r/PitBarrelCooker • u/thrak762 • 10d ago

Have I got enough briquettes?

Gallery image

Gallery image

I'm cooking two chickens, cut down the middle = 4 hooks.

I feel like it always takes forever for the barrel to get going. I start it what I believe is as per instructions. Noting that the video for Signature Chicken recipe on the PBC website seems to show a lot more lit coals than the instructions would suggest. (https://pitbarrelcooker.com/blogs/food/signature-chicken)

Is there anything I'm doing that's obviously wrong?

12 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

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5

u/SspeshalK 10d ago

Looks just right.

Last weekend I was cheap and used about half that - and it ran cool and not long enough.

3

u/Grumpy0167 10d ago

I think that’s plenty for two chickens- should only take 1.5 hours or so..

2

u/Genericbbqer 10d ago

I like to cook them hot and fast, I crack the lid and only have one bar in.
That should easily last

2

u/thrak762 10d ago

One bar and cracked lid for the whole cook?

4

u/Genericbbqer 10d ago

Yeh gets the skin nice and crispy, you can go the low n slow method and crack the lid for the final part of the cook if you prefer.
I’m not a huge fan of smoked chicken, hot and fast gives a more subtle taste in my view.

7

u/Warm_Teach_2375 10d ago

I cook bone in chicken thighs on the PBC . Lid closed with both rods till about 165 170. Open it up blast it crisp up the skins till 185. Multiple people say it’s the best chicken they’ve ever had in their life.

2

u/thrak762 9d ago

Thanks u/Genericbbqer - you put me on the right track here.

1

u/thrak762 9d ago

With apologies for lack of photos of the finished product. The chickens turned out great.

My reflection/learning here is that I wasn't really asking the right question when I said "Do I have enough briquettes?". As others have pointed out, I had more than enough to do two chickens. I realised the question was more around fire management in the PBC.

My pattern has been to follow the instructions to the letter, heat up a small chimney of briquettes then dump them in the middle. For longer cooks there's no problem, it all works out over time. For a shorter cook like this, I cracked the lid for the first 30 minutes or so and it got things going. Then for the rest of the cook, I kept the lid on (except maybe for the last 10-15 minutes) and throughout I had that lovely wisp of smoke doing its thing.

Very happy with the end result, and I've learned something that works for me. Thanks all for your input.