Pit Barrel Cooker Co.
Pit Barrel Cooker Junior Premier 14
The 14-inch sibling of the Classic already in the catalog, rebuilt in 2026 as the Premier series. It is the same sealed drum design — charcoal basket in the base, meat hung from rods on hooks rather than laid on a grate — shrunk to a 14-inch barrel that Pit Barrel rates at four to eight people or up to six racks of ribs hung vertically. The Premier revision adds an elevated lid handle, a detachable single-tier heat shield so it can sit on a deck, and an attachable ash pan; it ships with the hook tool as standard, which used to be an upsell.
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Specifications
Pros
- ✓Hanging meat vertically over the coals is a genuinely different cook from a grate — drippings hit the fire and the smoke is heavier than a water smoker's
- ✓Sealed-drum design has no damper to fiddle with: you set the single intake for your altitude once and it holds 275–300°F on its own
- ✓Premier heat shield means it can legally and safely sit on a wood deck, which the older Junior could not
- ✓Ships fully assembled with hooks, rods, charcoal basket, grate, hook tool and two rubs — nothing else to buy
- ✓Half the charcoal load of the 18.5-inch Classic, so short cooks are much cheaper to run
Cons
- ✗No damper control by design — it runs hot and fast at 275–300°F, so true 225°F low-and-slow is not what this cooker does
- ✗A full packer brisket over 8–10 lbs will not fit hanging; the 18.5 or the PBX is the one for competition-size cuts
- ✗No built-in thermometer at all — the lid is blank and you supply your own probe
- ✗$360 is a lot of money for a 14-inch drum next to a $289 Weber Smokey Mountain 14 with twice the grate area
- ✗Every product photo on Pit Barrel's own store for this model is AI-generated rather than a real studio shot, which makes it hard to judge fit and finish before buying
Compare the Pit Barrel Cooker Junior Premier 14
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