New Smoker

[SKSmoker]

Evening everyone. Thought I would drop a line to all my fellow smokers out there on this fantastic forum! I have been lurking around these smokey parts for about four and half months now. I really started my journey on finding a smoker back in the beginning of Jan 07. After watching more than enough shows about "Q" in the south on the food channel, I announced to the wife that I was buying a smoker. She actually agreed! <lol!>

So I started. I started in on that wonderful invention called the "internet". I was swimming in virtual pulled pork sandwiches and briskets abound. That was the easy part! Actually figuring out what to buy was the hardest part. I was going to go charcoal for the longest time, but then I found the electrics do jerky just fine. I wanted to do jerky, so that basically chose the type for me. Now for something even harder. What brand to buy?

Well, I took yet another month to decide on that choice alone. I must have read half of the internet pages on electric smokers. I found this great forum and a few others and just couldn't decide. I then found out that Bradley was Canadian. Alright! That made the choice pretty much for me. This forum alone and the product being from Canada was a two molson punch right there. So I wandered around in a haze for about 2 weeks deciding whether or not to buy the OBS or DBS and which rack size. My wife found me staring at the internet page of the bradley site and asked me which one I was going to get.

I looked up at her in disbelief and said I think the 6 rack! To which she responded "Ok, well then just order the dam thing already!" :D. I ordered the DBS 6 rack about 3 days later and that is that. I must say that the deal breaker on the bradleys is the top vent. As soon as I saw Mr.Walleye's post about putting it in his garage, I was done. I have 2 fans in my garage so I made a chimney for the smoker and a table with castors to wheel in and out of the garage.

I have made ribs, chicken, and pork butt so far. We are getting beef in about 3 weeks from the farm and I requested a brisket when butchering. I can't wait!  We seem to have something going on almost every weekend for the last 3 months, so getting to use the damn thing is harder than actually using it!  I love the smoker already. My wife and I are trying different smoke times starting quite low and working our way up. We don't like to taste just smoke, so we usually smoke much less than others on here, but we are getting used to it more. We never ate smoked ribs, or pulled pork before so we really are new!

I just wanted to thank everyone for the great info on this site. My wife's cousin, who's house we just went to on the weekend is a smoker nut. He has the bug hard. Now that he knows I can weld, I am being suckered into making a "stumper clone".. I told my wife that if I make him one, we might as well make 2. She asked where I was going to put it, and I just simply responed with "I knew I married you for the right reasons!"

Ok everyone. Time for bed for me. I hope to see you guys more and more as I wear this thing out. Keep on smokin!

-Sksmoker

[NePaSmoKer]

Hi SKSmoker

once again welcome

nepas

[Mr Walleye]

Good storey SKSmoker!  :D

I see your from the Queen City.... just 45 minutes east of me.

Good Luck and Good Eats!

Mike

[LilSmoker]

That's a nice story SKSmoker, glad to hear you're getting to grips with your new BS ;)

LilSmoker

[Habanero Smoker]

Glad to read you are enjoying your adventures with the BS. By the way what is a "stumper clone"?

[Wildcat]

SKS - glad to hear from you again.  I did a lot of searching as well when I started looking for a new smoker.  Everything simply lead to Bradley.  You will come to love the smoke flavor, and with the BS you can control how much smoke flavor you want.  Smoked food is natural.  Before the invention of the electric stove, most food was prepared by burning wood and charcoal.  IMHO food with a wood and/or charcoal flavor is more natural tasting than anything in todays kitchens. :)

[Gizmo]

SKSmoker,
Nice to read your great story.  I am sure many of us relate to a very similar experience (although place of manufacture's headquarters was not a factor in my decision). 
Let us know how your brisket turns out.  Getting fresh from the farm is absolutely fantastic.  Can't get any better than that.
Enjoy