Author Topic: PBC flavor  (Read 6135 times)

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Offline gbwsmoker

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PBC flavor
« Reply #-1 on: July 07, 2016, 06:25:16 PM »
After reading all of the rave reviews and wanting to cook more than one rack of ribs at a time, I purchased a PBC.  I have done three cooks so far: ribs, chicken and brisket.  The results were disappointing and I am asking for help. 

For the ribs, I used Kingsford blue bag and lit the coals with a chimney exactly as shown on the website.  Vent is 1/4 open as I live at sea level.  The ribs had a chemical/petroleum flavor as though rubbed with ground up Kingsford.  Did not use a thermometer to check pit temp.

For the chicken, I lit the same way but added a chunk of hickory.  Same flavor, flabby skin and dry chicken.

For the brisket, I lit with lighter fluid as per instructions and hung the beef.  Salt and pepper rub.  Used two probes.  The PBC was close to 400 degrees and the beef hit 160 after only two hours.  I then wrapped it and finished the cook until I had it at 200 which took several more hours but nowhere near the 12 it would have taken had I used a low and slow with a stick burner.  Beef was tender but very little of the fat had rendered and it had the same off taste.

I have been all over the LTBBQ website and have found some others with the same flavor issue.

When watching Steven Raichlen use the PBC on tv, on one cook (the jerk ribs) he used real wood charcoal, put wood chips on top of that and added a half chimney of cherry red real wood charcoal on top.  On another cook, a view inside the drum showed the coals appearing lit all the way from top to bottom - no unlit dark areas.

I am no novice to BBQ and have been smoking successfully for  many years. The PBC seemed to offer a way to cook larger amounts without having to tend a good offset overnight.

A few questions:

1.  Is the petroleum flavor the normal flavor profile for the PBC or is there a way to get the good hickory smoked flavor I am used to here in the south?

2.  Will using wood charcoal instead of briquettes provide wood flavor?

3.  Should the coals be lit all the way as per Raichlen's show or will that make for too high a temp in the pit?

4.  Has anyone tried using real wood instead of charcoal?  I have plenty of oak, dry and ready to use.

Any advice will be welcome.  Thanks.

gbwsmoker

Offline Kona

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Re: PBC flavor
« on: July 07, 2016, 06:37:34 PM »
in regards to your questions...

1. I know some people just don't like the flavor of charcoal. I don't taste petroleum in my cooks when using KBB, it tastes to me like food cooked over charcoal has always tasted.

2. Do you have a Lowes near you? A lot of PBC owners including myself prefer Stubbs charcoal. To me it's a natural wood grilled flavor.



3. I've always done the lighter fluid method and I was making the mistake of letting the coals get too hot. Now I light the coals and hang my meat at exactly 12 minutes and cover. Very few of the coals are whited over. If they are too white, your temps will get too hot and then drop in the middle of a cook as the coals burn out too fast.

4. I have never used real wood but have added chunks and chips on my coals for cooks
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Offline JustAl

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Re: PBC flavor
« Reply #1 on: July 07, 2016, 06:58:03 PM »
Stubbs for me. KBB is too strong IMO. I've yet to get  crispy chicken skin,  but plan to bump up the PBC to 400 this weekend and see what I get.
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Offline gbwsmoker

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Re: PBC flavor
« Reply #2 on: July 07, 2016, 07:52:53 PM »
Thanks.  There is a Lowe's nearby and they stock Stubbs.  I will try that.

Offline Pappymn

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PBC flavor
« Reply #3 on: July 07, 2016, 08:20:10 PM »
I checked out the Lowes website to see if my local store had Stubbs, would like to try it. They did.
Then my eye wandered to Cowboy brand lump. The reviews are really bad. Nails, rocks, tiny pieces of lump that fall through the grates. The reviewers said it used to be a great product. Wonder how a company could let quality slide so much
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Offline smokeasaurus

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Re: PBC flavor
« Reply #4 on: July 07, 2016, 09:15:11 PM »
I have used KBB for over 5 years in my PBC with great results.

