BRADLEY SMOKER | "Taste the Great Outdoors"

Just bought my BS and I have 2 boston buts and a brisket flat in there for my first expirement. Using mesquite for 4 hrs. Buts on the bottom brisket one rack above. How do you determine how much if any the dampner should be opened??? I right now have it open about 3/16 inch. Is there any rule of thumb on the dampner setting??

Thanks

TR

Greetings, You are going to have a nice long run with 2 butts and a brisket. It will due fine. The vent should be open enough to allow air to flow through the unit.  You do not want to smoke with it closed down to the point smoke backs up through the smoke generator opening or moisture builds up (condensation) in the unit. I dont know of an issue will it being full open other than my brain likes the idea of smoke going through the unit slow.  The vent is also fun to play with in terms of temperature.  Good luck and share your results and experience. 

I second west coast on the vent deal and.How many pounds are you doing.And what temps do you figure your going to take them out at.These are the other factors of turning out great smoked food.Check the around here any questions people will chime in right away to help.Good luck and have some fun  ;D.

That's a pretty brave smoke. Are you using a remote thermometer in each piece?

Well i say the butts go way longer then the brisket so saying that only one internal temp probe is needed.All depends on how much lbs he is doing IMO.Butt its going to be a long run for sure.Make sure ya have a keg ready. ;D

I just have the thermometer in the brisket for right now. I was kind of going off of olds 4th of july brisket. 4 hrs then boat w/splash of apple juice. When I do that I will spray down the buts w/apple juice. I just checked the temp and it is only holding at 180F and the out door temp is 20F The buts are 6.5lb ea and the brisket is 5.6 lb. and I added an aluminum tray of bushes beans w/ 3 cans in it until the smoke is done. right now I am at 2 hr mark on smoke.

I guess I should have added that the heat on the unit is wide open. Do I need to close the dampner more to get the temp up to 195f wind is blowing 15-20 mph like always in NE. Hoping to have some good eats for the Husker game tommorrow. ??? ???

Wow talk about  a full of bs..That smoker is filled to the brim im sure.Give us a shout when the results are in.Heres my perdiction.And frist of all go at least 5 maybe six hours of smoke with that much poundage Imo.The butts will be done at a pulling temp of 195    17 hours later with box temps of 210 or so.Thats going to be the biggie the beans can go as long as ya want.The brisket is a personal preferance i pull mine at 175 then give it the foil and apple juice deal.Good luck with this and stay awake lol.By the way this is Imo only everyone does things alittle different thats why here we are a rare bred of smoking nuts so just have fun and test stuff out and enjoy. ;D And then report back here .heheheh

Closing the vent will help with heat (some) - dont close too much though... it wont help that much.   Until the 20 lbs of food comes up in temp you will not see a lot of movement in oven temps.  Your food is absorbing the heat now. It is doing fine.  Fill up the water bowl when you pull the beans at end of smoke and have a good sleep. Check the Brisket internal temp if you gotta get up in the night but It will do fine. Low and slow .... tomorrow will be a good day if I know Missouri.

I just closed the vent to 1/8" I will keep an eye on it until midnight 3 hrs from now. I also just loaded 2 more hrs of biskets (Thanks Icerat4) I thought it might need more smoke with that much meat. with the out door temp tonight calling for 29f with south wind of 15 mph and the BS is on the south side of the house. Will wide open throttle on the heat be to much later on or will I need to back it down a little while I get some Z's. I would rather have to cook longer than torch it.

Just keep an  eye on the internal temps.These meats will stall the temps big time .Dont get to excited lol.When you get the temps  where ya want. Out they come.Not before. Hold out and wait.Be paticent grasshopper .Ok its the beer kickin in.But just change the water and the temps will rise slow remember that.So if the butts are only 145-160 at bed time and the temps in the box are 210 or so .You can go to slep no problem .By the time you wake up they will be at 175 180 .Have a great night 8)

On my first go 'round I closed the vent to build heat faster. Big mistake ! :-[
It caused a flood in my BS..............Let the unit breathe. You'll learn more every smoke AND by staying with the forum. There are some smart folks here.
I'm just not one of 'em.........but I'm tryin'.

