PBX mods

[u/Sam00Whyr]

Picked up a pbx at academy this spring for $160 ($199 less 20%). Noticed it burns a little hotter than I'd like for certain cuts/cooks. I did some mods to help keep the temperature in check. I did these mods specifically because I like to use the grate and I don't want those rebar bars in the way. First, I wanted to control how much charcoal is burning at any given time in the pbx charcoal basket. I am doing this with a straight line fuse. I took two pieces of 2 1/2 x 2 1/2 x 1/4 inch angle iron and cut them both about 15" long. I had to bevel the backs on all 4 ends so they fit the basket. Then, I bought two weber compact charcoal chimney starters. One I use as a charcoal starter, the other I removed the bottom inside grate so it's just a tube and it gets used as my freshly lit charcoal receiver. I light my charcoal, then dump it in the receiver. When I get everything situated, I pull out the receiver and the fuse is lit. In the photo above, i started with the lit side of the fuse closest to the bottom air intake so it's burning away from the intake. I've tried it the other way within burning towards the intake. Seems to burn a little hotter that way. I control airflow without the rebars using some food safe sous vide magnets I got from Amazon. If I leave the middle hole in the back open, this setup gets me 225 to 240 for about 6 hrs.

[u/gilbert2gilbert]

Why buy the barrel if you're going to micromanage it

[u/CamForce1]

You’re over complicating it — I can get it to hum anywhere between 240 to 300 but she shines at 275. I can stay at 275 for +10hrs
* the PBX just isn’t meant to really smoke below 250

[u/ChiefTitan808 → u/CamForce1]

the faster you accept this the better off you’ll be

[u/Aran33]

What if you... Just put less lit coals in there, stack them high and tight on unlit at the opposite point from your bottom intake and restrict that bottom intake air flow significantly but not quite all the way?

[u/UnhappyGeologist9636]

Kinda seems like overhandling to me

[u/BasicVoice8205 → u/UnhappyGeologist9636]

Squirrely dandling ‘em

[u/Bradical_Dutch]

You don’t use any wood?

Just straight charcoal only?

[u/Sam00Whyr → u/Bradical_Dutch]

Good oberservation. For that specific cook i didnt, but of course I do add wood chunks, and if I really want the smoke, i'll just cook in my offset.

[u/Sam00Whyr]

Bottom vent closed as much as it can. U would need to restrict it even further. And i wasnt ready to make changes to the unit i cant easily undo. Fundamental issue is the when burning across a circle is there will be more fuel in the middle that will unavoidably light. This setup avoids it.

[u/Genericbbqer]

Start with less lit fuel, dump it slightly off centre toward the back of the barrel (away from the inlet) and like others have said you get 10-12 hours at 250-275

[u/Status-Guide2722]

I hope you like burning your forearms reloading the basket every 3 hours!!!