Fitting an automatic temperature controller to a Pit Barrel Cooker takes about 15 minutes and requires no permanent modifications: close and seal the drum's sliding intake damper, mount the controller's fan over the round intake hole using a flat drum-style adapter plate, clip a pit probe at cooking level, and set your target temperature. The fan then meters exactly the air the coals need to hold that temperature — for 8, 12, even 16 hours at a stretch.
Can you use an automatic temperature controller on a Pit Barrel Cooker?
Yes — and the Pit Barrel Cooker (PBC) is actually a great candidate. A fan-driven controller needs two things: a charcoal fire and a close-lid cooker with a bottom air intake it can take over. The PBC is a 30-gallon porcelain-enameled steel drum with a lid, a charcoal basket at the bottom, and a single round intake hole low on the barrel with a sliding damper cover. That intake is exactly where the fan goes.
Two quirks are worth knowing up front:
- The intake is round and unthreaded. Unlike a custom ugly drum smoker build with a threaded ball valve, the PBC's hole takes a flat cover-plate style adapter — the same style used on drum smokers generally.
- The PBC is engineered to run hot. Out of the box it settles around 275–310°F, which is why Pit Barrel cooks are famously fast. A controller is how you pull it down to a classic 225–250°F for low-and-slow — or lock in 275°F without ever touching the damper.
How does the Pit Barrel Cooker control temperature on its own?
Manually, the PBC has one control: the sliding cover on the bottom intake hole. Exhaust escapes around the lid rim and the holes where the two rebar rods sit, and that fixed exhaust is part of the design — you never adjust the top. Pit Barrel's own starting guidance scales the intake opening with elevation: roughly a quarter open at low elevations, half open around 2,000–5,000 feet, three-quarters