Hello from Gadget1969, Sugar Land, Texas (Brisket Smokin')

[Gadget1969]

Hello all!

I've had a Bradley smoker since father's day this year (2011)...great father's day present by the way. I bought it to smoke briskets, ribs and jerky. My younger brother has been using one in Colorado for a couple years and brags about it every chance he gets. I tried the auto-fed one and am pretty happy with it. I do have a list of questions for anyone willing to give me some feedback:

1. I wish the timer lasted longer. In the past, I have smoked my briskets for about 18 hours

2. I would like to know how opening the top vent to various settings will affect the cooking brisket. I'm assuming the more open, the faster, and possibly hotter, the wood chips will burn? I've noticed that they often are not fully burned and have so far had it almost completely closed.

3. How does setting the brisket at different rack heights affect the brisket cooking process.I guess high up would be more enveloped in the smoke and heat??

4. The meat I have cooked in this smoker has often been too smokey even when I have run less smoke than the recipes recommend. It almost seems like the smoke is superficial as well -vs- having a nice ring in the meat. I equate the last brisket to being like I poured some liquid smoke on it. this smoker is new to me, so I'm sure its me...any advice would be appreciated.

5. The water bowl doesn't really give off much steam inside the smoker. I rarely have to refill it during a 12-18 hr session with the heat around 200F. In past smokers, I would refil the water bowl every couple hours...not sure if that's a good thing or what, but it seems to keep the meat moist with more steam...anyone?

6. Being in Sugar Land, TX during the summer, you deal with high heat 100+deg with high humidity. I have it under a porch on top of a table with no wind around the smoker. So, I set the temp to 200F and run the smoker, but it often seems that the actual temp is less than 200, but if I bump it up to say 210, the temp go es to 210....basically, I'm having trouble getting it to 200.

7. Does anyone wrap their brisket in foil to seal in the moisture before or after hitting it with the smoke? I've heard wrap it for the first bit, and I've heard wrap it after hitting with smoke, so... The after argument being that the meat is most susceptable to soaking in the smoke when it is not yet cooked....anyone?

Thanks to anyone willing to read this long post and give me input. I may just be used to cooking the brisket the way I have in the past and it may all make more sense as I tinker with it more.

Thanks!
Gadget1969

[KyNola]

First of all, welcome to the forum.
1. The timer for the digital is 9 hours and 40 minutes.  Just go back and reset it.  More importantly, you don't need to "smoke" anything in the Bradley for 18 hours.
2. You will get a couple different answers about the vent.  My answer is open it 100% and leave it that way.  You want the moisture out.
3. Assuming you have the Bradley 4 rack digital, I would place it on the 2nd or 3rd rack up from the bottom.
4. Bradley smoke is a much purer concentrated smoke than perhaps what you are used to with other smokers.    You won't get a smoke ring from a Bradley.  I can't explain the chemistry but trust me, no smoke ring.
5.  You're the first who doesn't need to refill the bowl in 18 hours.  Tells me you may be cooking at too low of a heat.  More over, the water bowl is there to extinguish the burning pucks and catch the hot grease to prevent a fire in the tower.
6. If you're solely depending on the BDS telling you what the temp is in the tower, you may be getting bad info.  Unfortunately the BDS is notorious for not having accurate temp readings.  Some of us use something like the Maverick ET-732 dual temp probe to measure the temp in the tower and the internal temp of the meat you are cooking.  It also has a wireless receiver so you can monitor everything that is going on without opening the door to your BDS.
7. I'll yield to my more learned members when it comes to brisket in the Bradley.  I love smoked brisket but I have a different smoker that I do briskets in.

Whew!  I am worn out! :D  Hope this helps a bit.  My more learned friends will be along soon to gived you better info.

[classicrockgriller]

Hiya Gadget from East Texas (Livingston)

#1 yep that is as long as it goes, just have to push the more time advance
when you think about it. You will get use to it. (I run mine with an Auber. I
can all the time I want.

#2 You want your vent more to the fully open side. I took mine off so I won't
have to worry about it.

#3 If you are just smoking one Brisket, I would use the second rack place from
the bottom.

