Bradley Smoker Steaming

[Fish Assassin]

Well over the years I have been trying to make my bradley better then it already is. Just recently I realized that when the puck is ejected into the water steam is created. Here I am trying to get moisture out not ad it. Bowl of water now just an empty bowl that I will empty once and awhile.

Noticed this on a really cold day while smoking cheese. I was standing out side when it cycled and opened the door to see what happened after seeing something weird come out the vent. Eventually I seen even more steam coming out so I had to look..... The burning puck was not totally submerged in water so it was steaming even more.

I want dry heat not wet heat........

 

[GDW]

You ever do smoked ribs or chicken/turkey or any other meals in there? I've had my Bradley about 3 years and still have only done salmon. Time to try something new!

Any ideas?

 

[firelight]

Last year I did a whole turkey, it took 9 hours to cook through. It was really good.

Pulled pork, chicken wings lots of recipes on Bradley website.

 

[seadawg]

Ditto on the Bradley Website. Plenty of recipes through google too. Love the pulled pork! Have done wings and ribs too. The best I think, was a whole chicken that, as it happened, (time) needed to be just finished off in the oven. After that there was drippings in the roasting pan. Drippings turned into gravy. Smoked gravy!! Unreal. On my taste buds anyway.

 

[sammyslabber]

FA, putting water in the bowl will defiantly add moisture to the inside; it could also loosen particles of debris onto the salmon. If you open the vent more on the top of the smoker, this should reduce the moisture inside and dry the salmon faster.

Recently I noticed the pucks are not burning all the way through; not sure if there´s recent change in Bradley´s manufacturing process, nevertheless it wastes pucks and makes them less efficient. The rising cost of the pucks is a pain in the A$$!

 

[Fish Assassin]

My vent is always wide open. Soon will be adding a small fan to circulate the air more since bradley haven't done it yet..... My pucks are barely burning as well. They say that's how it is to be. They don't want the pucks burning thru. One of these days I am going to just build me a real smokers that runs how I like it.

 

[Sitkaspruce]

I smoke with an empty bowl and so far no problems.

I use my smoker for ribs, chicken, pork chops, hams, prime rib roasts, hocks from moose and deer, turkey, moose and deer roasts, fish, oysters in the 1/2 shell and now want to try heart. Ribs are on right now.....

The best thing about the smoker is getting to experiment; lots of recipes to start from and you can expand from there. Find a rub you like, a poultry brine you like and have fun.

I have not noticed any problems with the pucks, but I usually stock pile pucks when I find them on sale and have not bought any in a couple years.

Cheers

SS

 

[seadna]

I've done smoked salmon, smoked tuna and smoked tuna jerky. However, my new favorite is smoked tomatoes. Get some Roma tomatoes. Cut off the ends and slice them in half, remove the seeds and put them on a fine rack. Smoke with hickory for 3-4 hours. Stop before they get too dry. Let them rest covered in a bowl and peel off the skins (they come off real easy). Freeze up small batches (like 1/4 cup) in plastic containers. Add to tomato sauces, soups etc. It's a great addition to Cioppino soup.

 

[Tsquared]

I smoke with an empty bowl and so far no problems.

I use my smoker for ribs, chicken, pork chops, hams, prime rib roasts, hocks from moose and deer, turkey, moose and deer roasts, fish, oysters in the 1/2 shell and now want to try heart. Ribs are on right now.....

The best thing about the smoker is getting to experiment; lots of recipes to start from and you can expand from there. Find a rub you like, a poultry brine you like and have fun.

I have not noticed any problems with the pucks, but I usually stock pile pucks when I find them on sale and have not bought any in a couple years.

Cheers

SS

You have to be careful smoking with an empty bowl if you are doing something like pulled pork or beef brisket where there is a lot of liquid fat coming off the meat over a period of time. It hasn't happened to me but I have read on the Bradley site of a fire starting in the bowl and ruining the meat and the smoker.
T2

 

[sammyslabber]

The Bradley pucks are pricey,further more - they´re burning 2/3 way through at best,perhaps SS has some leftovers from an old batch. I have sourced a cheaper alternative puck producer in the states,unfortunately they´re not compatible with the bradley - nevertheless they are half the price and burn twice as long.
I agree the Bradley is not fail safe;periodic monitoring is needed,as is the case with the majority of home smokers.I smoke a lot of fish; FA mentioned a u build smoker and as witnessed by Roy´s helpful new smoker thread, this may be the answer to more efficient smoker.

 

[wolf]

Thanks SS yes it doesnt cost much and alder is everywhere and cheap ...(free) and can do quite a bit did close to 60 lbs of salmon yesterday and worked out awesome.....