                                         Stay with the smoke,
                                                            Coyote

Ive made mistakes.NOT.lol  ;D.Ive got your back rookie.

Ya gotta love the Rat 8)....................Coyote

I guess I should reword my previous, will having the temp control wide open get the box temp to high with the outside temp at 29f? I am assuming that as the meat temp rises the box temp will rise. I don't want to get the box to hot and have ashes when I wake. As said earlier low and slow. I just checked box temp again at 180f and got another beverage.

The box temp will 'likely' be fine.  Icerat4 leaves his temp full right with the vent wide open all night and has not lost a butt yet. He does a lot of them. You have more lbs and you have to pull the bean and fill the water at mid night. It is also pretty cold outside by San Diego standards. So as the story goes grit your teeth and go to sleep.  But then I am a Digital Smoker so I set mine at 220 and sleep well.  If in doubt I am thinking that pony keg your saving for the game is in real danger. Really everything says - it is doing fine.  It will be fine... low and slow.

Thanks,

TR

Ok before I went to bead I opened the vent wide open just to be safe. Got up at 5:30 am couldn't stand it any longer. Box temp was at 200f on the nose Brisket internal was 180f sprayed some apple juice on the butts again and took the brisket inside. Wraped in a heavy towel right away and prepared the cooler. put it in the cooler at 5:45am. Checked the butts internal and one was 200f and the other was 205f. So I pulled them right away wraped them up and put in the cooler. By no means did I have a disaster everthing looked and smelled great so good that the dog won't leave me alone and he is laying in front of the cooler "guarding" it.

Did the butts cook to fast being on the bottom rack?? Should I have moved everything up when I pulled the beans out?? The butts used up 2 rack spaces the brisket one and the beans one.

I put a pound of bacon in this morning to smoke for and hour so that I can put them in the beans.

I plan on doing some cheese tomorrow. I bought 5 lb of sharp chedder 2 lb of colby jack and today I will get some pepper jack. Right now I have hickory, mesquite and cherry bisquetts. Scheels here in town has other flavors any reccomendations??

Can't wait until game time to try everything.

Thanks again,

TR

Dont worry .All should be great.I had parts of mine butt at those temps too and stll came out moist  check your massages i gave ya a lil present terry and coyote ;D ;)

I'm sure it will be moist, when I pulled out the thermometer the juice squirted up out of the hole 1/4 inch or so.

I have been reading some of the recipes for butts and they call out to cover in yellow mustard and wrap overnight. My only question is does it give a mustard flavor at all? Just wondering, I am not a big mustard fan. I'll try anything once since butts are so cheap I could "sacrifice" one. If I don't like it I can always send it to my wife's office. Those vultures beg her to have me cook stuff for them all the time.

TR

Check your mail.The mustard is just so the rub will stick nice.No that flavor is non existance.some pics comming here shortly terry


http://s71.photobucket.com/albums/i138/icerat4/?action=view&current=1162647706.pbw




se how the rub stays on really nice with the mustard.The one butt that is shining is a butt done plain i just put it in the smoker no rub nothing.It was ok not bad.7 on the scale of a 10.Hope all this helps see ya out here and enjoy.

I'll take some pics when they come out of the cooler. I found that recipe yesterday and used it to some extent as a guidline.

TR

I'll be curious about the brisket. If it's tough, take it to a higher temp next time. I've been taking mine to 210 internal with good results in the texture area.

rob

Temps will be higher on the bottom and also at the back.  Spacing might be good for smoke to swirl around each piece also.  Will look for the pics.  Sounds like a good result in any case.

that slide show made me dizzy...

and my pie pit growl...

you gotta eat...

owrstrich

Can anyone tell me how to post a picture??

Go to photobucket and get set up.Then upload your pics .And then post here.

Here is the brisket. Seasoned w/coarse ground pepper, Misty's (a seasoning from a local steak house) and salt.

First, I think I should not have trimmed any fat of of the brisket before I smoked it.

