Hello everyone!
Been reading different forums and it looks like U guys got your stuff together in this one.
Looking to buy a new smoker. I've used charcoal and now gas and just can't get the temp up where I need to be if it's cold outside with either. A friend of mine said to buy an electric smoker and my problem would be over.
Will the Bradley 6 rack Diggi work in cold weather......say around 30 to 40 deg. outside?
How many years of service can I expect out of the 6 rack diggi?
Thanks, Mike.
W E L C O M E to the Forum mptubbs!
I don't live in the cold, but someone who does will be along shortly.
If you pre-heat a little longer and can keep it out of the wind, and don't open the door too much, you should be fine.
I would think that, if properly cared for, a DBS should last for a while, at least 5 years. You may need to replace a component here or there.
Welcome the forum.
FLB has you covered with his thoughts. I just put a 13lb brisket in my 6 rack Bradley and the temp here right now is 33 deg. Don't see any problem getting it back up to my desired smoking temp of 220. The 4 rack should heat up even better as the 4 and 6 rack units both use the same heating elements.
Hi Mike and welcome to the forum.
There are few members in this forum that live in Alaska and they have had their Bradleys for some years now with no pronblems. Where I live it is getting in the upper forties and I am getting ready to smoke a couple of legs of lamb. I have the Digital 6 rack.
Good luck and you wont go wrong with Bradley. If you have any questions just ask.
HR
I have the digital 4 rack and live in Minnesota. I have had no problem with mine so far, but it is my first cold weather season with it. It's been in the low 30's here and have been using it regulary with no complications. I even left mine in the wind to see if it made a difference. I don't think it did.
Hawkeye......sounds like your in Iowa?
I'm right next to U here in Nerbrska. I'm pushing towards the 6 rack and your input just made up my mind! 6 rack diggi it is.
Thanks!
I'm in WI about 200 mikes north from Iowa. Enjoy that new smoker when you get it and here's a link to the recipe site. Old's Place. (http://www.susanminor.org/forums/index.php) There's a lot of great info there.
mptubbs, welcome to the forum and looking forward to you getting that 6racker.
If you have any questions, just ask.
Thanks to all!
Been doing some reading on this forum and I believe I'm going to learn alot from all of you.
Told the wife this is probably the best smoker for the money.
The 6 racker is my Christmas present from my wife......I don't know if I can wait that long to start playing!
Welcome Aboard.
Those temps should not be a problem at all. I plan on smoking some salmon this weekend and the temp will be around 0 Fahrenheit, so your temps will be fine.
Glad to hear U have no problems in Canadia @ that temp.
Looks like I picked a winner!
Welcome to the fun mptubbs.
You cant go wrong with any of the Bradley's
I have the DBS 6 rack and also live in Nebraska, didnt have any problems smoking last winter as long as I kept it out of the wind.
Quote from: OU812 on December 03, 2009, 09:06:36 AM
Welcome to the fun mptubbs.
You cant go wrong with any of the Bradley's
I have the DBS 6 rack and also live in Nebraska, didnt have any problems smoking last winter as long as I kept it out of the wind.
I agree with OU812, wind can sometimes be a bigger determining factor in how long things take than the temperature. I would rather have the smoker going in 0 degree weather with no wind than 30 degree weather with a 20 mph wind blowing.
Been smok'n for a few years and I know all too well about the wind!
Thanks all for the warm welcome to this forum. ;)
WELCOME mptubbs. Cold weather doesn,t seem to bother my 4rack OBS. I,ve used it the past two winters here in southern Canada with now problems. Like others have said wind will be the major issue. I have sausage smoking as we speak, and the outside temp is only 30. I moved the smoker out of the wind and now problem keeping temp.
Quote from: mptubbs on December 03, 2009, 12:41:24 PM
Been smok'n for a few years and I know all too well about the wind!
Thanks all for the warm welcome to this forum. ;)
Wind? There aint no wind in Nebraska. :D
It's windy every day at my place, calms down at night though.
Gotta love it.
Neraska blows because Iowa sucks! ;D
Aaaa....sorry.
Quote from: mptubbs on December 03, 2009, 12:54:03 PM
Neraska blows because Iowa sucks! ;D
Aaaa....sorry.
