Hi folks,
Due to my lurking on this forum, I bought my 6 rack Bradley smoker today. It's seasoning right now. I am a long time Texas brisket smoker on a pit BBQ. I have decided that if I can do as well on the Bradley, life will be so much simpler. Plus, I see the potential of smoking a lot more types of things than I imagined before. I have already picked up some wonderful advice (such as FTC) that would have applied to my previous methods. I know I will be asking questions, so please bear with me.
My old method was: http://willsononline.com/bbq (http://willsononline.com/bbq)
Gary
Houston Texas
Welcome to the forum JYD!
Ask away! Everybody is very helpful around here.
Good Luck
Mike
Hi and welcome here Junk Yard Dog, another 6 rack owner! i'm getting jealous i only have 4 racks ;D ;)
LilSmoker(http://www.emotipad.com/newemoticons/Tip-Hat.gif)
Welcome to the forum. Ask all the questions you want to, and if ya don't have questions, just fill us with BS. :)
Quote from: LilSmoker on March 29, 2007, 02:09:00 PM
i'm getting jealous i only have 4 racks ;D ;)
Thanks for the welcome !!! LilSmoker. I learned from my pit BBQ that no matter how big a smoker you've got, you alway want a bigger one. So I started out with the biggest. ;D
Welcome JYD! I just looked at your link to the web page looks very tasty ;D
Mark
Welcome JYD! The BS saves a lot of work on Brisket. You WILL NOT get a smoke ring, so do not be surprised. Taste is there though.
Quote from: Wildcat on March 29, 2007, 04:10:47 PM
You WILL NOT get a smoke ring, so do not be surprised. Taste is there though.
Hmmm. I don't mind not getting a smoke ring (if the flavor is there), but I don't understand the physics. My meat is being bombarded by smoke, just like it is on the BBQ pit. So, why wouldn't it get a smoke ring?
Quote from: Junk Yard Dog on March 29, 2007, 05:39:07 PM
Quote from: Wildcat on March 29, 2007, 04:10:47 PM
You WILL NOT get a smoke ring, so do not be surprised. Taste is there though.
Hmmm. I don't mind not getting a smoke ring (if the flavor is there), but I don't understand the physics. My meat is being bombarded by smoke, just like it is on the BBQ pit. So, why wouldn't it get a smoke ring?
Check the posts that bluesin has. It explains it for the most part. Good stuff to know :) ;)
JYDog, Welcome and enjoy. Much easier. ;D But Bradleys are different ;) in a better sort of way. You will enjoy the other foods and the ability to cold smoke etc. :)
Welcome JYD , Good to have you in the smoking section. This is where we teach , learn and become friends 8).......................Coyote
Thanks for the warm welcome, everyone ! I think I'd like this place even if I didn't own a Bradley.
Today is a big day - my first smoking. I am marinating some skirt steak and chicken tenders that I'm going to smoke to make fajitas. I have no idea what settings to use, but I guess I'll smoke it for 2 hours, oven for 4 hours, at 200º. What do you think??? The skirt steak is real thin because I tenderized it with a mallet. I got the marinate from Emeril's web site, and have been marinating it overnight.
1/4 c fresh lime juice
1/4c tequila
4 cloves garlic, smashed
2 T roughly chopped cilantro leaves
2 T vegetable oil
2 T Worchestershire sauce
1 t dried Mexican oregano
1 t red pepper flakes
1 t ground cumin
1 t ground corriander
Anything with tequila in it sounds good to me. ;D
Not sure what a skirt steak is. I assume it is beef. You can smoke regular beef steaks that does not have much fat content, but it would need to be cold smoked and then finished off by other means to keep it from drying out and getting tough. It turns out fairly well. I have found that a very hot smoke works much better on beef steaks. I have one of those side firbox units that burn coal and/or wood that I smoke my steaks on. I have done a cold smoke in the BS, wrap it tight and then fridge overnight. Next evening grill over charcoal. IMHO I think the hot smoke method is better. More smoke flavor and a real nice smoke ring to boot. Beef Brisket, pork, chicken, etc. is better with the BS.
Good advice, Wildcat. I think I will cold smoke it for a couple of hours, then grill it tonight. Thanks.
