Let's Talk BBQ
FORUM SPONSORS => Pit Barrel Cooker Co. => Topic started by: GRA on July 07, 2015, 09:50:34 AM
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Having used a WSM for several years I saw an opportunity to get a new toy to play with and bought my dad a PBC. This past week I did 2 cooks on it with interesting results.
Due to weather and schedule the first cook was more ambitious than originally planned. I cooked a 8.5 lb pork butt and 4 racks of baby back ribs. From everything I had read the PBC cooks hotter than a typical smoker such as my WSM. I was at about 800ft elevation and set the vent at 1/4 as instructed. I used the charcoal chimney lighting method. I let the coals burn 15 minutes in the chimney, poured them in the charcoal pan and almost immediately hung the butt. I had also buried 3 small chunks of hickory in the coals - I couldn't resist coming from a WSM. I also used my Maverick for the butt and the cooker temp and ran the wires through one of the rebar holes.
To my surprise the cooker was only at 230 initially. I figured it was because of the cold hunk of meat. It slowly rose to 270 but that was the highest it ever got. The butt was taking longer than I expected based on the video. I tried opening the vent a little, even up to 1/2, but it seemed to have almost no effect on the temperature. After 2 hours, 4 hours before dinner, I put on the ribs. Now the temperature was around 230. The temp continued to slowly drop. It was down to about 205, 5 hours from the start. I decided I needed to add more charcoal so I heated more in the chimney,took all of the meat out, poured in the coals, put everything back and then the temp went up to maybe 280.
When the butt finally reached 160 after 6 hours or so I wrapped it in foil leaving in the hooks and rehung it. The ribs seemed to be slower than expected so at 5 hours I took them off to sauce them. My first tragedy happened when one rack caught on the rebar and fell into the coals. I quickly retrieved it without too much damage and rebooked it. I then sauced the racks and rehung them. When I went to get them after 15-20 minutes 2 more had fallen to the bottom!
The bright side of this is that the results were excellent! Aside from a few burned and ashy ribs the rest were some of the best I've had. Really like the flavor from the PBC. The butt finally finished after 10 1/2 hours and was also really good.
A couple days later I took on a turkey breast. This time no wood chunks. Same starting process but let the chimney burn a couple more minutes. I ran the thermometer wires under the lid instead of through the rebar holes. I still put the turkey on after just a few minutes but this time the cooker was at 340 and stayed at 340-350 the whole cook. Turkey was excellent despite the temp getting to 170 rather than the 160 I planned.
I can't understand why with very little change in process the cooker temperatures were so different. Appreciate insights from some experienced cooks.
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I'm still a beginner, myself, but my first thought is that you went from having one rebar hole half-plugged with the two thermometer wires, to having that hole unplugged and the lid cracked a bit. This lets much more air through (more than you realize), and therefore allowed the coals to heat up more. I know it seems like an insignificant change, but sometimes that's all it takes.
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In my experience, any obstruction to the seal on the lid lid (in your case, your temp probe wire) really changes the combustion rate (and therefore the cooker temp). I use this fact to my advantage when I want a hotter cook, like for chicken. I will sometimes place a piece of folded aluminum foil between the barrel and the lid to create a small gap, similar to the gap that your probe wire created. It doesn't take much of a gap in the lid to crank up the cooking temp.
The PBC seems to be designed to cook at around 250-280 with the lid completely sealed and both rebars in place, assuming the coals have got a good start.
I suspect that your lower than expected temps on your first cook might be due to your lighting method. When I've done the chimney method, I pour the chimney coals onto the basket of unlit coals, and I let the cooker sit with the lid open for another five minutes before hanging the meat to allow some of the unlit coals to start greying over. This seems to produce that 250-280 temp range I mentioned above. When I've tried to hang meat right after dumping the chimney, I've noticed cooler cooking temps.
Finally, if you experience lower than expected cooking temps, crack the lid for just a few minutes. It usually doesn't take much to get the coals going again.
The fun part for me with my PBC has been learning to dial in my desired temp for the kind of cook I have in mind....
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With your butt cook, the PBC Started low. You always want to start hot. The drippings from the food do help regulate the temperature.
I see you hang the meat right after dumping the hot coals in the basket. Give it a few more minutes before hanging the food.
As for the vent, it took me almost two months to realize that it does next to nothing to control cooking temperature. The rebar vents are the ones that do most of the temp control. Cover some for low and slow or take a rebar out for high heat cooking (birds).
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Sounds like a combination of not enough charcoal in the basket and not having a well established bed of coals before placing the meat into the cooker.
The method of using a charcoal starter instead of fluid takes some practice. It is important with the PBC to get an established white hot bed of coals if you want consistent cooking times that Noah gets.
