My Bradley arrived Wednesday and in a wonderful mix of serendipity, there's a great grocery store down the street that's going out of business and has everything 20% off... including some beautiful big ole pork butts. Now, being a Southern girl all displaced up here in Northern Virginia where people really don't understand the intricacies of pulled pork, I am excited beyond all belief at the prospect of real, honest pulled pork whenever I want it....
SO this weekend has been blocked out as the inauguration. Needless to say, I've read all sorts of stuff on here bout what to rub, should I brine, should I mop, how long to smoke, what to smoke with.... but I still have a few "first timer" questions.
1) do I have to season the Bradley? Like fire it up and get it hot for a while? Should I wipe down the inside with some vinegar to clean it before I use it?
2) how do y'all clean the racks? Do you clean the inside after every use?
3) can I leave this thing going overnight? What if it's cold outside? Will that drop the temp inside?
4) would roses and champagne help make a good first impression? :D
Thanks y'all!
Oh and I promise I'll take pictures!
Welcome Dr. Spice. Yes you need to season your Bradley. Look in the manual. It will tell you how. The racks can be thrown in your dishwasher. The only things you want to clean after each use are the racks, V-tray, water bowl and drip tray. Also, clean around the door seal and around the top of the vent. Don't wipe down the interior walls. You want them to get black. You can use it over night but there are cautions you need to take. Make certain the water bowl is completely full of water before you retire for the night. Drop in the outside air temp won't necessarily adversely effect the internal temp of the Bradley. Wind is your biggest enemy.
Knock it out of the park Girl! If you need help, we're here for ya.
I find spraying the racks with a PAM like spray helps with the after clean up immensely. Yes you will want to preheat the Bradley before you put your butt in there at least I do when I put my butt in there. ;D
Does one ever get over the 12 year old instinct to giggle at talking about butts all the time? "gonna brine that butt" "man that sure was a sticky butt" "look at that great butt" "man, my butt is smokin!" ;D
Dr. Spice, I hope you have a great butt to show us. ;)
That there butt sure has a nice bark
Dr Spice,
As was said, make sure you change the water when you go to bed if you are doing an overnighter. It is best to try and time the smoke to be completed prior to going to bed. One of the biggest potential problem on a overnighter is grease build up. If you can, get a throw away aluminum pan and use that in place of the water bowl (I think it is 9 x13, measure the pan that is under the water bowl). It will hold more water and dilute the grease.
Also check the "v" tray before going to bed. Make sure that the hole is not getting clogged with drippings and the "channel" at the bottom of the tray does not have a lot of build up. Check that the meat is not touching the walls. Follow those and you should be in great shape.
Don't panic if the temp of the meat seems to be rising fast. It will stall at around 160 for a few hours. Don't panic at this point either. It will eventually start climbing again.
Looking forward to your butt pictures.
Welcome Dr. Spice
welcome to the forum
1) wash the smoker and racks first then to season the bradley smoker ( a nice wipe down with soap and water will do fine no long scrubbing )
2) I place mine in a tub of soapy water over night then clean
3) i regularly do over night smoker ( 2 to 3 hours of smoke and 10 to 21 hour cook, elapsed time 12 to 24 hour others will be longer )
outside temps 30 and below can not advise not affected by that low of a temp and run a cook temp of 215 to 225 and varies with load. 10 lbs vs 30 lb
4) roses and champagne would be great with the first smoke dinner, do not forget a nice salad and veggies,
hope this helps and enjoy
p.s dont be afraid to ask questions lots of people to help
Beef
Hi Dr. Spice;
Welcome to the forum.
The below links my provide some assistance in getting up and running.
Bradley FAQ's (http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?481-Bradley-Smoker-FAQ-s&p=748#post748)
Some other useful information:
Recipes (http://www.susanminor.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?180-Our-Time-Tested-and-Proven-Recipes)
Doc...nice to have another girl on with me and Deb....don't let these guys give you any crap!!! Actually...they are all very gentile guys...Nice men who all love the smoke!!!
Welcome aboard Doc!
Regarding cleaning etc. After I smoke,I put the racks,frog mats,v tray ,bottom tray,and bowl into the dishwasher,after removing the larger "drips",and run it thru' a cycle. I then wipe off the door gasket.
I also use my air compressor to blow out the SG and wipe/scrape off the slide.
Works for me !
Jim O
Welcome to the forum Dr Spice
Quote from: La Quinta on March 18, 2011, 02:16:27 AM... all very gentile ...
Gentle perhaps, but not necessarily gentile.
Welcome Dr. Spice. Southern roots run deep, and somehow when it comes to smoke cooking, pork is always involved. That first pork Sammie is going to taste great. You already have good advise from the folks here on the forum. Good luck on your first smoke.
I'm looking forward to seeing some pictures of your butt. ;D :D ::)
You guys are ridiculous... and I wouldn't have it any other way :)
Butt will get rubbed, wrapped, and started tomorrow round 5, smoked till I go to bed, then hang out in the hot box till it's done. Got a probe therm overnighted from Amazon (what, like I'm going to drive five miles to BB&B to get one?)... gotta pick out some fixin's... man am I ever excited!
Dont forget to check the V tray for grease build up, then dump and refill your water bowl before you pass out. ;D
If you are starting around 5, and smoking until you go to bed, you must get to bed much earlier than I do. In my opinion, 4 hours of smoke is plenty for just about anything, but I don't like so much smoke that my food tastes like an ash tray. I wouldn't over do it, especially on a first smoke. Just my opinion, though.
Good luck with your butt.
"Until I go to bed"
"Until I decide not to stand up any more"
"Until I get too drunk to successfully hit the button to turn the puck advancer off"
... ya know, there's probably some leeway with that original statement...
