Pardon the question you all probably get all to often. I couldn't find it in the archives.
Hardwood chips and sawdust are a waste product for me that I would prefer using rather than having the additional cost of pucs.
I would appreciate any info comparing the 2 units.
Is there some feature/ advantage etc. about the Bradley that makes it worth the added fuel cost?
Convenience and not having to screw with sawdust and wood.
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pardon the question you all probably get all to often. I couldn't find it in the archives.
Hardwood chips and sawdust are a waste product for me that I would prefer using rather than having the additional cost of pucs.
I would appreciate any info comparing the 2 units.
Is there some feature/ advantage etc. about the Bradley that makes it worth the added fuel cost?<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
Pick the one that is right for you. Since this is a Bradley forum, I don't think you are going to find many fans of doing it differently.
I think it is pretty clear to me anyway that you are shopping. Perhaps you should contact the competing companies and flat out ask why their product is better than the other. There are numerous smokers out there. Pick the one that is right for you.
The folks on this list have made that comparison for themselves and have chosen the B.S. Time for you to choose.
Bill
I like my SSBS for ease of use and it's just plain fun. I like the pucks for smoke because I can control the amount of smoke almost to a science. I also like I can mix the pucks. Sometimes I like to use hickory and a fruit wood together. I have never had anything that wasn't good from my Bradley. Good luck on your decision.[:D]
Jeff
Some say BBQ is in your blood, if thats true my blood must be BBQ sauce.
Howdee,
Try http://www.bradleysmoker.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=381&SearchTerms=cookshack
or
http://www.bradleysmoker.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=75&SearchTerms=cookshack
There are some others, just don't check the archived box. I don't believe any posts have been archived yet & that limits your search to only archived stuff.
Kirk
http://www.chezbubba.com
Ya think next time I check into a hotel & they ask "Smoking or Non?" they would mind?
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Is there some feature/ advantage etc. about the Bradley that makes it worth the added fuel cost?<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
If #1.11 per hour cost factor is out of your budget I cannot think of another system to compair to the Bradley that will do what the Bradley offers. I've been smokin' food now for over 45 years. If it is out there I 've owned it, or built it. Nothing compairs to the Bradley.
End of story. Hope you purchase the Bradley. If not then maybe someday you will come across someone who has one and then you will say: <b>Gee I could have had a V8 instead of this everyday soda!</b>
It's not that I can't afford the pucs... It's just a shame I am generating all these harwood scraps that will continue to go to waste. I am leaning toward the Bradley anyway. I think it will cold smoke better and do better eith poultry.
Thanks for the help
You are welcome...now take all of those wood piece, chip them up fine add alot of green matter to them (grass etc.) and build a great compost pile~~! [:D]
I was watching Good Eats on the Food Channel one time and Alton Brown (the host of the show) made a smoker by getting a hot plate, a pie pan, a couple wooden dowells, an old grate, a cardboard box and saw dust from a cabinet shop. (they use hardwood to make cabinets, not softwood).
He poked holes into the side of the box where you would like to place your meat and stuck the dowells through the holes to hold the grill in the box.
He then cut a flap in the side of the box at its bottom and placed the hot plate and sawdust filled pie pan into it. (Make sure it's accessable because you may have to add more saw dustlater)
when he had the right amount of smoke and temp from the hotplate he put his meat on the rack, placed it inside the box on top of the dowells and folded the box top closed to allow a little bit of smoke to escape. He had one thermometer probe in his food and another probe stuck through the side of the box to get accurate readings. (He was probably using a Maverick, but that's another show.)
Another episode he used a terra cotta flower pot and saucer as a smoker (roaster oven) if you want to try that let me know although I'm not sure he used saw dust in that episode.
Good Luck!
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by pedally</i>
<br />I was watching Good Eats on the Food Channel one time and Alton Brown<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
That guy is definately entertaining to watch and comes up with some really ingenious solutions. Cheap & interesting solutions, just not all that practical or more important to me, CONVENIENT.
Great show though, it's on my watch list.
Kirk
http://www.chezbubba.com
Ya think next time I check into a hotel & they ask "Smoking or Non?" they would mind?
Howdee, I saw you on the cookshack forums asking for comparisons. If you did a search on that site, you'll notice that the cookshack folks report having big temp swings with their thermostats. Usually in the range of -25 to +25 degrees and sometimes more. That's a HUGE temp swing. I really don't have that problem with the Bradley. As for the wood, if you have chunks (not shavings, but they may work)why not set them on the puck-burner plate and let them go. I'm experimenting with cherry pits on my plate as we "speak." They're smokin' away. Of course they won't last as long as throwing a bunch of pucks in the tube, but I'm playing right now. Big draw back would be opening the door. I'm gonna try some maple chunks this weekend and see how long it'll smoke.
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">I was watching Good Eats on the Food Channel one time and Alton Brown (the host of the show) made a smoker by getting a hot plate, a pie pan, a couple wooden dowells, an old grate, a cardboard box and saw dust from a cabinet shop<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
Seen that. Done that. What a pain in the shorts.
PA, yes I thought about that, Also maybe making solid pucs from cherry, oak etc. Wouldn't take but a few seconds per piece to cut. Don't know if they would be to dense though, guess its worth a try, About the CS temp fluxuations, the CS has a thermostat you set at the temp you want. Am i correct that the Bradley has only a slide control without temps labeled. You look at the door guage or an aftermarket thermo to monitor temps after the fact and learn where to set the slide by trial and error?.
