Pit Barrel Cooker – Overview and Tips

by Chef Jason from 5280 Culinary

Adding a Pit Barrel Cooker to your cooking tool collection is a GREAT move.  The versatility is amazing and the flavor is simply epic.  Enjoy learning this amazing barrel and happy cooking!

Pit Barrel Cooker – Overview and Tips

2019 Ace Recipe - PitBarrel Cooker Tips and Startup

STARTUP AND SEASONING TIPS

ADJUSTMENT tips – BOTTOM VENT
    • ELEVATION OF 0-2000 FT – Adjust to ¼ Open
    • ELEVATION OF 2000-5000 FT – Adjust to ½ Open
    • ELEVATION OF 5000-8000 FT – Adjust to ¾ Open
    • ELEVATION OF 8000+  FT – Adjust to FULL Open
    • Above adjustments will keep the barrel in the 275-325 degree temp range
FIRST Startup tips
    • Be sure to have Pit Barrel Gloves or some heat resistant gloves
    • Place the Grill Grate in the Barrel for easier charcoal starting with the chimney
    • Use a chimney to help start the LUMP charcoal faster
      • I recommend LUMP charcoal for my heat source
    • Use a Firestarter like a tumbleweed to ignite the charcoal
      • For faster lighting use 1.5-2 starters
    • Place a layer of unburnt charcoal on the bottom of the charcoal basket – set basket aside
      • This helps ensure the fire has a long even burn
    • Ignite the charcoal and once fully red and hot, place on top of the unburnt charcoal
      • Using tongs, adjust the hot charcoal to cover the unburnt charcoal
    • Using the Pit Gloves lift the charcoal basket and remove the grill grate
    • Place the charcoal basket into the bottom of the barrel and adjust the vent accordingly
    • Put the cover on the barrel and allow to come to temp – adjust vent as needed -
COOKING tips
    • For low and slow cooking, add some wood chunks (dry) on top of the charcoal to add a nice even smoke flavor
      • DON’T GO TO HEAVY WITH THE WOOD CHUNKS – 1-2 CHUNKS ARE USUALLY PERFECT
    • Be sure to hang the food with space in between it so the heat and smoke can circulate and cook evenly
    • Add an ambient temp probe or product temp probe if desired
    • For hot and fast cooking – ignite ALL the charcoal in the basket for hotter temps
    • Adjust bottom vent to FULL open to help with airflow and achieve maximum heat

Grills / Grill Gear Used

For more tips, go to Tips.acehardware.com

Published: 3/2/2020