I have been looking at these units for a couple of years now. I currently have a "little chief" smoker, but wanted something I could start before I went to bed at night and be ready in morning or next afternoon.
SO...I just ordered the 4 rack digital from Costco.
It will be about a week before it gets delivered so I am wondering what your recommendations are about what I should gather to get ready.
I have read about the Maverick dual probe thermometer, but not sure I need it. I currently have a brookstone wireless probe thermometer, but you guys can let me know if that is not good enough.
Do I need the metal pucks?
Any really good posts I should be looking at while I wait in anticipation of my new smoker arriving.
Thanks in advance!! I just want to be all set to start as soon as it arrives and I can unpack the box.
Welcome here OTB!
If i were you, i would get these things to use with your Digital Smoker: 1 set of 3 bubba pucks (you called it metal pucks), 1 Maverick, 1 dual probe pid controller, some high temp jerky screens, 1 cold smoke adaptor also considering a circulation fan for evenly distribute the heat in your smoker and full of wood chips. At least to start then, adjust yourself when the experience gets in.
Thanks for the reply. I can't seem to find a source for bubba pucks. Are they still available? I see lots of "knock-offs" on ebay, but I also hear that they can do damage if they are not the correct specs.
Here is the email for the bubba pucks just send an email and he will get back asap.
[email protected]
Welcome and congrats on your purchase.
once you get started you might want a bigger freezer LOL
just kidding but if your like me I do tend to get carried away its all so good I just can't help myself
Leftcoast
Looks like I will be ordering the bubba pucks from yard and pool. Have to decide between the et-7 and et-73 thermometers. PID and cold smoker may be an overkill for me just starting with this new smoker.
Welcome to the forum.
While waiting for you smoker, here are a few links that may be of interest.
Recipe Site (http://www.susanminor.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=180)
Bradley FAQ's (http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?p=748#post748)
Don't forget to get an assortment of bisquettes. I've got a cold smoke adapter and wish I'd have bought it sooner. I'll be using it later today and over night on some smoked salmon. Just got a PID. Wish I'd had that sooner too. Good luck.
Welcome to the forum OTB.
You can also go to Bradley's home page and download the manual for your smoker and read over it.
Jump on in OBT!
I just bought my second ET-73 for my second smoker....I like that toy over the others.
PID...you don't need it, but I bet you own one in the near future.
I love my toys - and yes I have a bunch of powered and electronic thingies. But just to keep it in perspective - as long as you have the DBS and some pucks - you have all you "need". I've cooked a lot of stuff with just those two things.
1. Bubba pucks are nice (and some with real "bling" are available) - what they do is save at least 1/2 of a puck each smoke. If you are diligent, you might not wasted that puck. If you waste a whole puck on each smoke, at the current price of pucks it would take 70 smokes for pay back - if less that an whole puck is wasted, then even longer for pay back.
2. Maverick - again nice, but not "necessary". The digital readout on the digital panel is plenty fine. Just a little practice and you adjust to what it is showing. I barely use my Mav any more. I'm used to the readout and just use a thermapen near the end of the cook. Sometimes I don't even use the thermapen - just test for doneness. What the Mav has done for me more than on one occassion has warned me something wasn't right - too hot (flaming) or too cold (fire out) - but on one of my other smokers!
3. - PID - again a nice, fun toyol! The main purpose is that it allows for tighter temperature control by controlling temp. swings. It also can be used to program temperature changes. If all you are going to do are butts, briskets, chicken, ribs, chuckies, fish, fatties - heck who cares about the temperature changes. You should not be cooking to time but to doneness (tenderness). As long as you are in the low-n-slow range constant temp is not much of an issue. Most don't question their ovens, but they have big swings also - but you don't see PID's on them.
4. - Jerky screens - Not sure why I'd want to wash two things rather than one. That is if I even washed my grills often.
5. - Cold smoke adaptor. Again, a nice gadget, but you can do the same thing with a cardboard box and some dryer vent.
6. - Don't have a fan in my DBS, and question if I want one. One theory says it should work, while another says why - the DBS is an insulated box and is such a relatively small smoker that the temp differential is largely due to proximity to radiant heat from the element. A fan might not help in that instance. One can deal with it by blocking the radiated heat somehow or rotating racks.
Not trying to stop you from getting or buying any of the above things, but giving you another opinion - with some reasoning behind them. Cost can be an intimidating factor, especially when all you want to do is to smoke some butts.
OBTW - you can take my opinion and 50 cents and go buy yourself a half a cup of coffee if you so desire! ;D ;D ;D That's probably what my opinion is worth.
