Hello from southeast Florida

[robrpb]

Hi, I live in the West Palm Beach area of southeast Florida. I am new to smoking and I have been researching smokers and I came across the Bradley Smoker. During my research today I came across this forum and I was just going to peruse it, but then thought I would join.

I have called Bradley several times this week and got the message they were busy and leave a message each time. I have left several messages and I have not had a return call. I am very disappointed with their customer service for not returning my calls. From others here, what is your experience with their customer service and being able to speak with someone when you call them? I am seriously considering buying a Bradley Smoker, but if this is how they treat potential customers I may have to look at alternatives. Thanks for your time. Rob

[Habanero Smoker]

Hi robrpb;

Welcome to the forum.

Prior to the pandemic their customer service was top notch - extremely good; and I'm sure it will return to that. Since the pandemic their response has declined quite a bit, to being very disappointing. When they do respond they take care of the issue promptly. I don't understand how their response time could have declined so badly; while almost every other company has adjusted to make changes to provide their best service under such circumstances.

If the voice message also give you the option of sending an email use that option also.

[robrpb]

Thanks Habanero Smoker for your reply. I typically hate communicating via email and live chat, but I will try email.

I have been looking at the Bradley Smoker Digital 4 Rack Electric Smoker, 31″, Silver SKU: BTDS76P and the Pro P10. What are your thoughts on those?

I saw a youtube video where Bradley had a smart smoker, but I didn't see one on their website. What model would that be? Does the P10 have wifi? Thanks. Rob

[Habanero Smoker]

I don't have any experiences with the Digital, but I do have a P10. The other smoker is called the Bradley Smart Smoker BS916. I see a lot of complaints about their app. If you don't see the Smart Smoker on the Bradley website, I would have concerns about how long they will continue to produce them. The P10 doesn't have either wi-fi or Bluetooth. I personally like it for my needs, and I have an Old Bradley Smoker that I can use for cold smoking. If you do a lot of cold smoking the P10 may not be the smoker for you. I can do some limited cold smoking, but I do need to place ice in the cabinet, so far each time I tried cold smoking, I was only able to get a couple of hours of smoke time before it went beyond 90°F. My area is now having cooler temperatures, so this weekend I'm going to cold smoke some salmon, and see how that goes.

It does keep tight temperatures, but my trials showed that the actual temperatures are higher than what the display indicates. Take a look at my posts in the P10 topic section. it's more suited for cooking barbecue (with or without smoke), and with 1000 watts available it can tackle any barbecue needs. The trays are larger, and with a little trimming you can fit 2 slabs of St. Louis spare ribs or 2 Baby Backs on each tray. The two 400 watt elements give more even temperatures from front to back. The trays are also wide enough to hold a 9x13 pan, so I frequently will place a pan on a rack, below the rack that has the meat. That helps with cleanup.  It comes with 4 trays, with five rack positions, but if you are careful, there are positions in-between those five racks that can be utilized. Smoking sausage shouldn't be a problem in the P10.

If you have any specific questions about the P10 be sure to ask.

[robrpb]

Thanks Habanero Smoker for your reply and yoiur help. I received a call from a man at Bradley today. He was very nice. He stated Bradley had problems with the software for the Smart Smoker and they are not currently offering it. He did not know what the future holds for wifi or bluetooth.

Now that you own a P10, would you buy it again or a different smoker? If a different smoker, which one? Rob.

[Habanero Smoker]

That's a hard question for me to answer. For the past eight years or longer I've been moving back to buying charcoal burners. Over those years charcoal burners have improved in design, and the devices that can control their temperatures have improved greatly.

If I wasn't such a charcoal smoker/grill devotee, I would definitely buy it again; though I may have waited a while to see if they would issue a firmware update to fix the accuracy of the display reading and the actual cabinet reading. But if such a firmware was issue, I could install it in my current smoker. My biggest disappointment is that it is very difficult to cold smoke with it. But overall I find it to be a great smoker. I do find myself adjusting the smoke times, because for my taste the smoker provides a different smoke flavor - which I feel is cause by the bisquette burners burning the bisquettes at a higher temperature.

For my purposes the CookTool is junk, and they only have a Celsius version at this time. You should keep in mind that this smoker weights about 70 pounds, so if you don't have a sturdy wheel cart it is difficult to move it from one area to the other. The Turntable bisquette feeder has a lot of advantages over the standard smoke generator. I'll see how that holds up over time. I did take it apart for cleaning, and all the gears that were visible were made from thick metal. Overall it's a well thought out design.

I've only had this smoker since June, and at this time; if I was in the market for a new electric smoker that could provide hot smoked and barbecued food, and it was within my budget, I would definitely purchase it again.

[Edward176]

Greeting robrpd and welcome to the Forum. As Hab has already stated the service was top notch before the pandemic. I've had a couple issues over the years and when I called their 1-800 number I received fantastic service and assistance to fix my smoker. Haven't had a need to call them for some time so I can't say how their service is now, but am confident you don't build a successful business without great customer service. Hopefully soon it'll return to normal, till then Bradley like many other companies struggles with Covid, staffing issues and supply issues. Good Luck.

[manxman]

Welcome to the forum robrpb, whichever way you decide to go it would be interesting to hear which smoker you finally go for and how you get on?

I have no intention of moving beyond my original Bradley Smoker, Auber PID and cold smoke attachment which covers everything I need; this morning it is cold oak smoked back (pork loin) bacon which has been curing for the past week.  :)

Good luck.