Pit Barrel Fail and fail and fail and fail

[smokingforlife]

 

[smokingforlife]

 

[smokingforlife]

 

[smokingforlife]

 

[jack l]

Hi Smokers! I've been smoking for years and get great results from my smokin-it 3 electric and MB gas...but for the life of me I can't get anything edible out of the Pit Barrel. I've followed all directions to a T, monitored temps and experimented with vent settings and how many briquettes to light first...but my ribs come out charred, dry and un-servable every time. I had to throw 4 racks away last weekend and I'm about to throw the PBC away, too. I know there are tons of great reviews for this thing, so is there something I'm missing? Or is this the smoking equivalent of the emperor's new clothes?

Interestingly I had been cooking with a Smokin-It 3d since 2016, until my controller went out again. I replaced the controller but it would not power up. Contacted Steve who made some suggestions but decided to grab a PBX instead of waste time trying to get my electric smoker working again.

Smokin-It smokers will spoil you with their literal set it and forget it technique, and it turns out great smoked food. But the PBX is not technically a smoker, it's a cooker. To make it behave like a smoker, the first thing is to the contrary do not fill up the charcoal basket. That is far too much fuel. I have smoked on my a few times since purchasing it for this past memorial day. But with labor day coming up, I plan to try ribs again. I am going to start off with .25 to .50 of the basket full as well as 10-15 lit charcoals. It's easier to throw on more charcoals when using the hanging method, than trying to reduce the heat of a basket full of charcoal.

 

[jack l]

Thanks. Yep. when I close the vent I can't get the temp above 200. Especially here at 6000 feet. But temp is only part of the issue. On that one cook where the temp was ok, the ribs closest to the coals were petrified and the rub was carbonized. I even tried a trick I saw on youtube where someone used two hooks and rotated the ribs mid cook. Just seems like way too much work for a cooker that's supposed to be set-and-forget, with food that doesn't taste great.

There is electric smoker, setting and forgetting and charcoal setting and forgetting. You can't beat a Smokin-It for low and slow ribs, but this barrel will take some time, which I question can ever equal Smokin-It since Pit Barrel is not a smoker. It's a cooker. I've had an ugly horizontal barrel cooker for 15 years, so my Smokin-It was not the only thing I cooked with. If the key is getting that same result as the Smokin-It, you most likely will be finishing off the cook time in the oven which may reduce the smoke you would get from cooking in the Smokin-It the entire time.