Haven't herd that one in a wile.
What part of Ne are U from?
I'm in between Omaha and Lincoln.
Need to send U some smoke signal.
Quote from: mptubbs on December 03, 2009, 12:58:48 PM
What part of Ne are U from?
I'm in between Omaha and Lincoln.
Need to send U some smoke signal.
In the sticks just North of Blair, work in Omaha.
Fuzzy gots the OSB and replaced the heating element (OSB was glass) cuz a friend gave me an extra "metal" one from his purchase. I don't think the metal element works as well as the glass in getting the temp up in cold weather. I think Bradley went to metal cuz the glass ones were breaking. I still have my original glass element and will most likely reinstall it in the near future. By the way, my OSB has been working for 5 years now - 6 in January.
Yes, but were talking about a diggi. How many trouble free years can I get with a 6 rack diggi?
$600 is alot of money for me to spend since I only smoke about 15 times a year.
(slowing down in my old age)
Quote from: mptubbs on December 03, 2009, 01:37:12 PM
Yes, but were talking about a diggi. How many trouble free years can I get with a 6 rack diggi?
$600 is alot of money for me to spend since I only smoke about 15 times a year.
(slowing down in my old age)
$600 seems a little high for a DBS 6 rack, might want to check around a little.
I dont know if this helps or not but I bring my generator in the house in the winter.
Once you see how user friendly this baby is I think you will be smokineg more than 15 times a year. Mine is going every weekend, some weekends it gets turned on Fri night and dont get shut off till late Sun night.
Bringing in the generator is my plan.
I can buy the 6 racker for $549 @ Cabela's.
Keep giving me more ideas....knowledge is power!
mptubbs, this is where I got mine from:
http://www.manventureoutpost.com/
You should be able to get a 6 rk digital delivered for under $400.
$392 w/ shipping to my house in Texas.
I new I seen it some where cheaper than $549 but couldnt remmember where
Reason going to Cabela's.....wife has a $300 gift card from work and I recieved a $100 off coupon if U spend over $500.
Total out of pocket.......$149.
believe U me..... if I didn't have that I'd be buy'n from Manventure!
Quote from: mptubbs on December 03, 2009, 06:53:55 PM
Reason going to Cabela's.....wife has a $300 gift card from work and I recieved a $100 off coupon if U spend over $500.
Total out of pocket.......$149.
believe U me..... if I didn't have that I'd be buy'n from Manventure!
Well that is a great deal! WOW!
SWEET
DBS 6 rack for $149 out of pocket dont get any better than that.
Now when are we going to see some of the good eats coming out of that baby?
First of the year....it will be a Christmas Presnt. from the wife!
Mine was a Christmas present from the wife also. I think she was tired of hearing me bitching about my other smokers
mptubbs, tell her to let you start using it and she can wrap the empty box. ;D
Now thats a plan!
I'll give it my best shot! 8)
ok ...im a newbie here(bought bds 6 rack a week ago and smokin ever since ) its -25 c here today and i been smokin sausage today ..i set temp at at 160*f and had no problem keepin the temp ...last few days was smokin other things and it was -15 ish but the wind was up and it was a bit harder to control the temp...
Yup Trapper the wind will kick your ass. Cold is not that big of a deal but the wind will get you.
First year with a smoker-----
First batch in single digit temperatures----
I have been smoking with the oven set at max temp. and have only reached 180 degrees so far. (its been 5 degrees outside all day). Make sure you rotate you racks a lot, I torched the stuff that was on the bottom. >:( I am already trying to figure out a thermal blanket so help insulate the smoker. I think the slight breeze is a major factor in the temperature.
Scott
Yeah Scott someone else asked about insulating too. Somebody suggested to use a welders blanket. That sounds like a good idea as long as you can attach it somehow.
I will be smok'n in the garage right by the door so I can stay out of the wind.
Saturday will be my first smoke in the Bradley with the highs arouind 20ish...do'n a couple of beer can chickens.
I'll keep U all posted on how well the temp did.
