Bush438
Knows what a fatty is.
Hello Fellow Brethren,
This is my first post on the Q and I don't mean to beat a dead horse with the PBC vs WSM topic. I've been grilling on a Weber Genesis for the past few years and have always been interested in smoking and grilling with charcoal. After browsing online and doing some research I realized the Weber Smokey Mountain was for me. That was until I kept coming across this miracle wonder called the Pit Barrel Cooker. With so many threads about which one is ideal or better there simply wasn't a definitive answer. At one point I was about to pull the trigger on the PBC but I knew I'd always question myself for not getting a proven product like the WSM. Then the exact opposite happened and when I was about to pull the trigger on the WSM I knew I'd be kicking myself for not getting a highly reviewed smoker/cooker like the PBC. I knew I could get the hanging grates and remove the water pan for the WSM and have it act as a PBC but some say the taste comparison between the two is not the same.
Well, I was fortunate enough to be able to pull the trigger on both. I got the 18.5 WSM for $250 with a Lowes coupon. I also got the PBC delivered to my door for $299 which included shipping and no tax. Yes, I'll be broke for a pretty long while but they are both great deals in my opinion. The Weber is a proven product with excellent customer service. The PBC, a family owned and operated company and all made right here in the USA.
I have received both smokers, unboxing and assembly was a breeze. The WSM, straight forward took me about 25 minutes. The PBC took me longer to unbox than it did to "assemble". Talk about a product that is ready to go out of the box! The porcelain enamel coating on both is beautiful and quite frankly I can't tell the difference in quality. The two rubs included with the PBC are a very nice touch.
I haven't cooked on either one yet but wanted them ready to go for my first outing. I welcome any suggestions and tips from those of you in this great forum. I do already have a few good takeaways from some threads on here.
I have placed an 18" pizza pan at the bottom of the PBC to act as an ash catcher. I'm also looking to get some flexible fridge magnets to put in the air vents after cooks to kill the fire and preserve some charcoal. I haven't done any mods on it as most say not to mess with this thing.
For the WSM I got an extra bottom charcoal grate to cross it 90 degrees with the original to prevent ash from falling below. Does anyone place HD foil below the charcoal grates to preserve the bottom? I intend to line the water pan with HD foil as well. I like Harry Soo's (Slap Yo Daddy) process for seasoning a new WSM but if I read correctly he says he never uses water at all on the water pan? He foils it and leaves it empty or puts sand in it? Anyone familiar with this or use their WSM this way?
I also read about the importance of a good probe and thermometer. I was split between the Maverick ET-733 and the ThermoWorks DOT 1200. The major difference seemed to be that the Maverick had a transmitter but the ThermoWorks didn't. Because I don't see myself leaving my smokers for an extended period of time during cooks I decided on the ThermoWorks. It gets pretty high reviews, especially for the quality of the probes. I got a meat and air temp probe with it.
For charcoal I'm going to start out by using the Kingsford original briquettes. The PBC recommends them and WSM owners seem to like them as well. Once I'm comfortable enough with the cookers I might venture into some lump charcoal.
Finally I got a Weber Chimney Starter, but the smaller compact one instead of the standard size. It appears that on the PBC videos the compact chimney starter works better to pour the briquettes in the chamber. I think this should also work well for the size of the 18.5 WSM for the minion method.
Anyway, sorry for the long post. I will try to post pictures of my first cooking experience with these. Again, any suggestions and tips are greatly appreciated. Shout out to Ron_L, 7over, 16 Adams, PatioDaddio, flyingbassman5, ssv3, BobBrisket and others who had lots of good information on the PBC and WSM in numerous threads. :thumb:
This is my first post on the Q and I don't mean to beat a dead horse with the PBC vs WSM topic. I've been grilling on a Weber Genesis for the past few years and have always been interested in smoking and grilling with charcoal. After browsing online and doing some research I realized the Weber Smokey Mountain was for me. That was until I kept coming across this miracle wonder called the Pit Barrel Cooker. With so many threads about which one is ideal or better there simply wasn't a definitive answer. At one point I was about to pull the trigger on the PBC but I knew I'd always question myself for not getting a proven product like the WSM. Then the exact opposite happened and when I was about to pull the trigger on the WSM I knew I'd be kicking myself for not getting a highly reviewed smoker/cooker like the PBC. I knew I could get the hanging grates and remove the water pan for the WSM and have it act as a PBC but some say the taste comparison between the two is not the same.
Well, I was fortunate enough to be able to pull the trigger on both. I got the 18.5 WSM for $250 with a Lowes coupon. I also got the PBC delivered to my door for $299 which included shipping and no tax. Yes, I'll be broke for a pretty long while but they are both great deals in my opinion. The Weber is a proven product with excellent customer service. The PBC, a family owned and operated company and all made right here in the USA.
I have received both smokers, unboxing and assembly was a breeze. The WSM, straight forward took me about 25 minutes. The PBC took me longer to unbox than it did to "assemble". Talk about a product that is ready to go out of the box! The porcelain enamel coating on both is beautiful and quite frankly I can't tell the difference in quality. The two rubs included with the PBC are a very nice touch.
I haven't cooked on either one yet but wanted them ready to go for my first outing. I welcome any suggestions and tips from those of you in this great forum. I do already have a few good takeaways from some threads on here.
I have placed an 18" pizza pan at the bottom of the PBC to act as an ash catcher. I'm also looking to get some flexible fridge magnets to put in the air vents after cooks to kill the fire and preserve some charcoal. I haven't done any mods on it as most say not to mess with this thing.
For the WSM I got an extra bottom charcoal grate to cross it 90 degrees with the original to prevent ash from falling below. Does anyone place HD foil below the charcoal grates to preserve the bottom? I intend to line the water pan with HD foil as well. I like Harry Soo's (Slap Yo Daddy) process for seasoning a new WSM but if I read correctly he says he never uses water at all on the water pan? He foils it and leaves it empty or puts sand in it? Anyone familiar with this or use their WSM this way?
I also read about the importance of a good probe and thermometer. I was split between the Maverick ET-733 and the ThermoWorks DOT 1200. The major difference seemed to be that the Maverick had a transmitter but the ThermoWorks didn't. Because I don't see myself leaving my smokers for an extended period of time during cooks I decided on the ThermoWorks. It gets pretty high reviews, especially for the quality of the probes. I got a meat and air temp probe with it.
For charcoal I'm going to start out by using the Kingsford original briquettes. The PBC recommends them and WSM owners seem to like them as well. Once I'm comfortable enough with the cookers I might venture into some lump charcoal.
Finally I got a Weber Chimney Starter, but the smaller compact one instead of the standard size. It appears that on the PBC videos the compact chimney starter works better to pour the briquettes in the chamber. I think this should also work well for the size of the 18.5 WSM for the minion method.
Anyway, sorry for the long post. I will try to post pictures of my first cooking experience with these. Again, any suggestions and tips are greatly appreciated. Shout out to Ron_L, 7over, 16 Adams, PatioDaddio, flyingbassman5, ssv3, BobBrisket and others who had lots of good information on the PBC and WSM in numerous threads. :thumb:
