All brined, no heat!

[FuBar]

Hi all, new to posting in the forum and looking for advice. I've about 10 smokes on my digital and have had nothing but success. Last week I smoked 25 bacon wrapped chicken breasts and smoker was fine. This week I spent FIFTEEN THOUSAND DOLLARS on salmon to smoke up!! Mind you, thats Taiwanese dollars but still;) Anyhow, salmon brined and ready to go, I fired up the Bradley and no heat from the element. I'm going to open the smoke gen to ensure everything is connected and going to buy a continuity tester now so I can check whether the element's getting power or not. If that proves unsuccessful I'll contact Bradley.

In the mean time, what do I do with the brined fish? I'm candying the fish so it brined in a salt/brown sugar mixture. Can I smoke it using the smoke gen for a couple hours the finish cooking in the oven? Or should I vacuum seal the brined fish and freeze, then smoke when things are sorted out?

Cheers all for the advice and I look forward to smoking with you all!

[Habanero Smoker]

Hi FuBar;

Sorry to have to welcome you to the forum in this manner.

Either option will work, if you believe you will be able to get your smoker running in a few days vacuum sealing would not be necessary, freezer ziploc bags will work fine for a short period of time.

What model Bradley are you using? With the Original Bradley Smoker, if the power indicator light on the face plate is still working it is likely that it is the element.

Here is a link with some helpful tips:
Bradley FAQ's

[FuBar]

Cheers for the info! I'll do what I can and hopefully get this sorted asap. I'm eating some smoked chicken as I type this (seriously, typing with one hand and eating with the other) and I'm looking forward to getting things going again!

[KyNola]

With that digital there is a power jumper cord that goes from the generator to the tower.  Make certain that cord is very firmly plugged into both the generator and the tower.  Sometimes that thing will work it's way loose and it will appear as though the element is shot when in fact it's just not getting power from the cord.

Hopefully this will get you back up in no time.