Hi everyone,
Hello from Yorkshire!
I've been lurking for a while but have finally taken the plunge and ordered an Original Bradley Smoker. It should be delivered Tuesday.
I've cleared out an appropriate space in the garage for it and father-in-law is sorting out the electrics for me - on the promise of invitation to try the first results.
Just wanted to get some advice on:
- What are the essentials that I'll need to get started
What would be the best thing for a novice to smoke for their first time
Anything I else you guys think I need to know for a total novice
So far, I've got/will have:
Original Bradley Smoker
48 pack Mixed Bisquettes
Thermapen
And that's pretty much it.
All and any help gratefully accepted!
Thanks!
welcome aboard,
1) if smoking in a garage, vent the smoke to the out side,
2) provide a dedicated circuit to the smoker ( or a circuit with little or nothing on it ) on these smokers they are voltage sensitive 120 volts being the best... 115 being pour
3) get maverick et 732 thermometer or other remote thermometer that you can read from outside the box... every time you open the box you loose heat... the box has to recover this heat before it starts cooking again... taking up to 30 mins or longer
4) when you find your favorite bisquettes stock up on them... though i would recommend a variety of them in the 120 packs,,, they are cheaper at a per puck price
5) get puck savers ( aluminum disks same size of pucks) in a qty of 3
6) fill your bowl with water for the smoking process
7) start off with a 2 hour smoke and adjust from there ( most smoke from 2 to 4 hours )
8) after the smoking process has stopped, change out the water bowl and add in a flavored beverage any soda, beer, juice etc
visit the recipe side
http://www.susanminor.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?180-Our-Time-Tested-and-Proven-Recipes
p.s keep your top vent open... keep the vent open.. . keep the vent open.... oh yeah,,, , keep the vent opsn
Welcome from Texas, Beefmann has you on the right track. I did some salmon filets that I had in the freezer for my first smoke, however you could easily do a pork shoulder for pulled pork or a brisket for your first try. Any meat that you can get for a good price that does well with a low and slow cooking method will work for a first smoke, just do your research here and on the recipe site that Beefmann referenced, ask any questions you don't find an answer for and you should have fun and end up with a tasty meal.
Quote from: beefmann on August 18, 2013, 06:53:46 AM
welcome aboard,
1) if smoking in a garage, vent the smoke to the out side,
2) provide a dedicated circuit to the smoker ( or a circuit with little or nothing on it ) on these smokers they are voltage sensitive 120 volts being the best... 115 being pour
3) get maverick et 732 thermometer or other remote thermometer that you can read from outside the box... every time you open the box you loose heat... the box has to recover this heat before it starts cooking again... taking up to 30 mins or longer
4) when you find your favorite bisquettes stock up on them... though i would recommend a variety of them in the 120 packs,,, they are cheaper at a per puck price
5) get puck savers ( aluminum disks same size of pucks) in a qty of 3
6) fill your bowl with water for the smoking process
7) start off with a 2 hour smoke and adjust from there ( most smoke from 2 to 4 hours )
8) after the smoking process has stopped, change out the water bowl and add in a flavored beverage any soda, beer, juice etc
visit the recipe side
http://www.susanminor.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?180-Our-Time-Tested-and-Proven-Recipes
p.s keep your top vent open... keep the vent open.. . keep the vent open.... oh yeah,,, , keep the vent opsn
Thanks for the reply.
Maverick ET732 ordered this afternoon. :)
It's a cross between a garage and a car port. The back of it is open to the elements so very well ventilated.
I'll tell my Father-in-law, he is an electrician so should be fine with doing that.
Struggling to get hold of the mixed puck packs in 120s over here in the UK. Don't know if there's anyone from the UK with suggestions as to good stockists?
What do I need aluminium pucks for? ???
What do I need aluminium pucks for? ???
[/quote]
You put them on top of your wood pucks and set your smoke timer for extra time to push the last wood puck into the water so it doesn't keep burning and turn to ash.
Quote from: Saber 4 on August 18, 2013, 08:39:11 AM
What do I need aluminium pucks for? ???
You put them on top of your wood pucks and set your smoke timer for extra time to push the last wood puck into the water so it doesn't keep burning and turn to ash.
[/quote]
Thanks Saber.
Cant seem to find them in the UK. Are they a Bradley product?
Quote from: HRC99 on August 18, 2013, 09:28:31 AM
Quote from: Saber 4 on August 18, 2013, 08:39:11 AM
What do I need aluminium pucks for? ???
You put them on top of your wood pucks and set your smoke timer for extra time to push the last wood puck into the water so it doesn't keep burning and turn to ash.
Thanks Saber.
Cant seem to find them in the UK. Are they a Bradley product?
[/quote]
Click here for the puck savers. Auber ships Internationally
http://www.auberins.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=14_28&products_id=111
Welcome to the forum, and your new Addiction!
Thanks everyone. Cant wait to get started. Tuesday can't come quick enough for me. Sadly, a crazy busy week at work means I'll have to wait until Sunday to start smoking.
It's arrived!
(http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l242/hrc99/image-1.jpg) (http://s98.photobucket.com/user/hrc99/media/image-1.jpg.html)
And been unpacked.
(http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l242/hrc99/image.jpg) (http://s98.photobucket.com/user/hrc99/media/image.jpg.html)
Just a shame that work will prevent me from firing it up until Sunday.
its a great feeling when you get a nice present!
