PBC FUEL SAVER IDEA

[joe2tro]

Lovin' my new PBC but not lovin' having to waste all that charcoal after my meat comes off the hook!  My solution was to remove the rebar rods after the meat came off and plug the holes with 1" bottle corks. I close the damper too, of course.  No, the corks do not burn. Works like a charm.  I also slide a piece of aluminum foil under the damper ( foil idea from Bigg). I also replaced the machine bolt and nut that holds the lower damper in place with a SUS 1" machine bolt fitted with a compression spring, which I inserted from inside the barrel, through the damper cover and secured with a wing nut. Simply tighten the wing nut to the desired friction and you can easily fine tune damper settings if necessary without aid of a screwdriver.  You won't believe how quickly the fire goes out and how much useable charcoal is saved.

[Las Vegan Cajun]

What I have been doing is leaving the rebar in and stuffing aluminum foil around them and I leave the lower damper set where it is for cooking and stuff the opening with foil as well, works like a charm. 

[ACW3]

I like both ideas.  The next time I cook on my PBC, I'll try to save a few pounds of charcoal.

Art

[Las Vegan Cajun]

I like both ideas.  The next time I cook on my PBC, I'll try to save a few pounds of charcoal.

Art

It will save you a bunch of charcoal, especially when you're only doing chicken where you don't need to let it burn all day. 

[hikerman]

Good ideas Joe!
I especially like the compression spring - wingnut idea!
After I pull meat off rebars, I remove them and place cut-to-size squares of flexible magnetic sheets, over the holes and close vent. Or toss more meat on!

[joe2tro]

Good Idea, Hiker.  I like the mag tape idea even better than my corks,as the tapes can be stored on one of the handles. 

[hikerman]

Good Idea, Hiker.  I like the mag tape idea even better than my corks,as the tapes can be stored on one of the handles.

Lol  I first used corks but typically, they were nowhere to be found next cook! And yes the handles are the place to keep the mag tape.

[sb2_7]

Do you reused the charcoal that's saved in your next PBC cook? If so, do you just add more coals to fill up the basket for you next cook?

[Las Vegan Cajun]

Do you reused the charcoal that's saved in your next PBC cook? If so, do you just add more coals to fill up the basket for you next cook?

You got it right that's exaxctly what I do, I also use this method on my Weber's.

[smokeasaurus]

If I have the time, I will remove the remaining charcoal and put it on top of fresh coal. My way of thinking is that this coal is past its heat curve and the PBC is designed to use a fresh 8 lbs of coal so with these leftover coals on top with the lighter fluid going, I have fresh coal with its full heat ready to go when the 20 minutes is up.......

[joe2tro]

Now that we know HOW to save the fuel, I'd like to see more imput from members as to how they actually employ the saved fuel.  Is it even worthwhile, as much of the heat value may already have been consumed.
Mix with new fuel, place on top as described, or place on bottom?  A worthwhile discussion, I would think.

[hikerman]

I do something similar to what Smoke does with his. Recycled coals are placed atop fresh coals and when I dump a chimney of lit coals on everything mingles and lights up nicely. You are right to think that they peaked the first time around but they still have heat value especially when using as part of a long low and slow cook.

[joe2tro]

Seems we are building a consensus - always a good thing.

I just bought a high, flared sided, 14" aluminum pizza pan from Amazon.  Also some J-B cold weld steel reinforced epoxy from Home Depot.  I emery clothed the bottom of the legs of the basket and the corresponding areas where the legs would sit on the pizza pan and applied the epoxy.  It is still curing.  I don't know yet if the 550 F heat limit of the epoxy is too low or not, but will let you know on this thread if it holds or not.  If it works, this could be a simple and effective solution to ash removal. The pizza pan may create an problem with airflow, but won't know for sure until I light a fire.  I can always drill some holes if it does.  Gotta tinker, right?

[muebe]

Has anyone considered trying to use a cast iron pot for example that is larger than the charcoal basket to set on top of the basket when done?

This would completely cut off the air flow and put out the coals. You could install a large eyelet with a chain on the bottom to drop the pot over the basket while still inside the PBC.

[Las Vegan Cajun]

Has anyone considered trying to use a cast iron pot for example that is larger than the charcoal basket to set on top of the basket when done?

This would completely cut off the air flow and put out the coals. You could install a large eyelet with a chain on the bottom to drop the pot over the basket while still inside the PBC.

Even if one could obtain a cast iron pot that would properly fit over the basket and fabricate such a device, I think it would be more cumbersome than simply plugging the vents with foil to snuff out the burning charcoals.