#4 Probably due to the fact that you had the vents almost close it created too
much smoke in the cabinet and that could help the pucks not to burn all the way.
(you still might see some un-burn on the pucks)

#5 Water is really not an element in the Bradley. I replaced my bowl with a desposible
cake pan from wally world. It's function is to catch the used pucks and grease drippings.

#6 You might take a look at an Auber PID. That over rides the Bradley controls and keeps
temps +- 2* of the setting.

#7 Smoked 18 Briskets since the week before the 4th of July. NONE got foil.

Welcome aboard and congrats on your smoker.

Any more questions, just ask.

[mikecorn.1]

Welcome
Fellow Texan.  I'm down south of you in Richwood tx. About 45 min. Take high 6 to 288 south into lake Jackson. This is a great place to be learned.  ;D. Lots of info. All ya Gots to do is ask. I would go ahead and bite the bullet and at least get a maverick dual probe thermometer so you can keep accurate temp off tower and food without opening the smoker. I believe that you can't get a smoke ring with the Bradley because the pucks smolder and don't actually burn hot enough for some type of reaction that happens between the heat, food, and smoke. I think I saw this in the faq's. More learned folk will be by.

[GusRobin]

Welcome

1. I wish the timer lasted longer. In the past, I have smoked my briskets for about 18 hours

need to either keep resetting, or get a PID temp controller. It will override the seting limitation.

2. I would like to know how opening the top vent to various settings will affect the cooking brisket. I'm assuming the more open, the faster, and possibly hotter, the wood chips will burn? I've noticed that they often are not fully burned and have so far had it almost completely closed.

For the most part the vent has no bearing on the puck burning as that is controlled by the smoke generator. The pucks will not burn down to ash
It is  better to cook with the vent more open than not. some of us cook wide  open no matter what we are cooking. Others go from about 1/2 to fullopen. Keeping the vent closed retains moisture and actually slows the cooking. with poultr it should be wide open.

3. How does setting the brisket at different rack heights affect the brisket cooking process.I guess high up would be more enveloped in the smoke and heat??

the meat closest to the heating element willget the most heat when you have more than one rack of meat so you should rotate maybe every hour or so. if you are only using one rack of meat i am not sure it makes much difference once the cabinet temp stabilizes. bit some of this depends where you are taking the temp. if you are using the bradley built in probe then you should try to position your meat so that the temp probe is just below the meat. If you are using a PID, then you can hang the probe below your lowest meat rack.

4. The meat I have cooked in this smoker has often been too smokey even when I have run less smoke than the recipes recommend. It almost seems like the smoke is superficial as well -vs- having a nice ring in the meat. I equate the last brisket to being like I poured some liquid smoke on it. this smoker is new to me, so I'm sure its me...any advice would be appreciated.

How long you smoking for. The most I smoke is 3 -4 hours even on a 20 hr cook. That's one of the reasns to keep a log of your smokes so you can determine what to do different next time. Poultry should probably have about an hour of smoke as it absobs smoke easier.
smoke rings are more cosmetic than anything else. You won't get one or much of one with the bradley

5. The water bowl doesn't really give off much steam inside the smoker. I rarely have to refill it during a 12-18 hr session with the heat around 200F. In past smokers, I would refil the water bowl every couple hours...not sure if that's a good thing or what, but it seems to keep the meat moist with more steam...anyone?

the water in the Bradley is to extinguish the pucks and dilute the greeasse drippings, not to make smoke. Because of this it can end up mostly greasse and could be a potential fire hazard issue on long smokes. When I do a long butt or brisket, I will change the water after the 4 hours of smoke is done and again before i go to bed and when i wake up. A lot of us use a "throwaway" aluminum foil pan that you can get at the supermarket to get a bigger water pool. A 9X 11 pan works good.

6. Being in Sugar Land, TX during the summer, you deal with high heat 100+deg with high humidity. I have it under a porch on top of a table with no wind around the smoker. So, I set the temp to 200F and run the smoker, but it often seems that the actual temp is less than 200, but if I bump it up to say 210, the temp go es to 210....basically, I'm having trouble getting it to 200.

Part of it cold be keeping the vent more closed than open. Also it depends where the temp probe is in relation to your meat.

7. Does anyone wrap their brisket in foil to seal in the moisture before or after hitting it with the smoke? I've heard wrap it for the first bit, and I've heard wrap it after hitting with smoke, so... The after argument being that the meat is most susceptable to soaking in the smoke when it is not yet cooked....anyone?

