Pit Barrel Cooker (PBC) Appreciation Thread

This was done a while ago, and I thought I shared.

This is homemade bacon.

Costco had full pork bellies a while back. I posted back a bit ago about the burnt ends and smoked pork belly I did. Well with the other half of the belly I cured it for 8 days and smoked on the PBC with about 10 coals in my Weber coal basket and a huge chunk of cherry wood. The temps stayed right around 190, which is perfect, until the end they really started to climb when the wood chunk really got hot.

The bacon was taken off when the internal temp reached 150.

Sorry, the pics are sideways.

ssv3 said:

I've done them both ways before the turkey hanger. Like Pharp said you can also spatchcock it.

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Thanks!

Could I hang two spatchcocked? My order got doubled!



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wrong spot.

Pork Belly Burnt Ends

These may be my favorite thing to eat.

Tannhauser42 said:

Don't necessarily need the turkey hanger. Here's an old video from the PBC channel where they cooked turkey before they made the special hanger.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZHIJ6IilCg


Anyway, this week was my mom's birthday, and instead of going out she wanted me to cook BBQ for her. So it'll be my parents, my wife's parents, and the two of us for dinner. So, I'm cooking a slab of spareribs and four chickens in the PBC today...for six people. I'm halving three of the chickens, with the fourth chicken being cooked whole for the meat for later (any leftover chicken will go into chicken enchilada casserole tomorrow). Also using the Big Green Egg to make some armadillo eggs and smoked mac-n-cheese (Malcolm Reed's recipe).

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I made a PBC turkey hanger before they existed and it's about as cheap and easy as it gets. Just go to Home Depot and get a 3' pre-cut 3/16" carbon steel rod and do the following:

- Cut it to about 35" inches
- Find the center and bend it in half into a steep A shape
- Bend 4" of the bottom of each leg of the A outward at slight upward angle
- Wash it well with hot soapy water
- Insert the apex of the A into the cavity and out through the neck hole
- Put a metal crossbar of some kind across the two PBC rods (I used a 10" piece of 3/8" rebar)
- Hang the A with a standard PBC hook on the crossbar (you will have to leave one PBC rod out until the turkey is in the cooker and then insert it)

Done!

PatioDaddio said:

I made a PBC turkey hanger before they existed and it's about as cheap and easy as it gets. Just go to Home Depot and get a 3' pre-cut 3/16" carbon steel rod and do the following:

- Cut it to about 35" inches
- Find the center and bend it in half into a steep A shape
- Bend 4" of the bottom of each leg of the A outward at slight upward angle
- Wash it well with hot soapy water
- Insert the apex of the A into the cavity and out through the neck hole
- Put a metal crossbar of some kind across the two PBC rods (I used a 10" piece of 3/8" rebar)
- Hang the A with a standard PBC hook on the crossbar (you will have to leave one PBC rod out until the turkey is in the cooker and then insert it)

Done!

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Great idea. Gonna give this a try. Quick (probably stupid) question though: If buying a 3' rod, is cutting an inch off per the first listed instruction important for some reason?

Thanks

hs106 said:

Great idea. Gonna give this a try. Quick (probably stupid) question though: If buying a 3' rod, is cutting an inch off per the first listed instruction important for some reason?

Thanks

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Great question. It really depends on the size (length) of the average turkey that you intend to cook. The A portion needs to be long enough for the apex to barely poke out of the neck cavity.

Given that you're obviously going DIY, buy the turkey, measure the length, and subtract about an inch. That will get you right in the ballpark.

Keep in mind that you'll be hanging it from a standard PBC hook, which adds about 4" to the hanging length.

I hope this helps,
John

P.S. From one vet to another, thanks for your service to our country!

PatioDaddio said:

P.S. From one vet to another, thanks for your service to our country!

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Back at ya!

Turkey test run!

Last weekend I did a test run for the Thanksgiving turkey (my first). Dry brined with Harvest Brine for ~55 hours and then smoked for 5 hours. I chose a 20 pound bird, which I think led to some problems. 20 pounds is about all the PBC can handle, it lead to only a few inches on either side of the widest part of the bird. This is where my probes were sitting, so they were registering pretty low, ~230, with a PartyQ. I didn't seem to be able to get it higher than that, and didn't want to burn the breasts by opening everything up. Still, the lid was hot to the touch, so I thought being close to the sides and meat was giving me a low reading.