Second, I used to much pepper, that is about all you could taste, it had good smoke flavor but needed more salt or seasoning.

It was pretty tender a little dry except for where I left fat on it. I have had better but I have also had far worse. not bad for my rookie smoke.

(http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p56/terryrichards18/DSCF0007.jpg)

(http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p56/terryrichards18/DSCF0008.jpg)

here is the first butt done with Durkee brand grill creations chicken and rib rub.

Just like the brisket it could have had more seasoning on it.

(http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p56/terryrichards18/DSCF0009.jpg)

(http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p56/terryrichards18/DSCF0010.jpg)

here is the second butt done with "Fat Boy" brand sweet butt rub.

could have had more salt/seasoning.

(http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p56/terryrichards18/DSCF0012.jpg)

(http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p56/terryrichards18/DSCF0013.jpg)

And last but not least here is one my my little "theifs" getting a sample. She has so much in her mouth her cheeks are buldging.

(http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p56/terryrichards18/DSCF0011.jpg)

Ok, I ate so much I sat down on the couch at halftime of the game and fell asleep I missed the whole second half.

Is there a way of getting a thicker bark on the butts? Icerat, will the mustard recipe you sent me take care of that?

I have had pulled pork from a local hole in the wall place called Sigbee's and theirs has a heavier bark and more flavor throughout. Or is the only way to get that is from a true wood fire commercial smoker?

Any recommendations for wood on the cheese I will be doing tommorrow?

Thanks,

TR

TR, Thankfully NE was able to prevail without either of us. Bark flavor can be spread by a second coating of the dry rub after you pull them from the fridge (Just the rub, I have not tried a second round of mustard). The meat will carry a bit more after it sets for a while with the origional rub soaking in and some moisture resurfacing.  After the smoke when you are ready to pull, try trimming the bark you have off the outside and set it aside. When you have the meet pulled spread it out thin and chop up the bark into fine little pieces. You can then spread the flavor into the rest of the meat. Kinda like little flavor crystals. 

Your food looks great!!!

I DO load up the mustard.And i find butts with a nice fatty layer.Did u have the fat side up the whole smoke.That could be a reason.You may want to see iceman here and ask for some of his rub for the butts.Its very nice.And then take a look at how much rub i have on mu butt lol.I load it up big time .And i mean all sides till its a inch thick.Well not that thick but you get the idea.The day after i take them out of the fridge i rerub them again by just shaking the rub on again.This will help with the extra bark.too ;D.And your brisket defintly leave the fat on and also cook with that side uppie.And just a sprinkle of salt and pepper will do nothing else.DO NOT LOAD IT UP just the oppisite of the butts.Have fun.

I did have fat side up on the butts and the brisket. My wife took one of the butts to work today and put it in a roaster w/a cup of water added. She said it was much better today than it was saturday. She has 7 people work in her office and when she told them it was in the break room it was gone in minutes. They said that they would buy the meat and let me smoke it from now on. Sounds like a good deal to me, I get to experiment on their dime! and I get to do what I enjoy.

I just put in a batch of cheese, colby jack, sharp cheddar, pepper jack, beer cheddar, and dill cheddar. Doing pecan for 2 hrs. Hopefully it will be mellowed goor for turkey day.

Any good recomendations for the turkey?? I thought about injecting like you would do for deep frying one and using cherry. Any thoughts????

Thanks,

TR

Going to do a deep fry turkey this year and smoke just a couple of the breasts. Got lots of other stuff I need to smoke for holiday. Pecan or apple is nice. I put a little peanut oil in with the juice misting.  nice shinny gold appearance.

Just gotta get me some of the DFT (deep fried turkey).  Hard to find anyone that has said, yup tried it, would never eat it again.  WKC, you'll have to send out the DFT invite next time your in the mood.  I sure you'll need another mouth to feed.  ;D

Do a search for turkey, and check out the recipe site;

http://susan.rminor.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=137

Fried Turkey

http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=2418.msg22614#msg22614 (http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=2418.msg22614#msg22614)