BTW, skirt steak is beef, similar to a flank steak. It was real cheap until fajitas caught on.
Darn, Dawg, that link showed some good ole fashioned hard work and some tasty lookin' product. Hope you enjoy the Bradley after you get over those initial reactions. I think most had some initial trepidation, but trust me, this machine is not only forgiving, it's like a magic trick.
After all those all night/early morning vigils starting fires, monitoring heat, adding fuel, with only a nap mixed in, you'll be amazed (and probably a little mad) at how good a meal the Bradley produces with only a hint of the effort fire-wise.
Welcome and good luck.
Welcome JYD,
How did the skirt come off? :D
Did ya heat her up or take it slow?
Is a puzzler since the skit is tough but without the thickness and fat to help tenderize, the low and slow for tender sake may not fit the bill. Fajitas are usually flash grilled and bias sliced thing to make them "more tender to chew". Looking forward to your results.
I checked out you link. Nice job. I use to have the same definition on grillin and BBQin as you posted. Hopefully you won't mind but I'll share my definition with you. Last year I changed my view of BBQ. For me BBQ is more of a generic term relating to an event, process and methods. Hence the reason folks will say lets go to the BBQ. The meat can be prepared in many differnet fashions. For methods, Direct (grilling), in direct (with and without smoke or on a plank of wood), smoke (hot or cold, fast or slow), rotiserie, and directly on coals (pit or like a flank steak directly on charcoal coals) are all methods for the party of BBQ.
But what ever the definition, you can't beat the flavor of the smoke and the Bradley certainly makes it easier (we just don't like to admit it so we can look better) ;D.
Quote from: Consiglieri on March 30, 2007, 10:14:14 PM
After all those all night/early morning vigils starting fires, monitoring heat, adding fuel, with only a nap mixed in, you'll be amazed (and probably a little mad) at how good a meal the Bradley produces with only a hint of the effort fire-wise.
Thanks Consiglieri. I can tell you've
been there, done that. If I can turn out a decent brisket with the Bradley, I'll probably feel a little guilty at first. :D
Quote from: Gizmo on March 31, 2007, 12:53:52 AM
How did the skirt come off? :D
Did ya heat her up or take it slow?
I checked out you link. Nice job. I use to have the same definition on grillin and BBQin as you posted. Hopefully you won't mind but I'll share my definition with you. Last year I changed my view of BBQ. For me BBQ is more of a generic term relating to an event, process and methods. Hence the reason folks will say lets go to the BBQ. The meat can be prepared in many differnet fashions. For methods, Direct (grilling), in direct (with and without smoke or on a plank of wood), smoke (hot or cold, fast or slow), rotiserie, and directly on coals (pit or like a flank steak directly on charcoal coals) are all methods for the party of BBQ.
But what ever the definition, you can't beat the flavor of the smoke and the Bradley certainly makes it easier (we just don't like to admit it so we can look better) ;D.
Gizmo,
I'm embarrassed to tell you, but I got scared and pitched the chicken part. I was "cold" smoking the chicken and the beef, and noticed the temperature was up to 135º. I started thinking about salmanella poisoning, since I was not going to grill the meat for a few hours. Anyway, to be safe, I pitched the chicken. I just got over food poisoning a couple of weeks ago, and I don't ever want to go through that again. Last night, I was going to grill the skirt steak, but didn't have any charcoal (duh!). So, I pan cooked it. It was edible, but wasn't so special. I chalk all this up to beginner dumbness.
I did smoke some almonds by using the recipe I found on this forum. They are pretty good !!
I'm going to buy some baby back ribs today and try my luck with that. I'm not discouraged at all. I just need to learn how best to use this thing. I can see that I'm going to get a lot of help from you guys, and I really appreciate it.
If you cold smoke, remove the smoke gen from the oven box and use a cardboard box for the smoke gen connected to the oven via an aluminum dryer hose. Works great. You will need a longer sense cord (can get the from Radio Shack). For the chicken, I would have just cranked up the heat to max and cooked smoked it. The high temperatures would take care of any bugs. I know what you mean about the food poisoning. Been there once from contaminated water on the ship (Navy) and once from Fish Tacos from a restaurant. Of the two, the water was the worst, especially standing in line for the facilities with a few hundred of my now closest friends. :-[