Quote from: shakesports on December 09, 2009, 04:03:57 PM
First year with a smoker-----
First batch in single digit temperatures----
I have been smoking with the oven set at max temp. and have only reached 180 degrees so far. (its been 5 degrees outside all day). Make sure you rotate you racks a lot, I torched the stuff that was on the bottom. >:( I am already trying to figure out a thermal blanket so help insulate the smoker. I think the slight breeze is a major factor in the temperature.
Scott
Let me know what you end up doing. I was thinking of some rigid foam insulation and putting the smoker in it. I will be mindfull of air intake and exhaust though.
Quote from: mptubbs on December 09, 2009, 04:23:13 PM
I will be smok'n in the garage right by the door so I can stay out of the wind.
Saturday will be my first smoke in the Bradley with the highs arouind 20ish...do'n a couple of beer can chickens.
I'll keep U all posted on how well the temp did.
Tubbs,
I do that all the time. Works great and your garage will smell great for the next couple of days.
Quote from: oakrdrzfan on December 09, 2009, 06:31:52 PM
Quote from: shakesports on December 09, 2009, 04:03:57 PM
First year with a smoker-----
First batch in single digit temperatures----
I have been smoking with the oven set at max temp. and have only reached 180 degrees so far. (its been 5 degrees outside all day). Make sure you rotate you racks a lot, I torched the stuff that was on the bottom. >:( I am already trying to figure out a thermal blanket so help insulate the smoker. I think the slight breeze is a major factor in the temperature.
Scott
Let me know what you end up doing. I was thinking of some rigid foam insulation and putting the smoker in it. I will be mindfull of air intake and exhaust though.
Hey guys, here a link to a welding blanket I've been looking at for a project. They specs on it are the best I've found and think it would work for you. Welding Blanket (http://store.cyberweld.com/panfelwelbla.html)
Quote from: mptubbs on December 09, 2009, 04:23:13 PM
I will be smok'n in the garage right by the door so I can stay out of the wind.
Saturday will be my first smoke in the Bradley with the highs arouind 20ish...do'n a couple of beer can chickens.
I'll keep U all posted on how well the temp did.
Good luck on your birds. Remember to keep the vent wide open when doing poultry as you will have allot of moisture coming from them and you dont want it to build up in your smoker and dripping down on your food it's nasty and it could back up in your generator and really mess things up.
I will be looking for smoke signals coming from the south west this sat. I will also be smoking this weekend, doing some jalapeno swiss summer sausage.
Quote from: OU812 on December 10, 2009, 08:51:30 AM
Quote from: mptubbs on December 09, 2009, 04:23:13 PM
I will be smok'n in the garage right by the door so I can stay out of the wind.
Saturday will be my first smoke in the Bradley with the highs arouind 20ish...do'n a couple of beer can chickens.
I'll keep U all posted on how well the temp did.
Good luck on your birds. Remember to keep the vent wide open when doing poultry as you will have allot of moisture coming from them and you dont want it to build up in your smoker and dripping down on your food it's nasty and it could back up in your generator and really mess things up.
I will be looking for smoke signals coming from the south west this sat. I will also be smoking this weekend, doing some jalapeno swiss summer sausage.
U have fun this week-end I know I will! Going to Cabela's today and buy me the 2 can chicken set up.
They look heavyduty! ;)
Any thing will be more fun than what I went through the past couple days, daughter put her car in the steepest ditch she could find, only took 4 hr and a tractor to pull her out and that was at 1:30 PM then had to pull her car for a mile and half cause the snow was about a foot by then and the wife tried to plow her way through a drift and planted her car right in the middle then she through the belt trying to get it out. Had to tell her to shut it off before she blew it up, she wasnt happy. So I went to pull her out and then got a call form the neighbor who was stuck also, she was able to keep her car running so she was # 3 on the list. What dont these people understand, when you have a blizzard warning that means STAY AT HOME. Didnt get in the WARM house till almost 10:00 PM.
Didnt get the roads cleared till 1:00 PM and my drive 10:00 yesterday.
Sorry got carried away. I WILL HAVE FUN SMOKING. You do the same.
sounds like a nice leisurely day ya. did you remember to thank them all for such a relaxing day.
Quote from: Quarlow on December 10, 2009, 10:05:53 AM
sounds like a nice leisurely day ya. did you remember to thank them all for such a relaxing day.