I tried the solid wood pucks I cut them out with a hole saw. This did not work to well because when the solid pucks went on the burn tray it took to long for them to start to smoke and by the time they were just starting to smoke good another puck advanced and pushed it in the catch pan and extinguished it. I guess the reason the Bradley pucks work is the air space in the wood chips. It seems that if the cycle time could have been doubled the solid ones may have worked. Since I don't know how to change the electronics of the advancement bar I scraped the idea.
Rod
Rod
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Am i correct that the Bradley has only a slide control without temps labeled. You look at the door guage or an aftermarket thermo to monitor temps after the fact and learn where to set the slide by trial and error?.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
This is correct. I have had little if any trouble keeping the temp. exactly where I want it with the slide control. After the first couple of cooks no problems.[;)] I use a Polder thermometer with my unit right now. It measures only the meat temp. I use the thermometer thats built into the Bradley unit to measure my internal chamber temp. I have found it best to start a little early and get the Bradley up to smokin' temp while my meat is coming to room temp or I'm working around the house, etc. Some I guess would find this inconvenient but for me its prior planning. I once read if you don't have the time to cook low-n-slow then put if off until you do. I find the whole process relaxing as I can enjoy some of my favorite bourbon watch some sports but still have some fun checking on my smoker. I'm sure you can find fault with any smoker/grill I have never seen a perfect one yet. I wouldn't trade my Bradley for any other cooker/smoker that I've seen so far. Happy Smokin'.
Jeff
Some say BBQ is in your blood, if thats true my blood must be BBQ sauce.
Howdee
A thermostat swings up and down unless you are in an upper end commercial unit. Your own home oven swings 10-20 degress both ways. That is why thermostats don't work well for our need to be constant. Once you have the Bradley at the temp you want with your food in it the element is constant thus no swings.
I just read one of the threads you started over on the CookShack forums. One of the replies was:
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">The heating element is directly below the wood box. It gets much hotter than the rest of the smoker and thus ignites the wood. <b>The heating element cycles on and off to average</b> to the set point and keep the wood burning at the same time.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote"> Man if that is not temp swingin' I better sell my Bradley and go get a gas grill.
After reading that thread and this one over again I'm having a hard time picturing just what you are looking for in a smoker.
I will say this and not repost this thread again. If I was to use a smoker with swings I would lose the fat in my sauage. The Bradley is a refined smoker. It is not for everyone.
Olds
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by DoW-Oldman</i>
<br />I would lose the fat in my sausage.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
Very ugly mental picture here!![:D][:D][:D]
Swingin' temps & gas, oomph I'm gettin' downright disgusted![:D][:D][:D]
http://www.chezbubba.com
Ya think next time I check into a hotel & they ask "Smoking or Non?" they would mind?
Howdee,
If you are still listening. A couple of other things to consider. First of all is the vent situation, when you search there forum you will notice comments like "opening the door to release the moisture" type thing, not good. The simple vent system that the Bradley has works great. Also I'm sure you have read about "the rubbery chicken" effect talaked about quite a bit, I think this is do in part to the venting or non venting of the cookshack in my opinion. Also you might heard them say "this is built so tuff it would withstand a bomb", one thing about the BS is that it is not to heavy and not to lite, LOOKS great also. I have mine om my back porch and I don't have to hide it when folks come over. We are talking about smokers here and not bomb shelters. The main important thing here is THE SMOKE, when it comes down to it thats whats going to give you the results we all love. The BS has a SMOKE GENERATOR, not a modified electric charcoal starter. I know the comments on there forum stated something like "the BS smolders like a cigar", well OK, but that "smoldering" and not flame gives you the most consistant, flavorful smoke that one could wish for. One last thing, you don't have weigh your wood. One last comment that really you should consider is how easy it is to smoke and get GREAT results on a consistant basis. The BS you don't have worry about "lining with foil" or "weighing wood" or "opening the door" and it is a breeze to clean up. The ease of the BS has nearly got me smoking 8 out of 10 weekends doing something with my Bradley because it is so easy and consistant. Could you tell I love my Bradley, I hope it didn't show to bad. It will probably come down to a preferance thing. What ever you have fun and make friends. HTH
Just a note: what is the warranty period for the cs, is it 90 days???
PS. If you do buy a Bradley, may I sugest that you buy it from Chez Bubba, Kirk. He's a great guy and I have heard nothing but great service from him. DON'T look at America's Best BBQ", please look at the post concerning this renagade company.
SmokeOn,
mski
Perryville, Arkansas
Wooo-Pig-Soooie
If a man says he knows anything at all, he knows nothing what he aught to know. But...
Howdee,
Just breezing around. Noticed something, the never realy answered some questions. Honest-NO BULL here. What ever you get, make sure you hang around, I would love to here your sucesses.
SmokeOn,
mski
Perryville, Arkansas
Wooo-Pig-Soooie
If a man says he knows anything at all, he knows nothing what he aught to know. But...
Cold smoking with the bradley is easy, not sure if so with the cookshack. there are many choices of wood also with the possibility to mix and match different wood types. My bradley has made me a pit master. You cant go wrong with a bradley, your friends with think you're the best chef. Cold smoking can really make some different flavors to plain food. The food we smoke at home is better than any restaurant I have ever had.