PBC issue continues

[Irrivirsible]

I have only cooked on it about 4 times in the little over a year and a half I have owned it but it continues to not cook evenly. The latest is a 7 pound pork butt. I light according to instructions and have even tried suggestions from the company with the same results. I can understand if I need to adjust the lighting procedure to maintain desired temps but cooking unevenly I dont know how to fix. After dumping the coals in I spread them evenly over the basket on both sides. I have watched videos on you tube and some of them don't even do follow procedures exactly and it still comes out great. With mine part of the meat gets to the desired temp and part of it don't. Even if I let it go for a ridiculous amount of time and get it there the meat is inconsistent with some spots tender and others are not. Some even on the tough side. I am at a loss to understand where to go from here.

 

[SmittyJonz]

What temperature are you cooking it to? how are you deciding if it's done ? Just about any piece of meat will have different temperature readings in different areas

Sounds like it is under cooked - 198-200-204* is Done.

7 lb butt oughta take about 8 hrs.

 

[ssv3]

Is the fire in the basket burning evenly? Are your briqs (assuming the type of fuel) just glowing on one side is what I mean.

Also are at sea level?

 

[Irrivirsible]

The briquettes are burning evenly. I pulled it at 200 degrees. Even the more tender parts were not as tender as normal for a butt. Wrapped in foil when the thicker parts were about mid 160s and another part was about 150. Added a little liquid to the foil too. I use the sea level setting based upon my location and have even gone to the smaller Weber chimney because the larger one the briquetes were all completely covered over in 15 minutes. I also have tried 12 as per Amber and Noah. Just doesn't make sense.

 

[SmittyJonz]

Is your thermometer accurate ?

How long was the cook ?

 

[AClarke44]

The briquettes are burning evenly. I pulled it at 200 degrees. Even the more tender parts were not as tender as normal for a butt. Wrapped in foil when the thicker parts were about mid 160s and another part was about 150. Added a little liquid to the foil too. I use the sea level setting based upon my location and have even gone to the smaller Weber chimney because the larger one the briquetes were all completely covered over in 15 minutes. I also have tried 12 as per Amber and Noah. Just doesn't make sense.

Don't worry about how long your briquettes are taking to get hot in the chimney just make sure they are all glowing red. Then pour over the rest in the coal basket.
I'm wondering about your thermometer as well. What brand are you using? Also when you place the probe into the butt to monitor temp while cooking are you sure you are getting it into the middle of the thickest part?

 

[SmittyJonz]

What pork butt are you buying ? if it's a bone in you cook it till the bone Wiggles like kids lose tooth.

 

[Irrivirsible]

I didn't have a probe in the meat monitoring the cook, I was checking with a Thermapen. I am very careful to make sure of thermometer placement. I did not check the Thermapen for accuracy this time but have previously. The cook was right about 6 hours. I know this is going to be hard to believe but the bone pulled out very easy but the meat was not as it should have been. I am not trolling here. I think what I should do is start to monitor cooker temp. I keep trying without doing that and I am getting nowhere. I was using the recommended Kingsford briquettes. I have some sealed bags left from last season unless that could be a problem.

 

[LTG]

Maybe it was a bad butt? Not every part of a pork butt will have the same tenderness, especially the parts of it that are stringy white meat when pulled. Temp is nothing but a guide, go by probe feel.

 

[ssv3]

Yep! Could just be a stubborn piece of meat since you've said you only cooked on the pbc 4 times . Also, I noticed you said you pulled at a certain temp. Remember that temp is only your guidance and you should pull by feel aka "hot knife through butter"

 

[Fwismoker]

The secret on butts if there is one would be to rest it for a few hours wrapped. Say the bone wiggles @ 195-200, you still want it to rest for a few hours because it will continue to render fat and the connective tissues will keep breaking down.

 

[Brew-Bq]

I have only cooked on it about 4 times in the little over a year and a half I have owned it but it continues to not cook evenly.

So about once every 4 or five months? Are you remembering the details of each cook? The PBC is just a simple barrel smoker. Cooking unevenly is just not very likely attributable to the PBC. Whatever issues you are having I would look to the meat and time. Its done when its done. The PBC is simply too small to provide any significant temp variances if your coal bed is even.