Welcome OBT, Caney makes some very good points, but at the very least I still would recommend a meat thermometer. Yes an ET7 or 73 is really nice, but anything to verify temp. Just a safety precaution.
Thanks for all the great info.
I have ordered a 5 Flavor Variety, 60-Pack of bisquites, to add to the hickory that will be coming with the unit. It will also come with a cover. Next I will order the ET-7 thermometer.
Looks like I have a lot of reading to do to get ready. I am hoping this will be a big upgrade from my little chief I have been using.
What is the smoke output like on these? I live in a townhouse community and my little chief would put out huge amounts of smoke for about 30 minutes then die off until I re-filled the pan. I always wondered which I was smoking more, the meat or my neighbors. :,) From the videos of the Bradley I have seen, it looks like it just puts out a steady amount of smoke, but most of it stays in the cabinet where it belongs (with the meat). I am hoping I can set it to smoke a pork butt at night before I go to sleep, have it smoke for a few hours, then cook the rest of the way and be ready by the next morning or afternoon. Just hope I don't upset my neighbors with huge clouds of smoke in their windows all night.
Thanks again!!
It's not as big a a house fire, but bigger than a cigar. ;D I don't think you'll have to worry about it. I run mine with the door open hoping it will come into the house. I love the smell, but it only occasionally wafts in, and it's not like I can't see through it, just a nice wiff.
What your gonna have is some really hungry neighbors when they wake up in the morning after smelling a Boston Butt smoking/cooking all night with the windows open. Make sure they bring the beer!!
Quote from: Tenpoint5 on February 18, 2010, 11:41:07 AM
What your gonna have is some really hungry neighbors when they wake up in the morning after smelling a Boston Butt smokein/cooking all night with the windows open. Make sure they bring the beer!!
You may have to stand guard over your smoke all nite to make sure it's still there in the morning when you wake up. ;D
I stand guard over mine and I live in the country.
Looking at the FAQ, I notice that the smoker should be "seasoned"
Can I assume that when you are seasoning it, it will burn of the oil from manufacturing and give off bad flavors. This has been my experience in the past.
Just want to know, because if it is just a "break in" I would hate to be burning that wood without having some food in the unit. ;)
Quote from: OTB on February 18, 2010, 10:42:58 PM
Looking at the FAQ, I notice that the smoker should be "seasoned"
Can I assume that when you are seasoning it, it will burn of the oil from manufacturing and give off bad flavors. This has been my experience in the past.
Just want to know, because if it is just a "break in" I would hate to be burning that wood without having some food in the unit. ;)
You are 100% correct, about burning off the oils. I didn't realize that was not mentioned in the seasoning FAQ. It will be added.
OK. I am expecting the smoker to arrive tomorrow afternoon. I have bubba pucks (3) on their way, to arrive on Thursday, with the ET-7 thermometer, as well as a variety pack of the wood pucks.
I am thinking that after I season my smoker for an hour, I will start of with pork ribs. I think the 10.5 recipe is the best to start with.
My biggest fear is that it is supposed to rain all weekend here in bay area CA...so I might have to wait.
Should I be ordering Carolina Treet and tender quick (I can't find either locally)?
Ribs are a good choice as a first smoke. What kind are you going to cook? Baby backs or Spares - maybe St Louis or country?
Tender Quick. Unless you are going to be curing something, you won't need the Tender Quick.
Carolina Treet is one of many very good barbecue and cooking sauces both available commercially and homemade. Yes, I'd try it, but don't leave out the countless others. And there are actually two types of CT - original flavor and South Carolina Style. Both are relatively unique to the commercial sauce world in that they are not sweet. That is one reason you can use them as cooking sauces rather than just finishing sauces. IMHO, I'd make up some homemade before I'd pay the exorbitant shipping charges to get you a bottle of CT delivered to your doorstep. As far as what you would make - the world is at your doorstep CT is a version of traditional Eastern Carolina style vinegar (non-tomato) based sauces. Here are a few you could try that would be similar to CT original flavor. Leave out the sugar if you want no sweetness.
E. Carolina Vinegar Based Sauce
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups of distilled white vinegar
1 teaspoon hot sauce
2 tablespoons sugar (white, light brown, or dark brown)
1 tablespoon salt
2 teaspoons crushed red pepper
2 teaspoons finely ground black pepper
Pour all the ingredients into a jar and shake. Let it sit for at least 12 hours to allow the flavors to meld. A week is better.
