KBQ C-60 User manual
Owner’s Manual
KBQ C-60 Barbecue Pit
Thanks for your business! Please take a few minutes to read
these instructions and familiarize yourself with your new pit. If
you have any questions, call 512-522-7748 or email me at
With kind regards,
Bill
TABLE OF CONTENTS
SAFETY
ASSEMBLY
TECHNOLOGY
FUEL
OPERATION
MAINTENANCE
SAFETY
You are playing with fire.
Read the warnings etched on the
top of your Controlbox.
If you cannot, or will not, comply
with the precautions, return your
unfired
pit for a refund.
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ASSEMBLY
Receiving
1. If there is any damage, please take pictures and email me.
2. Save packing materials in case you need to return an item.
3. Fetch a 7/16" wrench and the included hex key.
Cookbox
1. Install the Cookbox legs. It is helpful to invert the Cookbox
and prop open the door to do this. The wheeled legs are
installed at the rear of the pit, as shown. This enables you to
easily reposition the pit by lifting the front legs slightly off
the ground.
2. Install the shelf racks. The small tabs fit through the slots in
the Cookbox top by tilting the rack inward at the bottom.
Keep the tabs fully seated as you let the shelf rotate back to
vertical, or they will bind.
3. Install the wire shelves.
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Firebox
1. Set the Firebox on top of the Cookbox with the tailpiece
engaged in the rectangular slot at the rear of the Cookbox.
2. Slide the coal grate through a side slot and seat it.
3. Install the Firebox lid. The Sear Grid takes the place of the
lid for searing - sliding lengthwise on to the Firebox.
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Controlbox
1. Hold the Controlbox vertically, with the male plug up, the
two mounting tabs down, and the fan blades to the left.
2. Lower the 2 tabs into the slots on the top of the Cookbox.
3. Rotate the Controlbox downward into position, being careful
not to bend the fan blades.
Other
●The seal around the Cookbox door is important. Don't allow
it to become fouled or the door flanges to be bent, or when
the draft fan runs you’ll draw cold outside air through any
gaps instead of drawing hot smoke from the Firebox. If you
use temperature probes, snake them through the corner
holes at the top of the Cookbox.
●Ensure the pit is located on a level, non-combustible surface.
Grease will drain from the small holes at the front corners of
the pit; provide a tray to catch it. A full-size steam pan can
also be inserted into the rack system to catch nearly all of
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the grease.
●A digital stick thermometer should be inserted through the
small port in the installed Controlbox for an accurate
measurement of the lowest temperature in the pit.
TECHNOLOGY
Your pit uses patented technology (US 7,895,942, 8,635,947, and
9,526,376), which gives you direct and independent control of
temperature and smoke quality. Here’s how it works:
Temperature Control
The Controlbox houses a convection fan, a draft fan, and a
thermostat. When convection air temperature falls below the
knob setpoint, the draft fan turns ON. This draws air from the
Cookbox and discharges it overboard, creating a slight vacuum in
the Cookbox. This vacuum in turn draws hot gas from the
Firebox into the Cookbox until temperature increases above the
setpoint, turning the draft fan OFF.
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Smoke Quality Control
The Smoke Selector feature consists of two poppet valves to
select the type of smoke that is drawn into the Cookbox. The
lower valve draws from underneath the fire, forcing smoke to flow
downwards through the hot and well-oxygenated coal bed, where
it is thoroughly burned. The upper valve bypasses the coal bed,
and the resulting combustion is less complete.
Underfire Smoke - for the cleanest combustion and lightest flavor
profile. Suitable for longer cooks (e.g., briskets, pork butts)
when flavors have more time to accumulate.
Overfire Smoke - for a heavier flavor profile. This can be useful
on shorter cooks (e.g., fish, chicken) that have reduced exposure.
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Mixed Underfire and Overfire Smoke
You can change these setting anytime during a cook. Use a tool
to actuate the poppets - they get HOT.
PRO-TIP: USE THE FIREBOX LID. IT IMPROVES
FLAVOR AND BARK AND REDUCES SPARKING AND
FUEL CONSUMPTION
FUEL
The small size of the Firebox preserves the geometry of the fire
to ensure high temperatures are reached for good combustion. It
supplies sufficient power to reach >300°F with an ambient
temperature of 0°F.
●Your pit is designed to run on real wood logs. Lump
charcoal is great for starting and recovering your coal base
when you get distracted and forget about your fire. Never
use briquettes - they produce a huge amount of ash that will
rapidly fill the bottom chamber of your Firebox.
●Mainstay species are hickory, oak, and mesquite, all of
which have excellent coaling quality. Typical consumption is
2-4 lbs per hour. Pecan does not coal well and should be
avoided.
●Size: 6-10" long x 2-5" in diameter, or Red Bull can to
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common brick in size, which can usually be achieved by
cross-cutting common (18-20") firewood into halves and
splitting as necessary.
