Will a DBS4 be ok for salmon?

[sonny red]

I"m really interested in a digital Bradley smoker. I mainly do salmon, and have used a charcoal Brinkeman for the last 15 years, but it's very labor intensive with constantly checking it and adding chips and charcoal. After browsing the forum and reading about PID for temp control, my question is would the stock digital smoker allow me to do salmon to my satisfaction without going into expensive add ons? I don't really want to by a lesser model and try to do add ons either.
Jeff

[Tenpoint5]

Jeff,
First off Welcome Aboard!! Second yes the DBS will work just fine for doing Salmon. The only "Add-on" that you will need is a Maverick ET-73 meat probe. Which will come in handy for the other cooks as well. The main reason for it is to verify the cabinet temp of the DBS. The one thing that Bradley hasn't gotten dialed in is their Thermometers.

I also have a DBS4

[canadiansmoker]

Jeff, the DBS4 will befine for smoking salmon. I just finished over 13 pounds of salmon yesterday in my DBS4 and it was fine. I agree with TenPoint5 that an independent thermometer is a must as the Bradley's thermometer can be off by quite a few degrees.

[Caneyscud]

Jeff, welcome to the forum, and great question, that many have spent time scratching their chins on.  As 10.5 said, the DBS will do well with salmon - depending on your technique/recipe, you might have to change the temp settings a time or two - not a big problem.  Among other things, the ramping up of temperatures overcomes, the temperature swings inherent, early in a smoke.  The PID will allow you to program your temperature ramping into your settings.  MSRP of a digital is $499.  The MSRP of an Original plus a PID is $548.50.  So for $49.50 more (MSRP), you get the convenience of the PID.  

[KyNola]

Sonny,
Good advice given to you already.  I too have the BDS 4 rack and have smoked salmon many times in it.  One thing you might consider is purchasing 4 additional racks for your BDS.. That way you can invert one rack over the other and double your capacity.  They will all still fit nicely in the BDS.

If you haven't done so already, go to the Fish section of this forum and check out the first post titled "Bradley Smoked Alaskan Salmon" posted by Kummok.  Kummok is our resident expert on smoking salmon in the Bradley.  I have used his method many times and everyone who I have fed says it is the best smoked salmon hands down.

Hope to see you around the forum,
                KyNola

[sonny red]

Thank you for the quick, informative responses. By reading this forum, I think I,m leaning towards an OBS and the Auber PID...seems like a good start to get an intro into a fine electric smoker. The salmon tutorial mentioned looks like my method with a few tweaks, and some good tips...THANK you all..

Jeff