Eastern North Carolina Barbecue Sauce
* 1 cup white vinegar
* 1 cup cider vinegar
* 1 tablespoon brown sugar
* 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
* 1 tablespoon hot pepper sauce (e.g. Tabasco™), or to taste
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
Combine the white vinegar, cider vinegar, brown sugar, cayenne pepper, hot pepper sauce, salt and pepper in a jar or bottle with a tight-fitting lid. Refrigerate for 1 to 2 days before using so that the flavors will blend. Shake occasionally, and store for up to 2 months in the refrigerator.
Eastern Carolina BBQ Sauce
* 1 cup of cider vinegar
* 1 cup of white vinegar
* 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder
* 1/2 teaspoon of onion powder
* 1 tablespoon of "Off the Shelf" hot sauce
* 1 teaspoon of hot pepper flakes
* 1 tablespoon of brown sugar
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon of black pepper
Combine all in a quart jar and shake it up. Leave it out on the counter for a day and shake it up again. Refigerate and it will keep for weeks.
Here's a couple of South Carolina mustard style sauces as well
Mustard Barbecue Sauce
* 4 cups yellow mustard (two 20-ounce bottles)
* 8 ounces of beer (less for thicker sauce, more for thinner sauce)
* ½ cup apple cider vinegar
* 8 tablespoons brown sugar
* 1/2 cup tomato puree
* 2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
* 1 tablespoon cayenne
* 1 tablespoon fresh cracked black pepper
* 2 teaspoons salt
* 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
Heat all ingredients in a sauce pan over medium heat and mix well. Cook until sauce just begins to thicken. Serve cool or warm. The sauce will last in the refrigerator for a long time.
Mustard Barbeque Sauce
1/2 cup of prepared yellow mustard
1/4 cup of cider vinegar
3 tablespoons of brown sugar (dark)
1/2 teaspoon of paprika
1/2 teaspoon of Worstershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper (powdered)
1/4 teaspoon of black pepper.
Add everything to a small, tightly sealing jar, and shake the living daylights out of it!
Thanks for the great recipes!!!
Of all the discussion boards I have visited over the years, I have to say that this is THE BEST!!!! Everyone is so helpful.
I figure I will look in the ads to see what the local store has on sale. I prefer baby back ribs, but if they have spare ribs on sale I will pick those up. If nothing is on sale, then it is a trip to costco. :,)
Now let's just hope the wife answers the door when the UPS guy rings the bell today.
Quote from: classicrockgriller on February 18, 2010, 11:44:19 AM
I stand guard over mine and I live in the country.
Don't worry, he's easy to get out of the way. Toss some beer over the fence and he'll come running.
Any reason I can't use my "tried and true" lazy man bbq sauce that I have made for baby back ribs in the past? I it just bullseye bbq sauce with brown sugar, honey, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, etc... This is what I have used in the past that my family loves. I wonder if it would have too much sugar and burn?
Also, I have been reading all the recipes on the recipe pages and there are a lot of suggestions for rubs. I notice that 10.5 didn't mention what rub he used in his post. Any suggestion on which rub recipe to use. I figure I can mix that up tonight and be all ready for this weekend.
Absolutely no reason not to use your "tried and true" That's what it is all about - customizing to your taste. I don't particularly like sweet sauces so, those that like them wouldn't particularly like my ribs. I would not add the sauce to the ribs until the last 30 min to hour of cooking. If using the 2-1-1, 3-2-1, 3-3-2, etc..... methods, the best time IMHO to add sauce is during the last 1 or 2 after they come out of the foil.
Thanks Caneyscud.
Any recommendations for the rub?
Here is what I was thinking, based upon rubs I found on this forum:
* 1 TBS Garlic powder
* 1 TBS Onion Powder
* 2 TBS Kosher Salt (not table salt)
* 2 Teaspoons Cayenne Powder
* 2 Teaspoons Ancho Chili Powder
* 1 Teaspoon Cumin
* 1 TBS Black Pepper
* 1 TBS White Pepper
* 1 Cup Brown Sugar
* 1/2 Cup Paprika
Let me know if you have a better "tried and true" rub for pork ribs.
Thanks in advance!!!
That is a really good looking rub! I'd probably cut the sugar down, but that is just me. I'm probably not the best person to ask about rubs - I usually go simple. Simple as in salt, pepper, cayenne. I do have a rub I use infrequently, and have not perfected it yet, that includes coffee, cocoa, chilis, cinnamon, cumin among other things. Makes a great bark, but need to tweak the recipe for better and more pronounced taste.
Here is my progress so far:
http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=14693.0