Stay away from digital smoker

[jim45auto]

I have been smoking with Bradley smokers for 20 plus years. I was gifted a OBS 4 rack. I put out hundreds of incredible dishes from it. So when the old girl finally needed retired I thought wow I can afford a nice upgraded smoker. Of course I turned to Bradley, and popped for a six rack digital. I thought I had done my research, and so I thought wow better control, more accurate readings, better food. WOW was I wrong. The Bradley 6 rack smoker is a POS. My last cook was a 8 pound brisket., while it did turn out good it took 26 hours to cook. Today I started 2 racks of ribs, I started at ten o'clock. One hour smoke, then 4 to 6 hours at 220. Now after 5 hours with the oven temp set to 320 (as high as it will go) the damn smoker just broke 200 degrees. This iteration of the Bradley smoker is poorly designed, and will not work well. My wife wants me to junk a 2 year old 500$ smoker, and find something that works. I had better results in Alaska with a gutted refrigerator and a hot plate. Ok enough of the complaints. I plan to replace the temp sensor. Then I will add an Aubers fan system, then an 900 watt heater. Did I mention I also bought a Auber duel probe? So after spending enough to buy a REAL smoke house. I don't know if I will have a smoker that worked as well as the old Bradley. After all the upgrades, If it won't work as it should have out of the box I will rip the gits out of the smoke generator, and use it only to cold smoke things. Then purchase  a competitor unit. I see that Bradley now offers a "pro" smoker with the upgrade that people have wanted for years. However if it is designed as well as the 6 rack digital "plug and play" smoker I wish you well.   

[RedJada]

 So you were fired from Bradly....

[manxman]

I thought I was being clever by staying away from digital when the time came to replace my original (2005) stainless steel Bradley Smoker and opted to remain with the updated original version. The old smoker including the generator is still going strong having been passed to my son but the new smoke generator has packed up (puck delivery issue) after two years moderate use and I have been left with a bill of around £100 / $130 to replace it excluding shipping.

Just shows you can get caught out whichever way you go, good luck with the upgrades!  :)