Lets see, my exact words to all them was "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!!!!!?"
LOL!
Talk about having ALL the luck. I hope U'r smoke out is trouble free!!!
What U smok'n anyway?
Quote from: mptubbs on December 10, 2009, 10:10:21 AM
LOL!
Talk about having ALL the luck. I hope U'r smoke out is trouble free!!!
What U smok'n anyway?
Jalapeno Swiss Deer Summer Sausage and a some ABT's
ABT's ?
Atomic Buffalo Turds - (smoked jalapenos)
ABT/Atomic Buffalo Turd (http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?t=25)
Sorry tubbs I should have give a better explanation of an ABT.
Fallow the link 10.5 gave and it will walk you through it.
If you like Jalapenos you gotta try these, kinda like a jalapeno popper.
OU812 sounds like your winter is starting out like mine. Had a cold snap here that has done a number on our vehicles. My daily driver wouldn't start, so I fired up the plow truck to jump the daily driver. The hydrolic pump for the plow froze up so I couldn't move it. Went to the wife's car only to find out she had left the lights on. Luckily, her car was parked next to the plow truck. I used the plow truck to jump the car and the car to jump my truck. Turns out that my truck battery must have been weak, because it actually froze. So now I have a new battery in my Tahoe, my wife got an ear full about leaving her lights on and tomorrow I will rip the plow apart so I can thaw it out and change the fluid. Makes me wonder sometimes why I still like living in Minnesota!
Mind if I ask why you have a plow truck?
Because we used to get snow here ;D :D :D ;D
RR you clown. Do you live on a farm or out in the country? Don't make me pry it out of you.
I live out in the country and I also take care of some of my elderly relatives driveways.
Ok well that makes sense. I love trucks and equipment. I guess that is why I have been around it most of my life.
I would live in the country just so I could have my own. The cattle ranch I lived on was a lot of fun.
I'm a gear head too. If it has wheels and a motor I'm all over it. I started playing with heavy equipment when I was in high school. I'm a farm boy as well. I've owned a few over the road trucks and such too.
ARRRRR ARRRRRR!!! I bought a new John Deere garden tractor for my yard this year... The dealer had it way back in one of many giant buildings out back... Had to walk under some new combines to get back there. My "big bad@ss" new tractor is about the size of one of the lug nuts on one of those puppies... Talk about "heavy equipment"...
Yea I started young too. When I was real little My dads cousin would give us rides in the bucket of his backhoe. Then My dad and his brother (my uncle) had ripsnortin' dunebuggys. Dad's had a 386 with a 6pack. Then my dad had a backhoe for afew years and we mess around with that. As a teen I worked on a potato farm and run all the equipment there. Our neighbor growing up was a small cat operator before excavators were the thing to use and I would go with him on saturdays to ride around and at lunch he would let me mess with it. Then they traded those for excavators and I would spend every minute I could hanging of the side of those which was quite the feat as they didn't have cat walks on the side then. And again at lunch I would move the piles of dirt that he had dug back and forth. In the first year of my marriage you couldn't get a job around here to safe your life so when I was offered a job on a cattle ranch in the middle of nowhere we loaded up the old ramcharge and headed for that boonies. I spent 3 years there and then broke my ankle so we had to move back to my dads place. I got my class 1 license through worker's rehab and off I went. About 2 years later the guy from the ranch ask me if I wanted to come back and we spent another 3 years there till our 2 daughters were born. So back to home we went and then it's been 29 years of pounding semi's around town and over the road and through the woods and up some mountains. Well you get the picture. Ok well thats my life story sort of. Hope I didn't bore anyone.
