said:
Thanks for the tips. I plan to make burnt ends with the point. That is, if this storm ever clears and I can get outside to fire it up.
Click to expand...

You're welcome!

Reason I asked is because when I do burnt ends, I separate the point and flat when the whole brisket is done, wrap the flat and put it to rest, cube the point, sauce(optional), and put it back on the PBC and let it ride until flat is done resting and it's time to eat.

They're truly killer and all the below cooked with the PBC

20140621_140622.jpg


20140621_142027.jpg


20140301_170237.jpg
 
As I understand it, PBC chicken is the ultimate in smoked chicken, as well as the PBC's undisputed forte. My impression is that chicken halves on the PBC are such a slam dunk you’d have to be some kind of thick box of hair to produce anything other than beautiful golden-brown moist succulent chicken. Unfortunately . . .

I've had a tough time with it so far. Great ribs, great pulled pork, very good brisket, but mediocre chicken:

Attempt #1: Just flat out dry. Didn't pay enough attention to it and breast was 170+ before I noticed. (halves). OK, so that's on me.

Attempt #2: Better halves, but not great. I paid attention to the IT this time but the breast was still kinda dry and the dark meat was just OK. Nothing special.

Attempt #3: Spatchcocked this time. My best effort so far. Thighs were very good, but breast was just pretty good. Skin was fine but not really crisp (yes, cracked the lid the last 15-20 minutes).

I guess what I really want is chicken that is just as juicy and slippery as Costco rotisserie chicken. Slippery chicken! (If that's a thing).

Yeah, flavor is there all day long—all 3 cooks. I just want moist meat. Crisp exterior would be great, but I’d settle for just juicy poultry for a start. I guess I can brine it and drown it in butter, but I thought the PBC was a can't-miss chicken cooker. I can do great things with chicken on my Performer, but I feel like I’m missing out on the PBC’s ace.

I’m interested in troubleshooting at some point, but right now I’m really just curious if any of you guys had PBC chicken fails before it rocked it? If so, what was the secret to getting it straightened out? Thanks.
 
Unfortunate to say that, while I have a lot of issues with my temps that has caused both burnt ribs and very late meals, chicken knocked it out of the park on my first go. Juicy flavorful chicken. The biggest problem is figuring out when to start cracking the lid to crisp the skin. I found 15 minutes to be too short a time period, but would rather have the meat where it should be and the skin be a dud than the other way around.

If you want Costco chicken, I believe they are doing things like adding butter or olive oil to keep it moist and add flavor. There's more there than chicken and a rub.
 
My first few chickens have been great tasting and moist, but not crispy enough.

But I wasn't cracking the lid at the end, so maybe I'll try that tomorrow.


So has anyone done a chicken whole using the turkey hanger? Any thoughts there?
 
Gnolydnar said:
I just use one of the two lid hanging, rebar holding horshoes on the sides to hold my lid when working in the barrel. But then I saw that yours is planted in a work table. How about if you bolted a horseshoe to the side of the table?
Click to expand...

I'm actually in the process of doing something similar. Not a horseshoe, but a metal "lip" to hang the lid on.

I'm just peeved that I didn't think of a lid-holder during the table build, as I coulda easily drilled a couple holes in the frame and mounted a cabinet-pull from behind prior to tiling it. Not an option now....

Thought about welding something on, or drilling/tapping some holes, but I'm afraid I'll muck up the tile. So we'll breaking out the JB Weld this time. Don't tell anyone :icon_blush:

Hope to finish tomorrow (spray paint drying right now....)

Twisted T's Q said:
hoale pete keep the mods coming kid
Click to expand...

"Kid?" Wow! At age 54, that means either (a) I look younger than I feel (b) you're dang old :wink: or (c) I gotta work on my maturity level...
 
Haole Pete said:
I'm actually in the process of doing something similar. Not a horseshoe, but a metal "lip" to hang the lid on.

I'm just peeved that I didn't think of a lid-holder during the table build, as I coulda easily drilled a couple holes in the frame and mounted a cabinet-pull from behind prior to tiling it. Not an option now....

Thought about welding something on, or drilling/tapping some holes, but I'm afraid I'll muck up the tile. So we'll breaking out the JB Weld this time. Don't tell anyone :icon_blush:

Hope to finish tomorrow (spray paint drying right now....)



"Kid?" Wow! At age 54, that means either (a) I look younger than I feel (b) you're dang old :wink: or (c) I gotta work on my maturity level...[/QUOTEhttp://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/images/buttons/multiquote_on.gif]

Twisted T's Q said:
hoale pete keep the mods coming kid
Click to expand...

lol no its just something I say , I use to call my dad kid all the time even when he was almost 79 years old, btw you definitely look younger than 54 and I like the mods you are doing a lot , " keep the mods coming kid lol "
Click to expand...
 
Kanco Connection said:
As I understand it, PBC chicken is the ultimate in smoked chicken, as well as the PBC's undisputed forte. My impression is that chicken halves on the PBC are such a slam dunk you’d have to be some kind of thick box of hair to produce anything other than beautiful golden-brown moist succulent chicken. Unfortunately . . .

I've had a tough time with it so far. Great ribs, great pulled pork, very good brisket, but mediocre chicken:

Attempt #1: Just flat out dry. Didn't pay enough attention to it and breast was 170+ before I noticed. (halves). OK, so that's on me.

Attempt #2: Better halves, but not great. I paid attention to the IT this time but the breast was still kinda dry and the dark meat was just OK. Nothing special.