The PBC is very forgiving however and as you found out even though it took longer the results were still good.
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Muebe, when you say "...get an established white hot bed of coals," does that mean all coals in the basket should be ignited, ashed over and white hot, or just the ones on top?
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If you have your air intake right, I would suspect your lighting method. I tried lighting the charcoal chimney method a few times and just couldn't get it down. I have started a WSM many time with no problem. Maybe I wasn't let it burn lone enough before putting the lid on. I started using the starter fluid method and had good results every time. Don't give up, because it's a great cooker. By the way you can make that WSM cook like a PBC.
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Questions about what coals should look like when the food goes on. Here is a shot from this past weekend that I did not have a chance to post. I cooked a whole 11 Lbs. turkey. I know after numerous charcoal lights with fluid how the coals should look when the cooking phase should start. I used a charcoal chimney for this cook. I started about 40 briquettes in the chimney at 12:23 PM. I poured the hot coals from the chimney into the basket at 12:39 PM. The picture you see is the turkey going on at 1:00 PM. The coals were blazing hot and the turkey internal temp was 48 deg. The turkey hit 160 deg. at 3:30 PM and I pulled it to wrap and let it rest for a 5:00 dinner. ;D ;D ;D
(http://i376.photobucket.com/albums/oo202/pac4mac/20150705_130059_zps4nxtomzu.jpg) (http://s376.photobucket.com/user/pac4mac/media/20150705_130059_zps4nxtomzu.jpg.html)
CM
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Muebe, when you say "...get an established white hot bed of coals," does that mean all coals in the basket should be ignited, ashed over and white hot, or just the ones on top?
The charcoal basket needs to be full to the top and the complete top layer white hot and ashed over.
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Thank you!
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IBigg_ER said:
As for the vent, it took me almost two months to realize that it does next to nothing to control cooking temperature. The rebar vents are the ones that do most of the temp control. Cover some for low and slow or take a rebar out for high heat cooking (birds).
Don't overlook this. A simple comparative may be this: If you are familiar with internal combustion engines - you understand that no matter how big the throat of the carb - or how much air a supercharger is forcing into the engine.....if the exhaust has any restrictions - it compromises the engines ability to produce horsepower.
In like respect, the diameter of the holes where the rebar reside are the maximum exhaust opening - unless - you .....think about the following....
In my experience, any obstruction to the seal on the lid lid (in your case, your temp probe wire) really changes the combustion rate (and therefore the cooker temp). I use this fact to my advantage when I want a hotter cook, like for chicken. I will sometimes place a piece of folded aluminum foil between the barrel and the lid to create a small gap, similar to the gap that your probe wire created. It doesn't take much of a gap in the lid to crank up the cooking temp.
The PBC seems to be designed to cook at around 250-280 with the lid completely sealed and both rebars in place, assuming the coals have got a good start.
I suspect that your lower than expected temps on your first cook might be due to your lighting method. When I've done the chimney method, I pour the chimney coals onto the basket of unlit coals, and I let the cooker sit with the lid open for another five minutes before hanging the meat to allow some of the unlit coals to start greying over. This seems to produce that 250-280 temp range I mentioned above. When I've tried to hang meat right after dumping the chimney, I've noticed cooler cooking temps.
Finally, if you experience lower than expected cooking temps, crack the lid for just a few minutes. It usually doesn't take much to get the coals going again.
The fun part for me with my PBC has been learning to dial in my desired temp for the kind of cook I have in mind....
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These are the physics, and design aspects that govern the temperature characteristics - of the PBC, aside from how to light the charcoal. There are several methods - and once you experiment with those, you will find one you like best.
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If the top level is well lit you will then have a slow hot burn as the coal burns from the top down. Pretty much and hour a lb on a good warm day. That is enough to cook any protein at the 280-300 degrees............
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I don't hang a bird until I see this in my charcoal basket
(http://i1175.photobucket.com/albums/r636/emtawali/IMG_20140827_182142_zps5r28dngf.jpg) (http://s1175.photobucket.com/user/emtawali/media/IMG_20140827_182142_zps5r28dngf.jpg.html)
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That looks perfect!
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I am starting with my PBC and trying to also get a visual of what my coal basket should look like before hanging. I know 1Bigg_ER is off the charts with being able to dial in his cooker for different meats and I hope to get there one day.
For the rest that are just using KBB do you vary the "look" of the basket for different meats? Totally ashed over for chicken (high temp) vs a bit less for something like a pork shoulder?
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Nope. Let that top layer get white hot no matter what I am cooking...this will ensure a steady even burn from the top down............