Probably been discussed before. My biscuits are only about half charred before they get moved into the water pan. I've cleaned the area upon which they heat several times. Is this a lack of temperature or is it being moved along too quickly? How does one cure this? I also run some pellets in and amazing smoker to provide additional smoke.
this has been a problem for others also. there is a cure. when the puck advances it may get hung up and not sit flat on the burner. there are a couple screws holding the burner on so look at those as a possible solution. you don't want the puck to burn up completely as it will get acidic. but it should be about 85 or 90 percent done. break one open after its done and check how far it burnt. there are some threads on other ways to fix this so do a search and see what comes up. I was able to fix mine just by adjusting the screws but there are other options good luck
Yup. Pucks are likely not resting fully and flatly on the burner as they advance. This results in incomplete combustion of the target puck and excessive pre-ignition of the one to follow.
The fix is not difficult. You can find this issue and repair detailed in this thread:
http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=36796.0
It solved my unburnt puck issue 100%. Prior to the repair I was wasting almost as much puck as I was burning and the chute had to be constantly cleaned of burnt residue to ensure the pucks would slide along smoothly. Now I haven't cleaned my chute or burner in over 60 hours of operation and the chute and burner are more or less free of residue.
There are other causes for bisquettes not fully burning. My bisquettes lay flat on the burner, and they generally fully burn, but often I will get partially burnt bisquettes. Generally fully burnt on the bottom, and anywhere from half to three quarters up. So if the above suggestions don't work, below are some other causes. When I do have a problem, it is during the same cook. Though I feel I'm not getting my money's worth, it doesn't seem to effect the smoke flavor. I'm not a fan of the A-MAZE-N-Smoker, because I feel it doesn't produce enough smoke flavor on large cuts of meat. I do use it in the Bradley during times I want to take more precautions when I don't want to use wood from nut bearing trees, by using 100% apple, peach, or maple pellets. I'm not sure if Bradley's apple and/or maple are 100% or a mixture of woods.
If you have an infrared thermometer, remove the generator from the cabinet, and in an area that is protected from wind preheat the burner for about 20 minutes. The burner should reach a temperature of at least 550°F - 560°F, though it may fluctuate higher. You don't want the burner much higher than that, or it will start imparting more bitter compounds. If it doesn't reach that temperature it may not be getting enough voltage. You may have too many appliances on that circuit that may cause a voltage drop.
Over the years it seems Bradley has been compressing the bisquettes more. Some time ago they referred to that in one of the post because consumers were complaining they were burning too fast, and shavings were falling apart. I recently purchase some pecan, and Caribbean blend; and they felt more dense then my older bisquettes. The ones that are more compressed don't burn as fully.
The amount of moisture the bisquettes contain, is another factor. Store them in an airtight container. If the humidity is particularly high, that may have an effect on how they burn.
Thanks for the info. 2 bellys turned into bacon, a turkey breast, duck bacon, pheasant and duck jerky all finished. Now onto the salmon fillets
Looks like you are having a great weekend. Everything sounds great.