Time to get serious about a new smoker.

[Green Monstah]

Smoking two brisketsnon the WSM and a butt on the new (to me) backwoods chubby g2.

The backwoods is holding its temp like a champ 2 hours into the cook.
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[Jeff Lebowski]

That is a great-looking little smoker.

[Donuthole]

That looks like a great little smoker. Be sure to report how it works out.

That is a great-looking little smoker.

Guys, what JL is trying to emphasize is that size matters. Take note, so he doesn't have to rub it (not THAT, sickos!) in our faces yet again.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Guys, what JL is trying to emphasize is that size matters. Take note, so he doesn't have to rub it (not THAT, sickos!) in our faces yet again.

lol.

No, I seriously think that is a nice smoker.

[Donuthole]

lol.

No, I seriously think that is a nice smoker.

Not everyone has a huge Stump to work with, bro.

[YOhio]

Not everyone has a huge Stump to work with, bro.

I think it's nice how much JL admires GM's little chubby.

[Green Monstah]

I think it's nice how much JL admires GM's little chubby.

It makes great meat!

[Green Monstah]

I'm pleased with the smoker. I cooked the pork shoulder in it, since those are a little more forgiving than brisket, which turned out to be a good move. Sometime between 2:30a and 5:30a, the water pan emptied, and the temp spiked to 290.

My only complaint is that temp control is very sensitive. I had it locked in at 245 for about 3 hours. I wanted to bump up to 250 by opening the damper less than 1/4 of an inch (it has about five inches of travel), and it spiked to 260 in a matter of minutes. At minimum, I'll buy the Guru adapter to use with my DigiQ (although I've got my eyes on the CyberQ).

Because of the difference in air flow, the bark developed quite a bit faster than I anticipated (I had to wrap at 140 degree internal temp). I put the fat cap down because I assumed the heat would still mostly come from water pan, but there's a lot more heat flowing from top to bottom as a result of the reverse flow. I'll try fat cap up next time to see if I can get more even coloration. The shoulder turned out great. Good moisture, well rendered, and nice smoke flavor (I used pecan).


The cooker didn't have quite the capacity I'd hoped. I'm not sure I could get more than three briskets. I can probably fit 6 shoulders, depending on how tall each shoulder is. I do like that it has the depth for full size serving trays. That will come in handy, I'm sure. I anticipate that I'll use this cooker most with ribs. I can probably smoke 12 racks if I line them up right.


The two briskets on the WSM were exceptional. I smoked with post oak at 250. The bark didn't form the way I like it for about 7 hours. I finished them in the oven and let them rest for two hours. The first brisket I cut was phenomenal. Good moisture and tenderness throughout. The second was quite a bit more dry. It sat in my fridge for a week, and I notice there was a lot more of the myowater than typical when I took it out. It still had great flavor and passed the pull test, just a bit dry in the flat.

I was pretty nervous bringing brisket to a bunch of Texans, but I got quite a few "best brisket I've ever eaten," and "better than [Coopers, Gatlins, Goode Company], etc, so I'm chalking that up as a success.

[CJF]

You always cook sans pans?

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

Sorry, just saw this. I don't foil butts until the hold time unless I'm running out of time. I usually wrap brisket in butcher paper. This time I didn't wrap at all and it turned out my best brisket ever. I pulled it at 194, put it in a pan and put it in the over at 170. Pulled it out of the oven about an hour before slicing. It was great. Great bark, great smoke ring, great flavor and very juicy. I made chopped beef with the left over Sunday and that was also awesome.

The pork wasn't as good. I got both the brisket and the butts at Costco. I just don't have very good luck with the boneless butts. I don't know why, but I just can't get the consistency when doing boneless. I think I'll avoid using the boneless for the next couple of cooks to see if I can notice a difference.

[lambdacoug]

Did some absolutely horrible ribs yesterday. Maybe I should stop trying new stuff and get something consistent then start changing stuff. So far, I've not been terribly pleased with the PBC, slow and low isn't really a thing with it. It does hold a temp for a looong time though. I wonder WTF I can cook that would actually need the heat as long as it's available. The brisket only needed 4.5-ish hours and the heat goes strong for about 7-8 hours. Maybe it'll just replace my weber kettle grill that is 8-9 years old and I'll go get something else. I'll give it a few more cooks before cutting my losses.

[Pelado]

Did some absolutely horrible ribs yesterday. Maybe I should stop trying new stuff and get something consistent then start changing stuff. So far, I've not been terribly pleased with the PBC, slow and low isn't really a thing with it. It does hold a temp for a looong time though. I wonder WTF I can cook that would actually need the heat as long as it's available. The brisket only needed 4.5-ish hours and the heat goes strong for about 7-8 hours. Maybe it'll just replace my weber kettle grill that is 8-9 years old and I'll go get something else. I'll give it a few more cooks before cutting my losses.

It doesn't do slow and low? What's the lowest temp you've been able to maintain in the PBC?

[lambdacoug]

It doesn't do slow and low? What's the lowest temp you've been able to maintain in the PBC?

Right around 300-325. If I start it out with 8 lit briquettes it takes about 45 minutes to hit 300, but then it will climb to about 325 by the end of the 3-4 hour cook. I've got the damper at the bottom set as closed as I can get it and I avoid opening the lid until the meat reaches the internal temp for pulling it off. The 11 lbs brisket cooked in around 4 hours, which is about 2-3 hours faster than I expected. The ribs yesterday hit 160 after about an hour. I get good smoke output now, but the ribs yesterday had no smoke ring at all, even though the smoke was pouring out of the cooker.

[Pelado]

Right around 300-325. If I start it out with 8 lit briquettes it takes about 45 minutes to hit 300, but then it will climb to about 325 by the end of the 3-4 hour cook. I've got the damper at the bottom set as closed as I can get it and I avoid opening the lid until the meat reaches the internal temp for pulling it off. The 11 lbs brisket cooked in around 4 hours, which is about 2-3 hours faster than I expected. The ribs yesterday hit 160 after about an hour. I get good smoke output now, but the ribs yesterday had no smoke ring at all, even though the smoke was pouring out of the cooker.

Any way to use less fuel to get it closer to 225-250?

[lambdacoug]

Any way to use less fuel to get it closer to 225-250?

That's what I'm playing around with now. Since all the charcoal sits in the charcoal basket on the bottom and you lay on a few lit pieces on top, I don't think it would really affect the temperature if I used less fuel, only the length of the burn since the same number of briquettes will light up, there just won't be a deep a column to burn through. I'm going to use some stones/bricks in the basket to reduce the surface area of the burning coals to try and regulate the temperature that way.

[Pelado]

That's what I'm playing around with now. Since all the charcoal sits in the charcoal basket on the bottom and you lay on a few lit pieces on top, I don't think it would really affect the temperature if I used less fuel, only the length of the burn since the same number of briquettes will light up, there just won't be a deep a column to burn through. I'm going to use some stones/bricks in the basket to reduce the surface area of the burning coals to try and regulate the temperature that way.

Just saw this on the PBC FAQ site:

Q: What temps does the PBC run at?
A: Between 275-310 degrees

http://www.pitbarrelcooker.com/faq/