Still cooking started well until the bird hit 151, where it stalled. I cranked up the PartyQ to 275. After ~30 minutes of solid work, the PartyQ did get it up to temp, and the bird made it to 161, when I cracked the lid until 165.

The reviews were great all around, minus the rubbery skin. For Thursday I have a 17 pound bird. I think a smaller bird and couple extra starter briquettes will speed up cooking time and help keep the PBC up to temp a higher temp. I detected a slight bitter smoke flavor, which I think will also be helped with smaller bird, warmer temps, and shorter cook times. I'll crack the lid at 155 to help crisp the skin, and aim for 300 as a cooking temp.

Anyway, on to the pictures!

So if using the turkey hangar, do you go legs UP or legs DOWN?

The PBC video is legs up, which just seems odd. Or maybe that's cuz I'm used to hanging chicken halfs breast-up...

Haole Pete said:

So if using the turkey hangar, do you go legs UP or legs DOWN?

The PBC video is legs up, which just seems odd. Or maybe that's cuz I'm used to hanging chicken halfs breast-up...

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Legs up.

Thanks!

Trying to read up, as I'm doing two turkeys on Thursday without ever having done one on the PBC before. :shock:

(We'll serve lotsa beer/wine just in case I biff it up.....)

Has anyone ever cooked a turkey larger than 20 lb? I just bought a turkey hanger and a 24-pound bird. Hopefully it fits. Should I do anything different? The last turkey I I did was about 17 lb. Any guesses on the estimated cook time for a 24-pound bird?

NKSmoke said:

Has anyone ever cooked a turkey larger than 20 lb? I just bought a turkey hanger and a 24-pound bird. Hopefully it fits. Should I do anything different? The last turkey I I did was about 17 lb. Any guesses on the estimated cook time for a 24-pound bird?

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A 20 pound bird fit with a few inches of room on either side. You might be able to get a 24 pounder in there. The problem I found with 20 pounds was it was tough to keep temps high enough.

For cook time I would give yourself 5-6 hours depending on temp.

PNWSmoke said:

A 20 pound bird fit with a few inches of room on either side. You might be able to get a 24 pounder in there. The problem I found with 20 pounds was it was tough to keep temps high enough.

For cook time I would give yourself 5-6 hours depending on temp.

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Thanks for the input! It fit down into a 5 gallon bucked of brine so it should fit ok. I am hoping that keeping the temp high enough wont be a problem for me as my PBC tends to run hot normally. Normally I start out with 12 lit coals over a full basket and end up having to foil all but one of the rebar holes to keep it below 300. For some reason it likes to run hot!

Rib roast and turkey breast went in about an hour ago. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

Did a 19 1/2 pound turkey on the Pit Barrel. Injected it with Creole butter and used some Pit Barrel All Purpose rub. Temps ranged between 275 - 325 consistently this 28 degree windy day in New Jersey.

The bird was awesome. Tender, juicy, and full of flavor. My folks have never had a turkey cooked this way and they were raving about it. Happy Thanksgiving to all!

And the PBC comes through again. Ran kinda hot but I may have put too many coals in this time. Still, nothing at all wrong with the finished product. Some of the juiciest turkey I have evet eaten.

Jackson Boys BBQ said:

Did a 19 1/2 pound turkey on the Pit Barrel. Injected it with Creole butter and used some Pit Barrel All Purpose rub. Temps ranged between 275 - 325 consistently this 28 degree windy day in New Jersey.

The bird was awesome. Tender, juicy, and full of flavor. My folks have never had a turkey cooked this way and they were raving about it. Happy Thanksgiving to all!

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Looks great! Congratulations on a fine cook.

gwlee7 said:

And the PBC comes through again. Ran kinda hot but I may have put too many coals in this time. Still, nothing at all wrong with the finished product. Some of the juiciest turkey I have evet eaten.

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My that looks tasty! Way to go!