The only time I use foil is when it is done (about 185* IT at the flat) I then FTC it. Foil it ; wrap in a towel, put in a cooler (no ice) for a 2-3 hours. It will still be hot when you take it out. If you don't have a good cooler you can foil it and put in the microwave ( don't turn it on)

Here is a web site with recipes and other tips:
http://www.susanminor.org/forums/index.php

[KyNola]

Told you my more learned friends would be by to help you.  These guys know what they're talking about.

[SamuelG]

WOW!

Not that is what this forum is all about.


SamuelG

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[DTAggie]

Gadget..and Mikecorn

I grew up in Lake Jackson.  Welcome all.  Like CRG, my vent is gone.  Everything I do is 100% open vent!  No way do you need 18 hrs of smoke on anything in Bradley.  I assume you are use to using an offset smoker to do BBQ wherein you would typically use wood for that amount of time.  On a brisket I typically to 5 or 6 hours of smoke and just cook in the Bradley rest of the time.

Use a foil pan for the water and not the small bowl.  Get a probe or two to measure food temp and cabinet temp.  Welcome aboard!

[Habanero Smoker]

Hi Gadget1969;
Welcome to the forum.

Rather then answer every question, my thought are more aligned with Gus.

As for the vent, I use the vent for temperature control. On a regular load, I find if I keep it wide open I loose heat, too closed it may get too hot or it can also cause it to loose heat. It depends on how much moisture is being collected inside the cabinet. Too much moisture will cause the temperature to drop.

Here is a general guideline to help you determine what is the best vent setting for what you are smoke roasting:
Vent Settings

You can reset the timer any time that is convenient for you.

You didn't mention how much smoke you are applying during that 18 hour period. If the smoke taste artificial you are applying too much smoke. If it just taste different, well that is the characteristic of the bisquettes. You are not going to get that accompanying charcoal/wood flavor, as when you use coal or wood.

As for temperature control, that depends on where you are measuring the temperature, vent opening, and the normal functioning of the Bradley. Use a temperature probe and place the probe below the lowest rack, you will get better readings. You almost have your vent closed; try opening to half-open. Also the Bradley thermostat, acts like you kitchen oven, it will over shoot, cool down below the set temperature before reheating - so many will see +10°F.

[mikecorn.1]

Gadget..and Mikecorn

I grew up in Lake Jackson.  Welcome all.  Like CRG, my vent is gone.  Everything I do is 100% open vent!  No way do you need 18 hrs of smoke on anything in Bradley.  I assume you are use to using an offset smoker to do BBQ wherein you would typically use wood for that amount of time.  On a brisket I typically to 5 or 6 hours of smoke and just cook in the Bradley rest of the time.

Use a foil pan for the water and not the small bowl.  Get a probe or two to measure food temp and cabinet temp.  Welcome aboard!

I also grew up in LJ.

[Gadget1969]

Wow, I never expected such great feedback so quickly. I started a brisket right before my post, so I can use this info immediately! Thanks to everyone, and its great to have fellow Texans in the mix as we probaby have similar tastes in brisket! That said, Texas is a big state and I've been told there are about five different styles of brisket/bbq sauce here. I favor the orangy colored sauces like you get at places like Luling BBQ here in Houston, and th Salt Lick in Austin. Anyway, thanks again!

Gadget1969

[ghost9mm]

Well I'm not a Texan, but I did stay in a Holiday Inn in Texas...lol.. :D But I have a lot of family that lives in Texas, brothers, nephews, nieces and some I don't want to claim...lol..
Hey welcome to a really great forum my friend this is really a great forum. lots and lots of really nice folks here...

[Gadget1969]

So, one of my questions was about reaching and maintaining temperature. Guess what, the wood chip element was the only thing adding heat to the box. My cabinet element is not working :-[ Looks like I'll need to start the warranty process and see how that goes...will post results ;)

[GusRobin]

Did you make sure all your plugs were seated correctly? Try plugging and unplugging all the cords.

[Habanero Smoker]

There are a few reasons that can cause failure of heat to the cabinet. Here is a link to help you with trouble shooting.
Bradley FAQ's