OT - Pit Barrel Cooker

Philicious

Does anyone here have a PBC in addition to a BGE? If so, what do you like to cook on the PBC Over the BGE?

tarheelmatt

There is nothing like pit cooked food.  It has a completely different flavor profile the Egg cannot duplicate.  This is what I started on and still cook on when a lot of food must be cooked.  

I love those days when your shoveling coals all night, listening to some Johnny Cash, drinking cold beverages, and shooting the bull.  

Here is the cooker set up for gas cooking.  This was a fund raiser for a church (no cremation services this time).  Cooked 275 Ribeyes this night.  

Cooking some butts and split breasts here....  This cook was pit cooked using oak and hickory wood.  

These aren't barrel smokers, but another pit type.  Cooked 750 chicken halves on these that day and probably had room for 250 more on the rest of the pits.  This was a nice setup here.   

YEMTrey

I started off with an offset like this.  It was great to learn on, and to get some experience with.  The food that came off of it was good, but it was so much more labor intensive that it took away from the experience.  The smoker needed to be babysat and fed the whole time.  Which equated to me tending a smoker and drinking the entire time.  There were a few meals that I was finished at the same time the food was!  Glad I learned on this type of smoker to see if I would enjoy it, but very happy to move on to a couple of Eggs and able to enjoy this hobby that much more.

smokeyj

Did you mean this specific cooker or any type of pit barrel smoker? http://pitbarrelcooker.com/

Philicious

@Smokeyj - yes, I mean the specific product The Pit Barrel Cooker

Jeepster47

tarheelmatt said:

@tarheelmatt ... forgive me, but this picture should be the lead post in a separate discussion.  It's an epic picture that would draw out comments from even the lurkers.  Maybe irreverent comments, but ...

Legume

Philicious said:

@Smokeyj - yes, I mean the specific product The Pit Barrel Cooker

Looks like a brand of what's known as UDS or ugly drum smoker, lots of plans for them on the web, places that sell parts but you supply your own 55 gal drum, etc.  I've never used one, but have thought it would be fun to try at some point.

Ozzie_Isaac

The PBC is different than a UDS. It is made from a 30 gallon drum and not setup for indirect cooks. You hang the meat and cook with kingsford blue bag. It is not temp adjusted. There are specific settings for altitude that mfg recommends once set you forget.

People seem to really like them. I have talked to the mfg a few times and they are good people.

Checkout their website. Has lots of info. It is not a grill or smoker. It is a different beast. Its a one trick pony, but it does that trick real well. It is a pony I would like in my stable.

caliking

The PBC is the dumbed down version of a UDS, with the advantage of being a "set it and forget it cooker" Folks like em because results are pretty consistent. A bunch of people cook with em on the bbq-brethren forum. The cool thing is that you can mod a drum smoker almost any way you want since all it takes is a drill and parts - extra racks, grommets for temp probes, etc. You can smoke at lower temps or grill at higher temps depending on how its set up. Drums are poorly insulated, but overnight cooks are very much possible

I miss smoked wings from my UDS. My egged wings always end up with more of a grilled flavor/texture because of the lesser distance between charcoal and cooking grid vs. a UDS. 

tarheelmatt

Whoops... I didn't realize you were referring to a specific brand.  

Disregard my post then.  

tarheelmatt

Jeepster47 said:

tarheelmatt said:

@tarheelmatt ... forgive me, but this picture should be the lead post in a separate discussion.  It's an epic picture that would draw out comments from even the lurkers.  Maybe irreverent comments, but ...

Yeah, I know... That is why I placed the footnote of no cremation services this time.  

This is the only place for the cooker as the fellowship hall kitchen is up next to the graveyard.  

Eggcelsior

Ozzie_Isaac said:

The PBC is different than a UDS. It is made from a 30 gallon drum and not setup for indirect cooks. You hang the meat and cook with kingsford blue bag. It is not temp adjusted. There are specific settings for altitude that mfg recommends once set you forget.

People seem to really like them. I have talked to the mfg a few times and they are good people.

Checkout their website. Has lots of info. It is not a grill or smoker. It is a different beast. Its a one trick pony, but it does that trick real well. It is a pony I would like in my stable.

