Fondled one today...

[cingnut]

I took a ride down to Gander Mountain today.  Got to see and touch both the 4 rack Stainless Digital and the 4 rack Original.

My first impressions...  Little.  You want to know what it looks and feels like to me????  A mini fridge, in fact it is almost exactly the same dimensions as my little bar fridge downstairs.  Little isn't a bad thing here, I saw the dimensions in the spec sheet and knew exactly how big it was going to be.  I bet people dismiss it for that reason alone.

Second impression was the feel of it, the door felt solid the way it closed and sealed, it feels like a refrigerator door closing, how you almost get that vacuum feel.  The knobs and switches all felt a little chintzy to me, they just didn't have very good "feedback"...does that make sense???  When you turn a knob or push a button, you want to feel some resistance, some spring back.

Finally... I wasn't shopping for a Digital in the first place so I didn't pay much attention to that feature, but one thing that surprised me was the difference between the Digital and the Original cabinet itself.  Every post I have read said that the difference is strictly cosmetic, and that is true for the non-Digital units, but the Digital is a whole different animal.  The door material on the Original felt thin and light compared to the Digital Stainless.  It must be said that the Digital is not just a Stainless model with the Digital smoke generator bolted on, the door, the materials, the construction is very different. 

All in all this conjugal visit with the Bradley did not turn me away as a customer (you have no idea how hard it was not to go plug that baby in and make some smoke!), even with its faults it seems far superior to Gander Mountain's other offerings, and its price point puts it heads and shoulders above some other manufacturers I have researched.  I do wish that Bradley offered the Digital 6 rack cabinet with a standard smoke generator, if they did, the check would already be written, since they don't, I have to think on it a little bit longer before I pull the trigger.  Oh it will be a Bradley I come home with, the question now is... Which one!

[Wildcat]

The Stainless Original is what I have and it is nice indeed.  I toyed with the Digital 6 rack because of more room for smoking.  I have yet to use all 4 racks or even 3 racks in mine.  I mostly just use one.  Not enough people to feed to justify utilizing all 4 racks.  Perhaps one day.  When I get around to doing some jerky I may change my mind, but since you can stack the racks, I am confident the 4 rack is enough for me.

[Gizmo]

I have the 6 rack and as soon as I get around to buying a 2 more racks, Jerky day will be expanded by those 2 extra racks.  Last 8 lbs filled all 10 racks I do have so had to put the rest of the jerky straight into the dehydrator.

If you want to see an awsome 6 Pack I mean 6 Rack, check out the pics on this post:

http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=3263.210

[coyote]

GIZMO !!!! You got me again. :D Here it is after midnight , I followed your link and....Well , you
can guess the rest. Yep , I'm thumbing through the fridge and again nothing compares to your
AWSOME 6-rack ready for the BS. >:( Now what am I to do ? ??? Great post and pics. ;D

[Gizmo]

Sorry Coyote,
Next time I'll have to remember the disclaimer>
"Caution, ooooggggllllliiiiinnnnggg this link hours after dinner may cause unnecessary uncontrollable appetite urges of amplified proportions.  Only view during last bite of a heavy meal."

[LilSmoker]

Well although the 4 rack does indeed seem small, it's surprising just how much food will fit inside, i suppose everybody's needs are different, and some would need a 6 rack or bigger?. So far for me, my 4 rack OBS has been plenty big enough for most of my general smoking, i've had some good sized turkeys in there, large pork butts etc.

I think the time when i could do with a bigger cabinet is when i do ribs (i love ribs), most of the time i'll do 4-6 racks of ribs which is fine, but if we've got lots of people coming round then i have to ribs on a large scale so the extra room would be handy, but this isn't that often so no problem, and i'm also thinking of getting a propane BS so i'll have that option also.

Anyway generaly my BS is a great "LilSmoker" and i love it deeply :-[ ::) as i'm sure all members here do ;D

LilSmoker

[West Coast Kansan]

there is a big shift in habits with a BS. I had always bbq a lot of food in a large smoker because it is a huge pain to baby sit the thing all weekend.  So you do a lot of meat at once. 

The shift is recognizing you dont have to do that much anymore.  It is easy to smoke in a BS and does not require a free weekend to do it.

As I posted 2-3 weeks ago - I smoke a chicken on a sunday afternoon and had no intention of smoking anything tell about 1:00 PM. 

LYou just dont fire up a smoker for 1 chicken unless it is a bradley.

Size does not matter ( :-[ ) with a Bradley.  Then at the same time I have done 30 lbs of Butt at the same time.

[goalieboy29]

Ah yes, first you fondle, then you covet. She's headed for the barn from here on in Newt! You know you want one, now get one. C'mon, all the cool kids are doing it...

How's that for peer pressure?

Seriously, enjoy kickin' the tires but get one soon because this thing is simply amazing!

The board ain't half bad either. Some of these old fellas can smoke!