Pit Barrel Cooker (PBC) Appreciation Thread

[AClarke44]

Originally Posted by Deebo

Well, it hit -6 degrees here so there's no way in HELL i'll be doin any PBCing today! It's supposed to get back up into the 30's by the end of the week so we'll see. I've been going thru Q withdrawls so I'm really hoping to see some beef ribs sometime in my immediate future!!

Pansy!


Lol.....I guess I can't blame ya!

[Deebo]

Originally Posted by AClarke44

Pansy!


Lol.....I guess I can't blame ya!

LOL!!! Farker!!!

[highergr0und]

Got two friends to buy PBCs over the last month or so!!! We're thinking about doing a comp if one comes to middle TN that we can get into.

[defib]

image.jpg
It started as a 15.5 lb packer. Trimmed it and seasoned it last night. Started cooking at around 10 am. It stalled at around 4 pm. I realized my charcoal was starting to get low. So I pulled it and put it in a foil pan covered with foil. Into a 250 degree oven. At 195 it was pretty tender. I put it into an ice chest to rest for about 3 hours. Then it was carving time.

[defib]

Attachment 121076
Point and flat

[ssv3]

Originally Posted by defib

Attachment 121075
It started as a 15.5 lb packer. Trimmed it and seasoned it last night. Started cooking at around 10 am. It stalled at around 4 pm. I realized my charcoal was starting to get low. So I pulled it and put it in a foil pan covered with foil. Into a 250 degree oven. At 195 it was pretty tender. I put it into an ice chest to rest for about 3 hours. Then it was carving time.

Nice!!!! The brisket bend.

[jjjonz]

Originally Posted by Edonis13

First cook was a success!!! They were the best ribs I have ever cooked and I'm still amazed that it only took 3.5 hours to cook them. I'm used to using the 3-2-1 method on my other cookers, so nearly double the cook time. I look forward to trying some other meats in the PBC. I caught a little flak from the lady when she noticed this on the patio yesterday, but now she is very happy I got it, lol.

Man those are some fine looking ribs there. My wife thought I had lost it to for paying $300 for a 30 gallon drum.lol She changed her mind after she tasted of the food. Hey I went through that pellet pooper stage to.

[TexArlina BBQ]

Originally Posted by norcalBruin

Anyone try a beef tenderloin on the PBC? I'm thinking of using the PBC to smoke it to 10deg near desired IT, then cut it to about 2" thick slices, and lastly give it a quick sear on the stovetop so guests would be eating it like steaks. The other method would be to buy individual pieces of filet mignon and cook it on the grate. Not sure which would yield better results. Anybody done either or?

I cooked some beef tenderloin tails I picked up at SAMs. Very good off the PBC. Family thoroughly enjoyed!

[Edonis13]

Originally Posted by jjjonz

Man those are some fine looking ribs there. My wife thought I had lost it to for paying $300 for a 30 gallon drum.lol She changed her mind after she tasted of the food. Hey I went through that pellet pooper stage to.

Thanks. I love my pellet cookers but it is nice to still have a charcoal bbq to play with.

I had my first failure with the PBC a couple days ago. I am doing some test cooks getting ready for a party I'm hosting in a couple weeks and the other night was my tri tip test. I fired up my charcoal in the chimney for 15 minutes, dumped it in the basket with a couple wood chunks (Oak and Hickory) and let it come up to temp for 20 minutes. At 20 minutes the smoke was still really white/grey so I let it go for another 10 minutes. Surely that would give the pit plenty of time to be burning clean right? Wrong. I put the meat on and pulled it at 125* internal expecting carryover to take me into the low-mid 130's. It didn't. It was way too rare and had a horrible sour smoke taste that was unbearable. I threw the whole thing away.

Lesson learned, I really need to make sure it's burning clean before putting meat on it, even if that takes longer than I want and for my taste I need to cook them until at least 130* internal on this cooker. That's why I do test cooks.....

[AClarke44]

Very true about making sure you get clean smoke. I wonder what went wrong. Was your wood seasoned? Is it possible it got wet or something?

Also one thing you can try is cracking the lid. It should get a good fire going BUT, it will raise your temp. If you get clean smoke by cracking the lid, just put it back on and let the temp settle back down. Shouldn't take any longer than the 20 min you mentioned anyway.

[Edonis13]

Originally Posted by AClarke44

Very true about making sure you get clean smoke. I wonder what went wrong. Was your wood seasoned? Is it possible it got wet or something?

Also one thing you can try is cracking the lid. It should get a good fire going BUT, it will raise your temp. If you get clean smoke by cracking the lid, just put it back on and let the temp settle back down. Shouldn't take any longer than the 20 min you mentioned anyway.

Store bought wood chunks, so they SHOULD be reasonably seasoned (I have never had problem with them with several years of use).

Yeah, I should have cracked the lid for a bit to allow the fire to get up to speed. I'm clearly still learning how to cook on this thing.

[Bob C Cue]

Originally Posted by Edonis13

Thanks. I love my pellet cookers but it is nice to still have a charcoal bbq to play with.

I had my first failure with the PBC a couple days ago. I am doing some test cooks getting ready for a party I'm hosting in a couple weeks and the other night was my tri tip test. I fired up my charcoal in the chimney for 15 minutes, dumped it in the basket with a couple wood chunks (Oak and Hickory) and let it come up to temp for 20 minutes. At 20 minutes the smoke was still really white/grey so I let it go for another 10 minutes. Surely that would give the pit plenty of time to be burning clean right? Wrong. I put the meat on and pulled it at 125* internal expecting carryover to take me into the low-mid 130's. It didn't. It was way too rare and had a horrible sour smoke taste that was unbearable. I threw the whole thing away.

Lesson learned, I really need to make sure it's burning clean before putting meat on it, even if that takes longer than I want and for my taste I need to cook them until at least 130* internal on this cooker. That's why I do test cooks.....

When you say you brought it up to temp was that with the lid on or off?

[Edonis13]

Originally Posted by Bob C Cue

When you say you brought it up to temp was that with the lid on or off?

Lid on, rebar in. It came up to about 285* and settled in.

[Bob C Cue]

Originally Posted by Edonis13

Lid on, rebar in. It came up to about 285* and settled in.

OK though maybe you had the lid off and your temps got too high. When that happens the fire can drop quickly once you start your cook.

[jjjonz]

Originally Posted by Edonis13

Thanks. I love my pellet cookers but it is nice to still have a charcoal bbq to play with.

I had my first failure with the PBC a couple days ago. I am doing some test cooks getting ready for a party I'm hosting in a couple weeks and the other night was my tri tip test. I fired up my charcoal in the chimney for 15 minutes, dumped it in the basket with a couple wood chunks (Oak and Hickory) and let it come up to temp for 20 minutes. At 20 minutes the smoke was still really white/grey so I let it go for another 10 minutes. Surely that would give the pit plenty of time to be burning clean right? Wrong. I put the meat on and pulled it at 125* internal expecting carryover to take me into the low-mid 130's. It didn't. It was way too rare and had a horrible sour smoke taste that was unbearable. I threw the whole thing away.

Lesson learned, I really need to make sure it's burning clean before putting meat on it, even if that takes longer than I want and for my taste I need to cook them until at least 130* internal on this cooker. That's why I do test cooks.....

I wasn't trying to put down your pellet grills. I would most likely still have one, but just don't have the space or energy for to many grills.