That's pretty cool. So it's basically a traditional pit cooker contained in a barrel. I have an idea on how to replicate it on the egg.

caliking

@Eggcelsior - please share!

Its not that different from a UDS, which can be made from 55gal, 30gal, or 16gal drums. The difference is that with a UDS you can regulate temps based on how much air you let in at the bottom. The PBC has an air intake of a fixed size to hit a set temp. You could mod it to hit higher temps though, by adding air intakes. Major advantage is that you don't have to find a drum, burn it out, cut the top off, drill holes, paint it, etc. 

Ozzie_Isaac

caliking said:

@Eggcelsior - please share!

Its not that different from a UDS, which can be made from 55gal, 30gal, or 16gal drums. The difference is that with a UDS you can regulate temps based on how much air you let in at the bottom. The PBC has an air intake of a fixed size to hit a set temp. You could mod it to hit higher temps though, by adding air intakes. Major advantage is that you don't have to find a drum, burn it out, cut the top off, drill holes, paint it, etc. 

There new mfg facility in California has enamel coated barrels. Supposedly the same as webers process. Prerty nice looking.

shucker

I have a pbc, have had it about a year and a half. It has its place in my arsenal and really shines with chicken. Not sure why, but it produces superior chicken to the bge.  I can hang 10-12 halves, put the lid on, come back in 2 hours and have perfect chicken everytime.  Ribs are a close second.  I can hang 8-10 racks and they cook perfectly even though the tip of the rack is only a few inches from the coals.  Ive also tried about everything else imaginable with consistently good results, brisket, chuck roast, sausage, tenderloins, prime rib, the list goes on. 

The pbc would never replace my bge and if I could only keep 1, it would be the bge no question.  However, the pbc is an awesome cooker to mix it up a bit and the food does taste different.  Plus, hanging the meat is kinda cool to do and definitely makes for good conversation when youre preparing grub for guests.    

grege345

I have to say @shucker you have peeked my interest. I've been looking for something along these lines for cols smoking. Any experience with that? I in vision hangin sausage in this. For charcuterie purposes.

moo4me

Being from the Midwest and never having heard of tri tIp until visiting family in California, my first experience having tri tip came cooked on a UDS. Hung from hooks and slow cooked. So tender and full of moisture, makes me want to dabble with one myself some day.

shucker

@grege345 I don't think the pbc would be a good option for cold smoking. It's really marketed as a set it and forget it type cooker. With that said, they don't intend for you to adjust the dampers and have much control over the temperature. As designed it works great. I've monitored cooking Temps with my maverick just for curiosity and it usually runs between 275 and 325 for the bulk of the cook, depending on load of course.

Powak

Does a WSM behave like a PBC if you don’t use the drip pan?

Canugghead

Powak said:

Does a WSM behave like a PBC if you don’t use the drip pan?

Yes, with better temp control. Buy or make a hanging rack. 

https://eggheadforum.com/discussion/comment/2541520#Comment_2541520

Yno

As @shucker said, you can hang a lot of ribs in the PBC, and they come out perfectly every time, as long as you double hook them. If you don't use two hooks, there may be a sacrifice to the fire gods. I don't do ribs on the Egg, even with an XL you have to make extra arrangements. 

cookingdude555

Powak said:

Does a WSM behave like a PBC if you don’t use the drip pan?

Yes, chicken and ribs are hard to beat hanging them in a WSM.




Even more birds in the 22" version:

xfire_ATX

I spent hours looking at PBC and UDS and had planned on building a UDS with my Daughter.  Then my neighbor sold me his LBGE at a fair price and I kinda forgot about it.  I still have a Weber sitting on the side of my house that I intended to use the lid from as the top of my UDS build.

Now that I own a truck as I was driving to the coast and back this week I started thinking about the UDS again.  I only want it as a project to cook on something I made.

Thatgrimguy

Everyone should build a UDS at some point. That's like a right of passage to being a true bbq nut.

SGH

Anyone heard from @Philicious ? He hasn’t been active in over 2 years. I hope all is well with him 🤞

xfire_ATX

Thatgrimguy said:

Everyone should build a UDS at some point. That's like a right of passage to being a true bbq nut.

Still on my list of to do and having the truck makes getting a barrel easier than a Fusion Hybrid.