Pit Barrel Cooker, has anyone ever used one?


 

Wayne Dimirsky

TVWBB Super Fan
A guy at work was telling me about this cooker. He doesn't have one but is thinking about getting one. I went to their website and watched their video's and it has me interested. Supposedly you set the one bottom vent according to the elevation where you live and leave it. There is no top vent per se, just the four holes in the side where the hanging rods go through. Most of the meat you cook, you hang on the rods with the provided hooks. There really is no temperature control and if you follow the owner's instructions on how to cook each type of meat, it supposedly comes out great. In his videos he also shows how to prepare and cut up the different types of meat. It was all pretty interesting.

I read a lot of reviews online about it and I really didn't find anything negative about it.

So has anyone here heard about this cooker or used one? Here is their website. http://pitbarrelcooker.com/

Wayne
 
Hi Wayne,

I don't cook on one but many do... and with great results !
Here's another site, by a well known pitmaster, that you might use as a reference.
 
It's a 30 gal drum smoker and people seem to be happy with it. They're great for those who do not care to build their own uds.
 
It's a great high heat cooker. I use my WSM with the expandable cooking rack using the same techniques with great results.

The advantage with the WSM is I can reinstall the water pan, adjust the vents and cook low n slow indirect. I can also tend the fire thru the door instead of reaching down into the cooker. You can't do either with a PBC. (Once you set the vent on the PBC you don't adjust it.)
 
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Hi Wayne,
Have owned a PBC for almost a year. They are outstanding. I cook anything from brisket-chicken have even hanged & slow smoked bacon. And best of all they are made here in Colorado and the USofA. Not china or mexico where my other grills are from. You can control the temps with the bottom vent and the 4 holes where the rods go through. If you want to run it hot crack the lid open a 1/4 in. You can hit 500*. Choke the bottom vent down with foil & reduce charcoal load, you can slow smoke bacon in the 170* range. I know as I have done it. And it comes out bacon fantastic. Also amazing rib site has a review you can read. Meathead gives it a gold rating. For the money it is a great buy. Hope that this helps you,
Russ
 
Thanks again everyone. The more I read about this cooker, the more I like it. The only problem is that I have so many grills and smokers that I don't know if I can really justify buying another one. I may just have to buy one anyway.
 
It's a prettied up ugly drum, why not just build your own? Will cost you a lot less and the Q will taste the same. Just sayin.
 
From what I have read the R&D of this drum cooker really makes it shine. Set the intake and start your coals like they say and you are suppose to get the same results every time.
 
It's a prettied up ugly drum, why not just build your own? Will cost you a lot less and the Q will taste the same. Just sayin.
I guess I could but I would want to use the 30 gal. drum because the 55 gal. one is way bigger than I want. I have never seen the 30 gallon ones for sale around here.

Wayne
 
As far as building your own UDS, 55 gal drums are more commonly available. 30 gal drums use 18" grates and 55 gal drums use 22" grates. With my 55 gal UDS I can load my 17" diameter coal basket full and get a couple or three long cooking sessions from it before reloading and ash cleanout. UDS's are extremely fuel efficient and they shut down quickly after closing the vents. Only reason I can see myself ever building a 30 gal UDS would be for ease of transport, but I rarely transport my cookers. If you're gonna build one go with the big drum. :)
 
I use a PBC along with my WSM , it is a great cooker with really reduced cook times. I use them mostly for chicken ribs & occasionally pork butt. they work great. I recommend them.
 
Well, I got lucky. Some one local is selling one on CL for $150 so I'm going to pick it up. He said he has used it about 10-12 times. I should have it by Monday. I'm excited to try it out with all of the raving reviews it has gotten.

Wayne
 
I picked it up this evening. It's in great shape. He also gave me a generic cover he had for it as well as the rest of the two rubs it came with. Hopefully I will get to try it out next weekend.

Wayne
 
Well, I did my first cook on the PBC last night. I did Chicken and it turned out great. Very juicy with good flavor. I cooked it for two hours. The other thing that amazed me was that when I checked it this morning at 7:00 am because I was going to put it away, the cooker was still hot. This was 14 hours after I had put the chicken on.

I also found out that the small weber chimney is the perfect size for the amount of briquettes that the owner of PBC recommends(40) to light. It also makes it easier to dump the hot coals in the cooker. I've got to say I'm very impressed with this new cooker.

Wayne
 
I did hang the chicken and I forgot to take pics. To hang a chicken, you cut it in half and hang each half. If you go to the PBC website, he has video's on each meat he cooks. Pretty informative.

Wayne
 

 

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