Oh let the fun and good eats begin! Congrats!
Welcome! ;)
Ribs or Pulled Pork as the first food to be cooked? ;)
Pulled pork is the usual suggestion for a first smoke but whatever you have and want to try is good, just do some research here and follow the method with flavors you like and you should do great.
Remember if you have any questions about your first cook, ask away and as saber says look through the forum.. check this link out as well for more info.
Our Time Tested and Proven Recipes (http://www.susanminor.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?180-Our-Time-Tested-and-Proven-Recipes)
Quote from: rveal23 on August 21, 2013, 12:55:55 PM
Remember if you have any questions about your first cook, ask away and as saber says look through the forum.. check this link out as well for more info.
Our Time Tested and Proven Recipes (http://www.susanminor.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?180-Our-Time-Tested-and-Proven-Recipes)
Thanks, everyone. A fantastic welcome.
Pulled Pork, it is! ;D
I think I've pretty much read every recipe on Susan Minor - incidentally. Why Susan Minor?
Being in the UK, a Boston Butt isn't something you see. I know its from the shoulder but any guidance as to where and how it should be prepared when talking to a UK butcher?
Maybe this will help
http://porcine.unl.edu/porcine2005/pages/index.jsp?what=porcineVideoList
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free (http://tapatalk.com/m/)
Quote from: HRC99 on August 21, 2013, 06:39:50 PM
Thanks, everyone. A fantastic welcome.
Pulled Pork, it is! ;D
I think I've pretty much read every recipe on Susan Minor - incidentally. Why Susan Minor?
Being in the UK, a Boston Butt isn't something you see. I know its from the shoulder but any guidance as to where and how it should be prepared when talking to a UK butcher?
The butt comes from the arm of the pig (front leg). Butchers in the UK don't cut the shoulder the same as we do on this side of the pond, but look for blade pork roast. According to the WiseGEEK site, it will be a triangular cut of meat that starts just above the shoulder joint and extends diagonally backward to the base of the shoulder blade.
The URL for the recipe site is named after Raye Minor's wife. Raye maintains that site, fully at his own expense.
Thanks Habanero
Off to my butchers early tomorrow morning to see what he can do.
First ever rub made.
(http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l242/hrc99/image-2.jpg) (http://s98.photobucket.com/user/hrc99/media/image-2.jpg.html)
3/4 cup Dark Brown Sugar
3/4 cup White Sugar
1/2 cup Paprika
1/4 cup Sea salt
1/4 cup Garlic Granules
2 tablespoons Ground Black Pepper
2 tablespoons Ground Ginger
2 tablespoons Onion .powder
1 tablespoon Cayenne Pepper
1 tablespoon Celery Salt
Basically what I had to hand in my store cupboard. How does that sound and look? Am I missing anything?
It does look like a lot of sugar. Some mustard powder is always good :).
Mustard powder added to the shopping list!
What sort of ratio sugar:salt would you suggest?
For sugar, it depends what I am making the rub for. In this case, if it is for a butt, I generally add twice as much sugar as I have salt. This develops a nice bark. I moving away from brown sugar and using tubinado sugar, or demerara sugar more often. Must easier to work with.
Quote from: Habanero Smoker on August 22, 2013, 01:48:38 PM
For sugar, it depends what I am making the rub for. In this case, if it is for a butt, I generally add twice as much sugar as I have salt. This develops a nice bark. I moving away from brown sugar and using tubinado sugar, or demerara sugar more often. Must easier to work with.
So I could do with adding another 7 tbsp of salt to even things up a bit?
That would work, but I would also increase the ingredients of the other spices to maintain about the same ratio you originally had with the salt.
Blimey, I'll need a spreadsheet to work this out!
Anything else worth adding while I'm finishing this off.
More help needed.
Getting a bracket made to mount it to the wall but that's going to take a few days and I don't want to wait! So I'm looking at putting the OBS onto a table until the bracket arrives but wondered how hot the base gets?
The Bradley is pretty well insulated all the way around, especially the bottom. You can place it on almost any surface, many have placed them on plastic top tables. One thing to consider is weight, I've seem a few pictures with the Bradley on plastic top tables that have "bowed" down do to the weight once food is place in it.
On the outside, the back, especially at the height the element is located gets the hottest, so you want to keep that at least 6-inches from anything that can be damage by heat; such as vinyl siding.
Once again, Habanero to the rescue!
Thank you!
No one else has suggested this, so I'll put in my two cents- frogmats are a great purchase. They are non-stick mats that work great in a Bradley.
Well, first efforts at smoking today.
Up bright and early and seasoned the smoker. Took longer than expected - mainly because I hadn't pushed the lead all the way in! :-[
Then onto the ribs using the 3:2:1 method. Made up my own version of a Kansas City BBQ sauce which I was really pleased with.
As for the ribs, perhaps a touch dry, but absolutely the best I've ever eaten. That's really encouraging that they were so good but still room to improve.
The results:
(http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l242/hrc99/image-3.jpg) (http://s98.photobucket.com/user/hrc99/media/image-3.jpg.html)
Tomorrow, some salmon fillets and BBQ Chicken pieces.
I'm hooked!
Looks like ribs in the UK don't have as much meat on them as they do here! Congratulations on you first cook and welcome to the addiction...er... forum.
Judging from the picture it seems obvious that they were horrible tasting and nobody ate any ;)