Quote from: Quarlow on December 10, 2009, 06:47:24 PM
Yea I started young too. When I was real little My dads cousin would give us rides in the bucket of his backhoe. Then My dad and his brother (my uncle) had ripsnortin' dunebuggys. Dad's had a 386 with a 6pack. Then my dad had a backhoe for afew years and we mess around with that. As a teen I worked on a potato farm and run all the equipment there. Our neighbor growing up was a small cat operator before excavators were the thing to use and I would go with him on saturdays to ride around and at lunch he would let me mess with it. Then they traded those for excavators and I would spend every minute I could hanging of the side of those which was quite the feat as they didn't have cat walks on the side then. And again at lunch I would move the piles of dirt that he had dug back and forth. In the first year of my marriage you couldn't get a job around here to safe your life so when I was offered a job on a cattle ranch in the middle of nowhere we loaded up the old ramcharge and headed for that boonies. I spent 3 years there and then broke my ankle so we had to move back to my dads place. I got my class 1 license through worker's rehab and off I went. About 2 years later the guy from the ranch ask me if I wanted to come back and we spent another 3 years there till our 2 daughters were born. So back to home we went and then it's been 29 years of pounding semi's around town and over the road and through the woods and up some mountains. Well you get the picture. Ok well thats my life story sort of. Hope I didn't bore anyone.
The complete works of Quarlow in 60 Seconds! ;)
Growing up on the farm I was always working with farm machinery. Granted the farm implements where I am are more like toys compared to those in Illinois. From there I worked in a gravel pit running endloaders and dump trucks. The most fun I've had though is driving over the road in my semi's.
Ok-ok....I'm going to the store in my diesel John Deer rock hauler backhoe right out of the rock quarry to pick up the fix"n for ABT'S.
Got it!
They're pretty amazing up close...
Kinda reminds me of these big wind turbines popping up everywhere - You can see from a distance that they're BIG... But when you get up close - HOLY MOLEEEEEE...
:D ;D :D ;D You can take the boy off the farm, but you can't take the farm out of the boy!
Just bought the Maverick 73 for Saturdays smoke.
On the "food" side I can not get the temp to program below 176f.
The instructions say that 176f is the default setting
How do U get past the default setting? HELP!
Mike.
Quote from: Huntnfreak on December 10, 2009, 07:31:00 PM
:D ;D :D ;D You can take the boy off the farm, but you can't take the farm out of the boy!
Ditto
Quote from: mptubbs on December 11, 2009, 08:21:49 AM
How do U get past the default setting? HELP!
Mike.
Have you tried pushing the temp set button then the temp down button?
Quote from: OU812 on December 11, 2009, 08:31:18 AM
Quote from: Huntnfreak on December 10, 2009, 07:31:00 PM
:D ;D :D ;D You can take the boy off the farm, but you can't take the farm out of the boy!
Ditto
Quote from: mptubbs on December 11, 2009, 08:21:49 AM
How do U get past the default setting? HELP!
Mike.
Have you tried pushing the temp set button then the temp down button?
If I go to set the "food" temp and then hit to "low" setting all that does is sets the tower's low setting whitch is on the tower side of the remote. The food side of the remote does not have a low button.
Man, now you have me scratching my head. I'm trying to remember the steps but I dont have the Maverick in front of me, it would be easyer if I did.
You have to hold the HI Food button and let it scroll past 300 or something like that (I can't tell you the exact number cause I'm using mine now), then it will start over at 1. (But you only get one food setting, no high or low).
Quote from: KevinG on December 11, 2009, 10:53:02 AM
You have to hold the HI Food button and let it scroll past 300 or something like that (I can't tell you the exact number cause I'm using mine now), then it will start over at 1. (But you only get one food setting, no high or low).
Ok got it! It's 400 and it will start over.
Why don't they tell U that in the instructions?
Good deal, now I can quit scratching my head.
Thank's guys! ;)
Ok.....@ 6am I put in 4 chickens and 1 rack of veggies in my new 6 racker.
It was preheated and the temp out side was around 20 degrees.
Did the smoking in my garage out of the wind and the vent is wide open.
2 were beer can chickens and 2 were flat on their backs.
It's now 7 pm and and the chicks IT is 155 degrees. The tower never got over 195 degrees.
I'm doing something wrong? Is my new toy defective?
Any help or input would be great.
Mike.
Not sure what you had your temp set at to only get to the 195, but it does seem like an awful big load of food in some mightly low outside temps. Too hot out here for me to know for sure if that would be an issue or not, but seems like a possibility. You might need to crank up the temp a little more.
My 6 rack is a diggi and had the temp set 250 degrees from the get go.
It never came close to that temp in 13 hours.