Good luck Wolf

 

[Sitkaspruce]

You have to be careful smoking with an empty bowl if you are doing something like pulled pork or beef brisket where there is a lot of liquid fat coming off the meat over a period of time. It hasn't happened to me but I have read on the Bradley site of a fire starting in the bowl and ruining the meat and the smoker.
T2

I have heard that before, but I usually do put a small amount of water when doing pork shoulder, duck, goose or other fatty meat. I was reading that a guy placed a tinfoil funnel off the drain to a small tuna can.....might try that this summer.

Thanks for the heads up T2

Cheers

SS

 

[sundance]

Can tire has them on half price this week , got mine at adimirals store ( craigflower )

 

[seadna]

The Bradley pucks are pricey,further more - they´re burning 2/3 way through at best,perhaps SS has some leftovers from an old batch. I have sourced a cheaper alternative puck producer in the states,unfortunately they´re not compatible with the bradley - nevertheless they are half the price and burn twice as long.
I agree the Bradley is not fail safe;periodic monitoring is needed,as is the case with the majority of home smokers.I smoke a lot of fish; FA mentioned a u build smoker and as witnessed by Roy´s helpful new smoker thread, this may be the answer to more efficient smoker.

I assume you mean the Peterson pucks. I buy them and use them in my Bradley. However, they are a large size than the Bradley pucks and won't fit in the stacker. To use them, you just open the door and place them on element that burns the puck. Without another puck to push them off, they burn all the way through. Peterson even recommends stacking on top of the other which works just fine. The Peterson pucks are more dense than the Bradley pucks and as a result produce more smoke per puck too.

 

[Tsquared]

I have heard that before, but I usually do put a small amount of water when doing pork shoulder, duck, goose or other fatty meat. I was reading that a guy placed a tinfoil funnel off the drain to a small tuna can.....might try that this summer.

Thanks for the heads up T2

Cheers

SS

Smoked Grain fed Ft. S. John goose--mmmm--that sounds good Sitka--do you hunt your own geese up there?
T2

 

[wolf]

So i was in Capital iron yesterday and really looked at these Bradlys . must admit they look nice THEN I noticed the price and the price of the pucks OMG its just sawdust/chips......?????. and be curious how much electricity they burn?????

I know the smoker I built is a bit over the top but it was so easy to do and it cost me less then 200 with the new attachment and i can do over 60 lbs of salmon in it, looking at that bradly maybe what 15 lbs??? not knocking it and how many pucks per load do they go thru per smoke? at the rate i smoke i bet id be triple the cost just in the pucks alone. when i can go cut down a alder for free....

just saying...... and by no means am I dissing anyone that owns them but im kinda a realist and like things that are homemade and traditional hence me doing what ive done. and it makes a great product took me a while but ive got it down now..

wolf

 

[sammyslabber]

yep! I need to do a Roy build...

btw my Brad was free...traded it for my promo skills...

 

[Tsquared]

Pucks are roughly .50 each and the machine goes through 3 pucks per hour. With both my hot smoked and cold smoked salmon I usually only roll smoke for 2 hours--so $3 worth of pucks for a batch of 11 or 12 lbs of smoked salmon. It gets a bit more expensive when I'm doing pork butts as I roll smoke for 4 hours--$6 worth of pucks. I usually do 20 lbs or more of piggy butt at a time to make it worthwhile. The lack of babysitting the smoker appeals to me on the pork butt or brisket as I can time it so I don't have to get up in the middle of the night. The butts are in the smoker cooking low and slow between 18 and 20 hours altogether.I set my temp alarm and then I can get my beauty sleep.
T2

 

[ReelSlim]

So i was in Capital iron yesterday and really looked at these Bradlys . must admit they look nice THEN I noticed the price and the price of the pucks OMG its just sawdust/chips......?????. and be curious how much electricity they burn?????

I know the smoker I built is a bit over the top but it was so easy to do and it cost me less then 200 with the new attachment and i can do over 60 lbs of salmon in it, looking at that bradly maybe what 15 lbs??? not knocking it and how many pucks per load do they go thru per smoke? at the rate i smoke i bet id be triple the cost just in the pucks alone. when i can go cut down a alder for free....

just saying...... and by no means am I dissing anyone that owns them but im kinda a realist and like things that are homemade and traditional hence me doing what ive done. and it makes a great product took me a while but ive got it down now..

wolf

I just looked at their website and the main cooking element is 500 Watts and the the one for the pucks is 125 Watts. That is for the 4 rack digital model?

 

[Sitkaspruce]

I have had mine for 15 years now, original cost was $349. Pretty good for $23/year plus a little bit of electricity and the pucks, which, to me, are cheap as I don't have to be monitoring it, worry about running out of chips and I can cook food with it.

I have had a homemade smoker and although it could smoke like a hot damn, it was still a PITA to keep adding chips.

T2, will get back into the bird hunting again next year. Quite when I was on the island (not great bird hunting around the northern tip) and this year just did not have time. next year though. My wife loves smoked duck and goose breats and the goose makes good jerky as well.

Cheers

SS