 

[SmittyJonz]

I Think you just need to buy a different pork butt and cook it 30 minutes to an hour longer should be 1 hr or so per lb and rest 1-2 hrs. Might go 204-206*. Most of us cook to feel.

What butt are you buying? What rub?'prep?

 

[jjjonz]

What Andrews says about starting. I do it the quick way and use lighter fluid. No matter what you start it with ....you need red hot coals, I do cook my butts to 200 foil and put in a ice chest for a couple hours .

 

[SmittyJonz]

It's not the PBC it's too small to cook uneven or have hot and cold spots

 

[Irrivirsible]

I let it rest 1.5 hours in the foil wrapped in a towel in a cooler. Looking back at start and finish time it was 6.5 hours when I pulled the meat. I bought it at BJs. it said pork butt not pork shoulder.

 

[Irrivirsible]

Thanks for the replies and suggestions.

 

[jsmorrow2s]

as for lighting the PBC, I ABSOLUTELY DO NOT BELIEVE IN LIGHTING THE PBC PER EXCAT INSTRUCTIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i lit it twice exactly as the instructions said and i twice had crappy cooks.

then i had a talk with Fwismoker and came up with an excellent lighting technique that i use routinely now and have never had a problem with creosote laden food!

heres how i light it: fill the charcoal basket even with kbb briquettes. take 40 whole briquettes out and put them in your chimney. grab some newspaper and make it into a ball. throw a couple tbs of veggie oil on it (trust me, it burns hotter and longer than without) and light the newspaper. set a 15 min timer. meanwhile, in the charcoal basket, push the remaining briquettes to the side so that there is a hollow center. when your timer goes off, pour your lit charcoal in the center and lower it into the pbc. leave the rebar out and slightly crack the lid. wait 10 minutes. add the rebar add close the lid. wait 15 minutes and then add your food.

i feel that it may be slightly overkill but hey, it works for me. a small hotter fire burns a heck of a lot better than when spread out over cooler spaces. also leaving the rebar out and lid slightly cracked, it runs a little hot at first so that it produces little to no smoke and the smoke it does produce is like thin blue wisps.

i have never had a problem with uneven cooks. that being said, thin pieces of meat will cook faster than thicker pieces and cooking times will vary even with the same size pieces of meat (example: a 5 lb frier turkey might take 105 min one time and 120 min the next)

 

[agensop]

are you using enough coals??? are you using a full basket or not. i stopped using a full basket after i knew pretty well how much i needed to cooked for what. but i def started with a full basket my first few cooks.

 

[Pocchampion]

as for lighting the PBC, I ABSOLUTELY DO NOT BELIEVE IN LIGHTING THE PBC PER EXCAT INSTRUCTIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i lit it twice exactly as the instructions said and i twice had crappy cooks.

then i had a talk with Fwismoker and came up with an excellent lighting technique that i use routinely now and have never had a problem with creosote laden food!

heres how i light it: fill the charcoal basket even with kbb briquettes. take 40 whole briquettes out and put them in your chimney. grab some newspaper and make it into a ball. throw a couple tbs of veggie oil on it (trust me, it burns hotter and longer than without) and light the newspaper. set a 15 min timer. meanwhile, in the charcoal basket, push the remaining briquettes to the side so that there is a hollow center. when your timer goes off, pour your lit charcoal in the center and lower it into the pbc. leave the rebar out and slightly crack the lid. wait 10 minutes. add the rebar add close the lid. wait 15 minutes and then add your food.

i feel that it may be slightly overkill but hey, it works for me. a small hotter fire burns a heck of a lot better than when spread out over cooler spaces. also leaving the rebar out and lid slightly cracked, it runs a little hot at first so that it produces little to no smoke and the smoke it does produce is like thin blue wisps.

i have never had a problem with uneven cooks. that being said, thin pieces of meat will cook faster than thicker pieces and cooking times will vary even with the same size pieces of meat (example: a 5 lb frier turkey might take 105 min one time and 120 min the next)

I have had excellent results following Noah's advice for lighting the fire. Have tried both lighter fluid method and minion and both work equally as well.

Try cooking several days or weekends in a short period of time so you can learn timing for your climate and altitude. The cooker is sensitive to temp and wind and you need to learn how it reacts.

I have had nothing but great food come off of mine. I use a dot thermometer to monitor food then check for tenderness.