Welcome! (I is a girl too!)
I found if you put a 5"x9" bread pan directly under your butt (sounds to funny), you can catch a lot of fat and juices there. During the long cook the juices will caramelize and you can pour boiling water in it when your done to scrape up for flavor to add back to the shredded butt...or add a half inch of water to pan in beginning. Let cool and separate fat and juices.
You will love the pulled pork from a Bradley....it really is a clean smoked flavor!
SiFumar...sorry...I knew that...didn't mean to leave you out...anyhoo...I do the half sheet pan under the meats all of the time...I stick the pan on the grill and deglaze it with whatever I have...wine...stock..beer..most of the time it's whatever is in my hand at the time...usually a beer at night!!! ;D
SiFumar: WONDERFUL idea! I was wondering how to capture all that fatty smoky goodness to make into sauce!
The butt turned out wonderfully! It took about four hours to go from 38°F to 160°F, then twelve hours to coast on up to 200°F! I finished in the oven because, it being my first smoke, I had no idea how long it was going to take and planned on checking it at 4am (didn't want to stumble downstairs AND outside). Finishing in the oven worked great except the bedroom is directly above the kitchen and it started to smell like a BBQ joint!
Pictures to come!
Sounds like everything turned out great. How was the taste was it what you were expecting?
Quote from: Dr. Spice on March 21, 2011, 11:03:55 AM... worked great except the bedroom ... started to smell like a BBQ joint!
You must live in some parallel universe if having your whole house "smell like a BBQ joint" isn't considered part of "worked great."
Quote from: OU812 on March 18, 2011, 10:22:31 AM
I'm looking forward to seeing some pictures of your butt. ;D :D ::)
;D
Quote from: OU812 on March 21, 2011, 01:20:28 PM
Quote from: OU812 on March 18, 2011, 10:22:31 AM
I'm looking forward to seeing some pictures of your butt. ;D :D ::)
;D
Curt, I'm beginning to think she's not going to show you her butt! ;)
The butt! And a mighty fine butt it is! Rubbed with olive oil and some... stuff... (I got a rub offa here but I don't remember which at the moment!). Not injected with anything only because the injector didn't show up until about three hours before the smoke began.
(http://i.imgur.com/s4kfnl.jpg)
And after four hours of smoke and... 14 hours in the oven and... 4 hours of FTC:
(http://i.imgur.com/7jeDjl.jpg)
The final plate!
(http://i.imgur.com/CFGNol.jpg)
The taste? On Sunday it was good, really good, but not quite perfect... which all changed on Monday when I took some leftovers for lunch. Re-heated, and with some slaw on the side.... ahhhh THIS is BBQ! THIS is what I have been missing! The texture wasn't 100% (I cooked to 200°F internal temp) but there WILL be more experimentation!
I... am... so... EXCITED to get down and dirty with this Bradley! Thank y'all so much for sharing all of your collective knowledge on here!
Oh, and I tried a new cornbread recipe and it was the BEST cornbread I've had in my entire life!
Slaw, cornbread, and butt --ahhhh
The pulled pork looks good, but that looks like a picnic shoulder cut. The picnic is the part of the arm just below the butt. It has less tough connective tissue than the butt. That may explain the difference in texture that you were expecting.
I agree with Habs that does look like a pork picnic. With the light shining down on the plate that sure does look like one heavenly meal. Nice Job!!
Thats a good lookin plate of grub you got there and the slaw is were its suppose to be, on the side. ;D
Havent had apples like that in yeeeeeeears.
Corn bread and BBQ, mmmmmmmmmmmm gooood.
Great looking pork and yep, that's a picnic cut.
And my friend Curt is correct, the slaw is properly positioned. :D
Great job Doc!
Quote from: Dr. Spice on March 22, 2011, 06:37:50 PM
Oh, and I tried a new cornbread recipe and it was the BEST cornbread I've had in my entire life!
Do tell about this BEST cornbread recipe ever. It's not good forum etiquette to tease us with a statement like that and not share
Quote from: jimmyb on March 23, 2011, 09:50:00 AM
Quote from: Dr. Spice on March 22, 2011, 06:37:50 PM
Oh, and I tried a new cornbread recipe and it was the BEST cornbread I've had in my entire life!
Do tell about this BEST cornbread recipe ever. It's not good forum etiquette to tease us with a statement like that and not share
What jimmy said. ;D
Quote from: jimmyb on March 23, 2011, 09:50:00 AM
Quote from: Dr. Spice on March 22, 2011, 06:37:50 PM
Oh, and I tried a new cornbread recipe and it was the BEST cornbread I've had in my entire life!
Do tell about this BEST cornbread recipe ever. It's not good forum etiquette to tease us with a statement like that and not share
So that's what it is called. Around here we call it Nepas!! ;D ;D
Nice looking picnic/pulled pork Dr. Spice
Quote from: Tenpoint5 on March 23, 2011, 10:58:09 AM
Quote from: jimmyb on March 23, 2011, 09:50:00 AM
Quote from: Dr. Spice on March 22, 2011, 06:37:50 PM
Oh, and I tried a new cornbread recipe and it was the BEST cornbread I've had in my entire life!
Do tell about this BEST cornbread recipe ever. It's not good forum etiquette to tease us with a statement like that and not share
So that's what it is called. Around here we call it Nepas!! ;D ;D
;D ;D
hah hah hah :)
So the picnic cut is down the leg a little bit, where when the skin is on there's the bottom part around the skinny end that goes all the way around? I got this from the Latin grocery store and it was just labeled "pork butt." Will investigate further next time!
Making a new thread for the cornbread! (http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=21551.0)