Hanging bowl at the top?

[matt.mcnett]

This might be a stupid question, but what's the purpose of the bowl that hangs from the top.   I never saw this part on my digital smoker and I can't find any mention of it in the owners manual. 

[Gafala]

Where did you see that ? I have never heard of any thing like that. More info needed.

[tskeeter]

Matt, I suspect that the bowl you describe is used to catch anything that drips back down an extended vent.  After several years of use, I'm starting to see drips (black rain) from the sheet metal duct I added to my smoker to extend the vent through the roof of my smoker shed.  A bowl hanging below the vent would catch any drips and keep black rain from getting on your food.

[Toker]

Exactly tskeeter 

[Gafala]

Exactly tskeeter 

  I guess you could do that, but I don’t think that would be a very good idea as a bowl would then collect the back rain and restrict the correct flow of smoke,  by cleaning the top of the smoker you will  eliminate the rain altogether . That's what I do.

[Toker]

So, Gafala what would you do instead? The Smart Smoker comes with this bowl on the top. Do you suggest to remove it? And as far as restricting the correct flow, I smoke inside and I use a inline afn to take the smoke outside so, it won't be a problem for me 

[Gafala]

The underside of the bowl will collect just as the sheet metal does just moving the rain from one location to a new one. Me just keep the smoker clean. Just my thoughts.

[Toker]

But the smoker comes with this bowl already attached into the smoker 

[Gafala]

I think I would pass on that idea, I will wait and see if it works.

[Habanero Smoker]

The dripping from the vent only occurs when I'm using my Bradley in cold weather. The problem I have when that happens is due to the warm moist air escaping through the vent condenses when it hits the colder air. This condensation builds up and it drips down on the food. Since the bowl is inside the cabinet, there will be no condensation on the outside of the bowl. So the drippings will gather in the bowl, and will/may be turned into steam again, and start the process over. Also I believe the vent bowl is removable.

The vent bowl should work. If you do a search, you will see many members used different items to resolved this problem, prior to Bradley actually doing something about it. During colder weather, I place an empty rack on the top self, and use either cheese cloth or a coffee filter under the vent to catch the dripping. As mentioned earlier, I only had to do this during the winter, and cold autumn days. Some members would use a small disposable pie pan.

[Jim O]

I use a foil pie plate on an inverted rack on the top shelf. Works for me .

[matt.mcnett]

Thanks for the answers, I guess it wasn't a stupid question.   I should add this is a new part that came with the Bradley Smart Smoker.    It's not describe in any owners manual or shown anywhere.   If it's a neat feature Bradley really missed the extra marketing but not including mention of it anywhere.    It doesn't seem to block the smoke at all and hangs about 1 inch below the exhaust vent.  I'll attach a picture when I get home from work.