I'm a new Bradley owner (and first time smoker) in the UK. I'm just seasoning my 4 rack digital as I type - it smells amazing. I am going to buy a thermometer, that sounds like a wise buy, but was wondering what the puck things are and why/how you would use them? Really grateful for any advice.
Welcome :) Lots of great people and advice on here.
Are you referring to the metal pucks/ bubba pucks that are mentioned? If so they allow you to place the desired number of wood pucks in your smoker and then set the metal ones on top of them so they will push the final wood pucks through the system without any additional waste. You don't need them but it helps save on the waste and you don't have to worry about the last puck sitting on the burner once you are done applying smoke.
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Quote from: catw on March 12, 2014, 10:11:39 AM
I'm a new Bradley owner (and first time smoker) in the UK. I'm just seasoning my 4 rack digital as I type - it smells amazing. I am going to buy a thermometer, that sounds like a wise buy, but was wondering what the puck things are and why/how you would use them? Really grateful for any advice.
Welcome Ms. W.... ;) Glad to see you've joined us!
You'll find an incredibly helpful community here, I've relied on them heavily over the years.
As OntarioSmoke mentioned, the "Bubba Pucks" allow you to only use the required amount of wood on your smoke, and these are metal blanks that push the final one into the water bowl at the end of the smoke. Otherwise, you always have to use 2 more bisquettes (the official name for the wood discs) than necessary and the final one sits on the burner and turns to ash. Some feel that this complete combustion may add some off flavours... but in my experience it's just so you don't end up wasting extra wood every time you smoke as the left over ones may partially burn and/or get a bit of humidity into them making them not feed properly if you try to re-use them.
Looking forward to hearing about your first real smoke!!!
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I've found that I get better burn results (More evenly burned pucks with no unburned areas) when I load the pucks and push the advance button twice.
This will let the first puck sit one cycle next to the burner, and I think it helps it get busy smoking once it is pushed on the puck burner. And as mentioned, using three bubba pucks will push the last puck into the water bowl. The three bubba pucks will then act as small heat sinks for the rest of your cook, helping your temperature recovery times when you have to open the door.