I have a question for you: Have you contacted Noah and Amber about your issues?

They will do everything possible to get your PBC running great  :)
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Offline teesquare

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Re: PBC flavor
« Reply #5 on: July 07, 2016, 09:26:15 PM »
I checked out the Lowes website to see if my local store had Stubbs, would like to try it. They did.
Then my eye wandered to Cowboy brand lump. The reviews are really bad. Nails, rocks, tiny pieces of lump that fall through the grates. The reviewers said it used to be a great product. Wonder how a company could let quality slide so much

I have been using Cowboy for a couple of years (?) now...and no problems here. Like it a lot....
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Offline teesquare

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Re: PBC flavor
« Reply #6 on: July 07, 2016, 09:32:14 PM »
"A few questions:

1.  Is the petroleum flavor the normal flavor profile for the PBC or is there a way to get the good hickory smoked flavor I am used to here in the south?
Have you tried using fire starter cubes or newspaper to lite your charcoal. Everyone's tastebuds and sense of smell are individual? I am surprised sometimes by just how different we can be from one another in the area of smell and taste....

2.  Will using wood charcoal instead of briquettes provide wood flavor?
It will provide a different flavor. Some like it - others do not.

3.  Should the coals be lit all the way as per Raichlen's show or will that make for too high a temp in the pit?
I find that allowing a little more burn in time on the coals before I start cooking over them will make for a "cleaner" taste - personally.
4.  Has anyone tried using real wood instead of charcoal?  I have plenty of oak, dry and ready to use.
Not sure anyone has tried that to my knowledge....But- why not? You my be able to ad to the knowledge base with an experiment!

Any advice will be welcome.  Thanks.

gbwsmoker"
« Last Edit: July 08, 2016, 09:44:14 AM by teesquare »
BBQ is neither verb or noun. It is an experience.
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Offline Pit Barrel Cooker Co.

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Re: PBC flavor
« Reply #7 on: July 08, 2016, 09:52:38 AM »
Please feel free to call us at the office and we can answer your questions! We do not recommend wood chunks since they burn much hotter and greatly increase the temperatures of the Pit Barrel Cooker. As recommended in the Troubleshooting Video on our website found under Video Recipes, we only recommend a handful of wood chips right before adding the food. We do not recommend using any accelerants when lighting the coals, unless you are using lighter fluid and that is just a quick douse to get them started. Getting the coals too hot too soon will result in less than desired outcomes. The coals should not be ashed over before the food goes into the PBC, this causes temps to be too high too soon and the coals will become exhausted to soon and the barrel temps will drop in the later part of the cook. The Pit Barrel Cooker, when properly lit and used, will average between 275 - 310F and the coals will last 7-8 hours. Deviation from our recommendations will produce different results. Please check out all the information on our website at www.pitbarrelcooker.com under Video Recipes and please call us with questions or concerns. The number is 502-228-1222.

Offline stalag

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Re: PBC flavor
« Reply #8 on: July 08, 2016, 10:41:13 AM »
Speaking about the properties of charcoal/wood, the petroleum taste that some are experiencing with the Kingsford brand briquettes are more than likely due to the binders in the charcoal itself.  I would try different brands until you light on a brand that works for you.  Lump charcoal directly produced from trees will burn hotter due to the lack of binders and fillers and the fact what you are getting is carbonized wood (charcoal) only.  Keep this in mind for the cooks.  I do not see why you could not mix the two to moderate the temperatures.  Use of wood soaked in water then partially dried will smoke because the moisture retards the burn.  This will also work for charcoal as well.  Just don't oversoak or the fuel won't burn.  Burning occurs when you get a vapor layer between the solid fuel and the oxygen in the atmosphere.  Once started the combustion process is self feeding until you either block the oxygen source or run out of fuel. This is behavior that you will see if you experiment with the fuel.  This does not mean that I recommend that you follow this for cooking purposes.

