Hello all,
I've been cooking with gas for decades. After a frustrating experience making some pulled pork on the grass grill -- 2 butts, 16 lbs --I did some reading and purchased a Pit Barrel Cooker (PBC). The butts came out fine, btw, but was more work and tension than I needed.
My first couple experiences with the PBC were less than completely satisfactory.
Mainly, I think I do not like the flavor imparted by Kingsford briquettes. I followed the PBC lighting instructions, but maybe I needed to let them burn longer before starting to cook. Compounding the flavor issue was some smoked paprika I used in the rub which I think just tastes bad. (Trader Joe's Smoked Paprika. I will not use it again.)
Most recently I cooked 3 racks of ribs over Royal Oak hardwood lump charcoal with a few hickory chips thrown in for smoke. Much better. Not perfect, as they could have staying over the coals a little longer, but darned good! I'll stick with the lump charcoal for now....
