The PBC has a "sweet spot" in the center where the food hangs and just above the grate placement. If you go through the PBC section here and look at the posts that have monitored temps that area averages about 300 degrees. This can be affected by loading with more or less charcoal than recommended (to top of basket), the intial food load, and by increasing airflow by either leaving out the rods or changing the damper or both. Best advice is to always insert the rods even if you aren't using them, leave the damper alone, and fill to the recommended level.
You will notice some temperature difference in results on some foods. For instance, if you have racks of ribs that are long, the bottom rib or two may char, but the rest will be correctly cooked. If you use the grid, you may need to adjust your recipe for a higher temperature than you've used in your stick burner or pellet cooker. I had to shorten the cook time for my competition chicken recipe, for instance, but it worked very well once I tuned the timing and I got a walk out of it.
The PBC's 20 minute lighting recommendation works very well but you must leave the lid off after lighting. When you put the food in the coals will be super-hot and the temp will be very high. Within a few minutes of the lid going on after the food goes in, the cooker will settle down (based on air flow with rods, lid on, and damper unmolested). Here's a biggie: If you lift the lid to look at the food frequently you're inducing a lot of extra air into the cook chamber and your average temperature will be significantly higher!!! The old adage, "If you're lookin' you aint cookin'" really applies here.
The PBC design contemplates "no maintenance" cooking and their recipies and approaches are scaled for it. I've had very good results, especially on chicken halves hung as recommended in the video. Fill the charcoal pan to the top, no more and no less, for consistency.
If, after several more tries, you're still disatisfied with your cooker, look into something adjustable like one of the Weber verticals where you can (and should) regulate dampers and utilize ring and feed methods for combustion control. That might make you more comfortable overall.
Hub