It is recommended for both charcoal and wood especially used for cooking, that you keep it in storage conditions where the fuel is stored in a low humidity condition.  Best recommendation would be in a sealed cabinet or closet where the air humidity is regulated.  The lower the humidity level, the easier the fuel will start.  This is because the cellulose content in charcoal and wood is hygroscopic (water loving) and will soak with water even though you cannot see it.

However TentHunter in a conversation, suggests that you use dry wood chips in a foil pouch with a single tiny hole ideally no larger than a meat temperature thermometer sized hole in the pouch.  This will carbonize the wood chips and create a cleaner smoke as the foil pouch will capture the tars and other heavy volatiles inherent in the wood.
« Last Edit: July 08, 2016, 02:52:27 PM by stalag »
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Offline hikerman

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Re: PBC flavor
« Reply #9 on: July 08, 2016, 11:13:48 AM »
My advice would be to address ONE issue at a time and then assess the change good or bad.
I personally prefer Royal Oak briquettes over KBB. I don't dislike KBB but I prefer RO over it mainly because it is milder in residual taste.
There is a sweet spot to hit either way you light your coals. Waiting too long to hang meat will get you high temps that dwindle rapidly and the contrary....hanging meat too soon will allow the drippings on the coals to extinguish them, causing too low of temps.
Remember,  change one variable at a time until successful then move to the next issue. With diligence you will get a string of great cooks and never look back!

Also one more thing to try. Trim your meat. Excessive fatty meats dripping into coals will not only diminish temps/coals but also add to the grease-fog taste that some people do not like.

Offline Smokin Papa Steve

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Re: PBC flavor
« Reply #10 on: July 08, 2016, 01:37:56 PM »
After reading all of the rave reviews and wanting to cook more than one rack of ribs at a time, I purchased a PBC.  I have done three cooks so far: ribs, chicken and brisket.  The results were disappointing and I am asking for help. 

For the ribs, I used Kingsford blue bag and lit the coals with a chimney exactly as shown on the website.  Vent is 1/4 open as I live at sea level.  The ribs had a chemical/petroleum flavor as though rubbed with ground up Kingsford.  Did not use a thermometer to check pit temp.

For the chicken, I lit the same way but added a chunk of hickory.  Same flavor, flabby skin and dry chicken.
gbwsmoker

You have received a lot of good advise and I concur with others to change from KBB to Stubbs or my preferred Royal Oak Briquettes. I have stop doing chicken in the PBC (even with RO) since we do not like the taste.  I now grill chicken on my PK grill and then set it on the indirect side until done.  I have experienced many of the problems you had and in the end found that lighting about 25 coals in a chimney starter will yield a pit temp of around 250F which is what I want for smoking.  Lighting more coals is going to raise the pit tmep IMHO. Add a small amount of wood (un-soaked) for extra smoky flavor but don't overdo it

Offline smokeasaurus

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Re: PBC flavor
« Reply #11 on: July 08, 2016, 03:04:56 PM »
When I do add wood to a PBC cook, I don't use chunks. They can become a heat source. I like to use chips. I sprinkle them in between the briquettes when filling the charcoal basket. Used this way, I get the chips burning with the charcoal throughout the entire cook. Also a benefit of mixing them in with the charcoal is they wont burst into flames like when they are tossed on top of burning briqs..................
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Offline 70monte

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Re: PBC flavor
« Reply #12 on: July 08, 2016, 03:10:22 PM »
I've had my PBC for a couple of years now and use KBB and use the chimney to start my coals and have never experienced the issues that you are having.  I use KBB in all of my cookers and grills and they all seem to taste the same to me.  I guess some people's taste buds are more sensitive than others.  I hope you get it figured out.

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Offline Pappymn

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PBC flavor
« Reply #13 on: July 08, 2016, 03:32:56 PM »
When I do add wood to a PBC cook, I don't use chunks. They can become a heat source. I like to use chips. I sprinkle them in between the briquettes when filling the charcoal basket. Used this way, I get the chips burning with the charcoal throughout the entire cook. Also a benefit of mixing them in with the charcoal is they wont burst into flames like when they are tossed on top of burning briqs..................
And the The Smoke always soaks his wood chips in Chardonnay 8)
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