I followed Noah's instructions to the letter. Opened the vent to 1/4, I'm at 456 above Sea level. I even went so far as to use a piece of wood to be sure my Kingsford was level with the top of the basket! Lit it with about 3/4 cup Kingsford Lighter Fluid, let it burn for 15 minutes before hanging the food. Did the same for both cooks.
The first one I did two racks of ribs, one rack of St Louie Spares, and one rack of Baby backs. I lost the baby backs to the fire, my fault, they looked a little deformed, but I hung them any way rather than trimming back the bones... I knew that would be my downfall.
I noticed more smoke coming off the PBC, and then a funky smell. That was at the two hour mark, and when I checked the Baby Backs were toast. The Spares on the other hand were almost done! I checked by pulling a bone and they were within 20-30 minutes of being done. I couldn't believe it, I sauced them at that point and let them go for another 20 minutes. They were perfect, perfect chew, perfect smoke ring, perfect taste.
Next I tried my hand at some Yard Bird, I checked the chicken at 1 hour and found that the breast was at 168.....I could have pulled it at 50 minutes. It was fantastic.
My question is, should I be concerned that things are not cooking per Noah's times? I know that my being at Sea level plays into to this, but to be that much faster.....I took the leftover into the office for my crew to try...all I heard was how phenomenal both the ribs and chicken were. These guys are all hardcore BBQ fans, one even said and I quote "That thing could give my Traeger a run for it's money".
Here are some picts...I did not take a picture of the finished Spares...I was still morning the loss of my Baby Backs. I should have trimmed of the first two bones and hooked them, I just didn't want to lose that much of the rack.
This is the PBC just before I hung the ribs, it is a mirror image of the fire I had when I cooked the chicken.
Ribs ready to be hung.
Hanging.
Chicken seasoned and ready to be hung.
Hanging, actually almost done.
Done.