●Moisture content: cut, split and air dried for a couple of
months is dry enough. Not freshly-cut; not kiln-dried.
OPERATION
Startup by forming a bed of coals by either the Quick and Dirty
Method
(get a chimney of lump charcoal going and dump the hot
coals into the Firebox) or the Slow and Lazy Method
(stick an
electric charcoal lighter through a Firebox side slot vent, load
wood and have a cup of coffee). Add wood continuously until a
one inch thick bed of coals has formed on the charcoal tray.
DO NOT USE LIGHTER FLUID OR ANY OTHER
LIQUID FIRE-STARTER IN YOUR FIREBOX.
DOING SO WILL VOID THE WARRANTY
Load meat, being conscious of the impact of meat, foil, pans,
etc. on airflow. Forming a “meat membrane” of ribs on a lower
shelf will force the hot smoke to the sides and leave a colder spot
in the center of the Cookbox.
Warmup. Since hot smoke is injected into your Cookbox at the
bottom and cools as it rises to the fan inlets, the bottom of your
pit is hotter than the top. How much hotter is a function of the
meat load and the difference between the meat temperature and
the knob setpoint. For larger (>30#) loads:
●(Easier)
Work your way up to target temperature, e.g., start
at 100-150°F and bump temperature up 25-50°F every time
you add wood.
●(Harder)
For the first 2 hours, rotate shelves every time you
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add wood. Temps will quickly recover after closing the door.
Tending
1. Wait for the draft fan to cycle off to reduce ash entrainment.
2. Using the included Tending Hook, fluff the fuel in the Firebox
to help it collapse.
PRO-TIP: KEEP YOUR FACE OUT OF THE SMOKE
RISING FROM THE FIREBOX TO PRESERVE YOUR
SENSES OF TASTE AND SMELL FOR THE
IMPORTANT EATING STEP
3. Add wood - keep in mind you’re adding wood to replenish
the coal bed. The wood you add must have enough time to
break down to coals before the current coals are exhausted.
●If your coal bed doesn’t cover most of the openings in
the coal tray, add fuel earlier to allow more break-down
time (i.e., run the Firebox fuller).
●If you have flames roaring continuously out of your
Firebox, you're wasting fuel. Add less wood, more
frequently (i.e., run the Firebox less full).
PRO-TIP: LOAD FUEL WITH THE GRAIN ORIENTED
HORIZONTALLY TO ENCOURAGE COLLAPSE
4. If required, adjust the thermostat knob. The need for
adjustment decreases as the pit and meat warm up.
Shutdown
1. Remove and eat meat.
2. Turn thermostat knob fully counterclockwise.
3. Store Controlbox in a place protected from rain and breezes.
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MAINTENANCE
Cleanup your pit before a cook instead of after it. This ensures
the pit and ashes are dead cold and grease is solidified, both of
which make cleanup safer and easier. The added bonus is that
when you are done cooking, you can focus on eating.
1. Lift-off the Firebox, slide out the coal grate, and dump the
ash. You can hose it out if you like.
2. Remove the wire shelves and racks. These fit in most
dishwashers, but nothing cleans wire shelves faster than one
of these stainless steel sponges.
3. Use a plastic paint scraper or spatula to remove the bulk of
the solidified grease from the bottom of the pit.
PRO-TIP: IF YOU’RE REALLY SERIOUS ABOUT
COOKBOX CLEANLINESS, NOTHING EATS GREASE
AND SOOT LIKE OVEN CLEANER. GET THE LYE
(NaOH) OR POTASH (KOH) KIND, NOT THE
NAMBY-PAMBY ‘FUME-FREE’ STUFF. WEAR
GOGGLES AND GLOVES OR IT’LL EAT YOU, TOO.
4. Lug the pit out to your lawn and use a hose on the jet
setting to blast the Cookbox interior and dislodge any
remaining grease. Keep blasting until water is flowing over
the open door, then swiftly tilt the pit forward to heave out
the greasy water. Repeat 1 or 2 times, and you’ll have a
fairly clean pit and a very happy dog.
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Every 100 operating hours:
1. Invert the Controlbox on a table or bench.
2. Using an old toothbrush and/or compressed air (the canned
stuff works OK), clean most of the accumulated soot from
the fan blades and the spring sensor retainer assembly.
There’s no need to be fastidious - the radial impellers are
designed to run dirty.
3. If you feel the need to remove an impeller for deep cleaning,
the 10mm nut is Left-Hand Threaded.
4. Check that the fan blade tips are coplanar by manually
spinning the blade and eyeballing it from the side. Push/pull
any errant blade tips into alignment with your fingers.
DO NOT USE LIQUID DEGREASER ON YOUR
CONTROLBOX - IT’LL RUN DOWN THE MOTOR
SHAFTS AND DEGREASE THE BEARINGS, TOO.
DOING SO WILL VOID THE WARRANTY
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Table of contents
