New Digital 4 Rack Smoker- Impressions and Results

[stratblues]

My Dad has been telling me how nice the BS is for the last half year or so, and being a regular 'wood+coals=great smoked food' kind of guy I listened with a bit of skepticism to his cooking success stories the last few months.  I have to say that I was interested from the beginning in using a smoker that gave excellent results with minimal effort during the cooking so I kept an open mind to what he was telling me.  I guess now that I'm in my 40's I can listen to my Dad!

I picked up a 4 rack digital BS from a local store in northwest Houston Thursday, set it up, seasoned it, and planned a meal for the next day.  The packing was well done, and the BS is a piece of cake to put together.  I picked up two 6lb chickens and one slab of baby backs from my local grocer, rubbed them down with olive oil and Head Country rub.  I let these sit for about 4 hours Friday morning.  After I got the oven up to 235, I opened the air vent to 1/2, I set the oven timer to 6 hours, loaded the smoker with 2:20 worth of hickory pucks, put in the meat, started the smoker, and left the house.  Regarding the positioning I put the chicks in the next to the bottom rack, and the ribs in the top rack.  I had a trip planned with a buddy to spend a few hours at a guitar store and I was really looking forward to the trip so I thought this would put the BS to the ultimate test . . . . .could i get great results without doing anything during the cooking period????

I got home and checked the meat thermometer and found the chicken at around 150 after 4.5 hours of cooking.  The smell of the meat coming from the BS was great, and I couldn't resist a peak.  I quickly opened/closed the oven door and was thrilled at the look of the food on the inside.  The coloring was perfect for smoked food on both meats.  I pulled the ribs (they were a 3lb slab) a little after that and finished them up on the grill to get a little more of a crust on the outside.  The chickens were done right at 6 hours.  The thermometer read 160 from deep in the the breast.  I let the chicks set for about 15 minutes before cutting them up.  They were done perfectly . . . .moist, well-cooked, and very, very tasty!  The ribs were great too - I prefer my BBR's on the dry side.  These were very tender with a nice crust on the outside.  The family was impressed and we all enjoyed a great meal. 

The answer to my basic question of can I 'set it and forget it'? Was a resounding YES!!!  Everytime that I looked at the internal temperature reading on the controller it was within 2 degrees of my temp setting.  Needless to say - I'm now a convert to smoking with electricity.  The food was as good as anything that I've ever pulled off of my regular old offset style smoker.

So Dad. . . thanks for telling me all about the BS!!   

[asa]

Congratulations on a good start stratblues, and welcome to the forum.

[iceman]

Welcome stratblues;
I guess you have to listen to the old man once in awhile. I know it's scary but sometimes a guy can actually learn something from them :D
Great to hear your food turned out. I think your going to find alot of great things these Bradleys can do in the future. Keep us posted on your next smoke.
Have a good one ;) :)

[bubbagump]

Nice story and glad to hear everything went well with the first smoke.

Welcome to the forum!


Bubbagump

[Oldman]

Welcome to our group.  When you get time to look things over check out our recipe site.  All of the smokin' recipes there are time test and proven with the Bradley.

Olds