question about the bisquettes

[arctic charlie]

Hello everyone!  Well, I used my smoker for the first time and hot smoked some arctic char.

Question:  If I smoke arctic char for 6 hours, do I have to use the bisquettes the whole time, so 18 altogether?  Or are bisquettes used only to fill the chamber, and then close the damper more than not, thereby having a smokey chamber without having to use a bunch of bisquettes?

Any help appreciated. 

[tskeeter]

Charlie, I run a couple of hours of alder smoke (6 bisquettes) when I smoke salmon.  I think six hours of smoke would be too much.  Also, leave your vent damper open.  Closing the damper will cause a number of things to happen.  First, it will trap smoke in the smoker cabinet and cause smoke to back up through the smoke generator.  This can cause damage to the smoker generator.  Second, it will trap moisture in your smoker cabinet.  Moisture can absorb a lot of heat, so excessively moist air in the cabinet will keep your smoker from reaching the temperatures you set.  Third, excessively moist, smokey air will leave a sooty deposit, rather than smoke, on the product you are smoking.  The result is a rather unpleasant flavor.  Fourth, the excess moisture can condense on the top of your smoker cabinet and drip back onto what you are smoking in the form of "black rain".  Nasty stuff.  You don't want to eat anything that has been "rained" on.

After an unfortunate experience where I left the damper on my smoker closed during the first hour or so of a sausage smoke, I removed the adjustable part of the damper from the smoker.  I've been running "wide open" for about the last year with no adverse effect on my smoking results.  During that time I've done ribs, cheese, nuts, pork shoulder, salmon, pork loin (Canadian Bacon), and a few other things I can't remember.

Note that much of what you smoke will benefit from some "aging" time after you smoke it.  The aging time allows the smoke flavor to distribute evenly through your smoked product and for the smoke to mellow a bit.  The aging time can range from a night in the refrigerator for fish to several weeks to a month, minimum, for cheese.

By the way, take the time to check out Our Time Tested and Proved Recipes at www.susanminor.org.  This site is the depository for Bradley fans finest recipes.  The information there is much more than a collection of recipes.  Most of the recipes contain detailed instructions and a lot of helpful information so you can get the most enjoyment possible out of your smoker. 

[rveal23]

Charlie, I run a couple of hours of alder smoke (6 bisquettes) when I smoke salmon.  I think six hours of smoke would be too much.  Also, leave your vent damper open.  Closing the damper will cause a number of things to happen.  First, it will trap smoke in the smoker cabinet and cause smoke to back up through the smoke generator.  This can cause damage to the smoker generator.  Second, it will trap moisture in your smoker cabinet.  Moisture can absorb a lot of heat, so excessively moist air in the cabinet will keep your smoker from reaching the temperatures you set.  Third, excessively moist, smokey air will leave a sooty deposit, rather than smoke, on the product you are smoking.  The result is a rather unpleasant flavor.  Fourth, the excess moisture can condense on the top of your smoker cabinet and drip back onto what you are smoking in the form of "black rain".  Nasty stuff.  You don't want to eat anything that has been "rained" on.

After an unfortunate experience where I left the damper on my smoker closed during the first hour or so of a sausage smoke, I removed the adjustable part of the damper from the smoker.  I've been running "wide open" for about the last year with no adverse effect on my smoking results.  During that time I've done ribs, cheese, nuts, pork shoulder, salmon, pork loin (Canadian Bacon), and a few other things I can't remember.

By the way, take the time to check out Our Time Tested and Proved Recipes at www.susanminor.org.  This site is the depository for Bradley fans finest recipes.  The information there is much more than a collection of recipes.  Most of the recipes contain detailed instructions and a lot of helpful information so you can get the most enjoyment possible out of your smoker.

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