Attempt #3: Spatchcocked this time. My best effort so far. Thighs were very good, but breast was just pretty good. Skin was fine but not really crisp (yes, cracked the lid the last 15-20 minutes).

I guess what I really want is chicken that is just as juicy and slippery as Costco rotisserie chicken. Slippery chicken! (If that's a thing).

Yeah, flavor is there all day long—all 3 cooks. I just want moist meat. Crisp exterior would be great, but I’d settle for just juicy poultry for a start. I guess I can brine it and drown it in butter, but I thought the PBC was a can't-miss chicken cooker. I can do great things with chicken on my Performer, but I feel like I’m missing out on the PBC’s ace.

I’m interested in troubleshooting at some point, but right now I’m really just curious if any of you guys had PBC chicken fails before it rocked it? If so, what was the secret to getting it straightened out? Thanks.
Click to expand...

I've never had dry breasts when cooking chicken in the PBC. I cook chickens cut in half like shown in the PBC videos. I don't brine or inject. Although I may start injecting just to get the injection flavor deep down in the breast. Anyway to me it sounds like you are over cooking since your complaint it dry breasts. Dark meat can handle being over cooked which is probably why your thighs were still juicy. I would make sure whatever thermometer you are using to determine that the breasts are at 165° is accurate. Otherwise I have no idea why your chicken is not turning out. Chicken is probably the easiest cook I've done in the PBC.....
 
Well, brisket turned out pretty good. Probably could have gone another 30 minutes in the PBC before resting. It was hard to manage temps for the first two hours. Wind and blowing rain kept me busy. Burnt ends were very good. Ended up with a pretty decent bark on the flat. Thanks for the tips fellas.

Brisket chili tomorrow.

I think I will cook some stuffed poblano next time. Maybe even toy around with making PBC crispy relleno.
 

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As I understand it, PBC chicken is the ultimate in smoked chicken, as well as the PBC's undisputed forte. My impression is that chicken halves on the PBC are such a slam dunk you’d have to be some kind of thick box of hair to produce anything other than beautiful golden-brown moist succulent chicken. Unfortunately . . .

I've had a tough time with it so far. Great ribs, great pulled pork, very good brisket, but mediocre chicken:

Attempt #1: Just flat out dry. Didn't pay enough attention to it and breast was 170+ before I noticed. (halves). OK, so that's on me.

Attempt #2: Better halves, but not great. I paid attention to the IT this time but the breast was still kinda dry and the dark meat was just OK. Nothing special.

Attempt #3: Spatchcocked this time. My best effort so far. Thighs were very good, but breast was just pretty good. Skin was fine but not really crisp (yes, cracked the lid the last 15-20 minutes)

I guess what I really want is chicken that is just as juicy and slippery as Costco rotisserie chicken. Slippery chicken! (If that's a thing).

Yeah, flavor is there all day long—all 3 cooks. I just want moist meat. Crisp exterior would be great, but I’d settle for just juicy poultry for a start. I guess I can brine it and drown it in butter, but I thought the PBC was a can't-miss chicken cooker. I can do great things with chicken on my Performer, but I feel like I’m missing out on the PBC’s ace.

I’m interested in troubleshooting at some point, but right now I’m really just curious if any of you guys had PBC chicken fails before it rocked it? If so, what was the secret to getting it straightened out? Thanks.



I got the following ideas after reading 447 pages of posts:
1) After 1/2 hour, lift the lid for a minute or so then replace. Repeat this every 15 minutes.
2) Either crack the lid or remove it for the last 15 minutes.

Worked like a charm. Perfectly crispy skin and incredibly moist inside.
 
Last edited:
hs106 said:
As I understand it, PBC chicken is the ultimate in smoked chicken, as well as the PBC's undisputed forte. My impression is that chicken halves on the PBC are such a slam dunk you’d have to be some kind of thick box of hair to produce anything other than beautiful golden-brown moist succulent chicken. Unfortunately . . .

I've had a tough time with it so far. Great ribs, great pulled pork, very good brisket, but mediocre chicken:

Attempt #1: Just flat out dry. Didn't pay enough attention to it and breast was 170+ before I noticed. (halves). OK, so that's on me.

Attempt #2: Better halves, but not great. I paid attention to the IT this time but the breast was still kinda dry and the dark meat was just OK. Nothing special.

Attempt #3: Spatchcocked this time. My best effort so far. Thighs were very good, but breast was just pretty good. Skin was fine but not really crisp (yes, cracked the lid the last 15-20 minutes)

I guess what I really want is chicken that is just as juicy and slippery as Costco rotisserie chicken. Slippery chicken! (If that's a thing).

Yeah, flavor is there all day long—all 3 cooks. I just want moist meat. Crisp exterior would be great, but I’d settle for just juicy poultry for a start. I guess I can brine it and drown it in butter, but I thought the PBC was a can't-miss chicken cooker. I can do great things with chicken on my Performer, but I feel like I’m missing out on the PBC’s ace.

I’m interested in troubleshooting at some point, but right now I’m really just curious if any of you guys had PBC chicken fails before it rocked it? If so, what was the secret to getting it straightened out? Thanks.



I got the following ideas after reading 447 pages of posts:
1) After 1/2 hour, lift the lid for a minute or so then replace. Repeat this every 15 minutes.
2) Either crack the lid or remove it for the last 15 minutes.

Worked like a charm. Perfectly crispy skin and incredibly moist inside.
Click to expand...

Alrighty. Thanks for the inspiration. I admire you for making it through the thread! I gave it a go, but had to just go buy my own and get cooking!
 
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