Pre-heat without the smoke generator being turned on?

[jamesriverrifle]

I have a new 6 rack Bradley Digital Smoker and have experienced the following problem and wonder if someone can help me.  Following directions to pre-heat the smoker I set the temp and time, but the heating element would not come on.  I read the directions several times and I'm sure that I was following them correctly.  Once I started the smoke generator, set its time the heating element came on.  How can you preheat the smoker without the smoke generator being on?   Thank you. 

[Mr Walleye]

Hi James and welcome to the forum.

I'm not sure on your questions but here is what I think your looking for.

Regarding pre-heating the unit, most people pre-heat both the tower and the smoke generator. The reason for this is so that when the first puck is advanced to the burner it is already hot and will produce smoke right away. Other wise you will basically wast the first puck.

When you plug the DBS in it will beep, flash the display, then shut off. You have to turn both the smoke generator (left button) and the tower (right power button) on by pushing the  buttons. A number of people (with large fingers) have had a hard time pushing the buttons right in the middle of the button. The other thing a few people have had problems with when new is getting the power cord between the smoke generator and the tower to seat correctly. You may need to plug and un-plug a number of times to make sure it is making contact. You can verify the main element is on by opening the door and looking at it. It should turn red hot.

Also here is a FAQ that a number of members here on the forum put together you might find helpful.
http://susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?p=748#post748

Also if you haven't been to the recipe site yet just click on the smoker in the bottom of my post. Lots of great stuff there.

Mike

[Tenpoint5]

Hi James welcome to the forum. Looks like Mike has you all fixed up. Make sure you browse around the site, if you have any other questions feel free to ask. Most everyone here is more than willing to make your smoking sessions as enjoyable as possible.

[Gizmo]

I do what Mr. Walleye suggested and that is to preheat both.

The Oven and the Puck burner are separate and should operate independent of each other. 

To check it out, remove the V-Tray, turn the oven on and change the set temp to 320 deg.  Shut the door and leave the vent closed.  The box temp should start to come up.  After 10 minutes, open the door and look at the heating element in the back of the unit, it should be glowing red.  If the temp did not rise and element is not glowing red, there is a bad power connection between the control unit and the box.  Plug and unplug both ends of the power cord several times (a known occurrence on not of making a good connection).

The puck burner will generate heat and many have thought that was the oven heater, which is why I recommend leaving the puck burner off for this test.

As Mike pointed out, the preheat on the puck burner is good to ensure the first puck burns properly.  If I do a 30 minute to 45 minute preheat (to get the box to 260 deg before loading), I will advance the pucks during the last 20 minutes to one position before the burner.  This will allow the first puck to warm up before getting pushed on as well.  Just don't push it there right before the puck auto advances on a 20, 40 or 00 mark.  If you run into that situation, the advantage of the digital is at your mercy and you can reset the puck advance timer for a restart on the 20 minute timer.

[jamesriverrifle]

Folks, Thanks for the input.  Yesterday, my smoker worked as it should.   Reconnected my connections, etc.  My directions were to dry the meat for one hour before applying smoke and the Bradley worked as it should.   I smoked 25 lbs of venison bacon and when the bottom rack meat reached 155 degrees, it was removed and the top 3 racks where shifted down one notch and I followed that procedure until all racks were close to the heating element.  The box temp was set at 220 and it took almost 14 hours before all was done.  The meat loaves temp never reached 155 until they were placed closes to the heat element.  I had temp probes in each and I noticed that the upper racks hovered around 130 for a long period.  I also know that is the danger zone.  Is the meat safe to eat?  I never smoked anything that big or long before.  Some advice will be appreciated.  Thanks again. 

[Mr Walleye]

James

I don't know the recipe you used but I'm assuming that you used a cure such as Morton TQ or Cure #1 on the bacon for a period of time prior to smoking it. If so, the cure will protect it during the smoke.

Mike

[jamesriverrifle]

Yes, the cure came with the seasoning package from Curlys Kitchen.  I can't eat 25 lbs of bacon and most will be gifts to friends and I don't want to posion anyone.  Thanks again.   

[KyNola]

WOW!! 14 hours?  I don't know exactly how you were doing your procedure but that seems like an awfully long time.  Out of curiosity, where is your smoker located, inside or outside?  If outside what was the outside air temp and wind conditions?  I've had to cook pork butts 24 hours before but I've never had to go 14 hours with bacon.

What a great project for you though.  That is persistance.  Congratulations on a job well done.

KyNola

[jamesriverrifle]

KyNola, My venison bacon was 15 lbs ground venison and 10 lbs ground pork, mixed, seasoned, and places in 12x12x2" tin foil pans and refriged over night.  Next day the pans were emptied on the smoker racks and the smoke/cooking started.   Virginia temperatures ranged in the upper 30s/lower 40s, no wind.  Have you ever tried/cooked venison bacon as described above?  Take care.

[KyNola]

Now I understand better what you were doing.  You confused me with your earlier post when you mentioned bacon and then loaves.  When you said bacon, I was thinking pork type bacon where you cure the belly and then smoke it and slice.  Yours is a bit different using ground meat in a 12X12X2 inch pan.  Sounds really good.  When finished, how do you slice it and serve it?  Sounds interesting, never heard of it before. 

I am still proud of you for hanging in there 14 hours.  How many hours of smoke did you roll on those pans?  Was it 4 pans total or more than 4 for the 25 pounds?

KyNola 

[Tiny Tim]

It sort of resembles the old "Sizzlelean" bacon (to my understanding), sliced and fried like you would any bacon.

I've been wanting to make some, just haven't gotten the combination of time, ambition, and money for ingredients together at the same time.