New to the Electric smoking world.

[jbbaseball23]

i have been smoking with char coal for years but I would like to buy a bradley smoke just not sure which one i should go with. I mostly just smoke meet like ribs,chicken and beef. Should i go with the digital or non digital? whats the true difference? pros & cons?. Please feel free to give me any info on this.

thanks 

[CoreyMac]

I have a 4 rack digital. If you don't plan to add any extra things like dual elements and precision temp controllers then the digital is the way to go. If you plan to add all the extras you will have to bypass the digital parts so not much point in spending the money. I like the ease of the digital for setting the temp, I personally don't use any precision temp controllers. The digital does get fairly large temp swings (20-30+ deg) but I have never had any real issues with that. Everything comes out perfect.

I wish I had gone to the 6 rack digital, the 4 rack is a little hard to hang sausage in but for ribs and chicken etc is perfect.

Corey

[STLstyle]

I recommend checking out various threads on this forum regarding what you have interest in before you purchase. I bought the 6 rack digital and am very happy with it.  If a 4 rack is enough room for your needs, it depends on if you are interested in modifying your Bradley.  If you want to add an additional element (decreases temp recovery times) and a PID (precise to control) I'd go with the OBS.  It will be more cost effective. 

If you want to use it as is out of the box, both the OBS and DBS are great, but the DBS will allow you set temp and smoke times individually.  Both models work perfectly as is out of the box, but many on this forum have made modifications to improve their recovery times and temp control.

I bought the six rack for space ( digital is the only choice) and then ended up adding an additional element and PID which renders my digital oven temp control useless.

All of this is my opinion and will guarantee others will think differently, but to summarize:

Need 6 rack for space- great DBS is your only option.

4 rack- Ask yourself if you are the type that will want to make modifications to the unit to control precise temp (PID) and temp recovery times ( add 2nd element)? If so 4 rack OBS is more cost effective.

4 rack out of box use.  OBS or DBS your choice.  If it were me I'd start with OBS and add PID later if I wanted more precise temp control. 

Whatever you decide, get it out and cook something! Take pics and post!


Sent from my iPhone

[GusRobin]

Depends on your budgetand what you want to do:


(Cabelas) Bradley non-digital 4 rack:  $249  add a PID controller total= $424
(Amazon) Digital 4 rack:                   $449
              Digital 6 rack:                   $410 (yes cheaper than the 4 rack unless I read it wrong)

For about the same price as a digital, you can get the original with a tight temperature control and on long smokes you don't have to reset every 9ish hours like with the digital. If you are smoking long sausages, then you may want to go with 6 rack digital but then you probably will want the tighter temp control (add $175). I have cooked sausage with the 4 rack, you just have to make smaller links.
I have recently purchased a used 6 rack cabinet that I will hook up to my OBS smoker and PID and have the best of both worlds.
Other than that  I would go with the OBS and a PID.  Just my preference.

[Tenpoint5]

With the meats that you are talking about either option will work great right out of the box.

Many of the members want to push the non digital and a pid along with a second element. None of that is really needed for the types of meat stated.  Pushing or suggesting all of these extras and nice to have options on someone who is just looking into the Bradley or smoking with an electric smoker. Does nothing but confuse them and put an image in there head that the Bradley is an inferior product. Because in order to get it to work properly you have to do all these modifications to it. When in fact the Bradley smoker, no matter which model, works great right out of the box. If you take the time to learn how it works and stop by this forum and read and learn from the folks that have been there and done that. Ask questions that's what we are here for is to make the learning curve shorter.

[KyNola]

^^^What TenPoint5 said!^^^

[Robert Rose]

I have the OBS and it cooks just fine without any mods. Not saying that I won't do some modifications in the future but it works just fine out if the box. When you have to open the door it is a little slow on temp recovery, but not really that bad. Besides if the door is open you ain't cookin'. LOL

[beefmann]

both units are nice to have, i have the original and has worked great from day one, the digital does give you better temperature control and smoker control over the non digital, Also  some thing to  consider is the amount of meat your gonna cook at one time, if you are gonna  smoke 25 lbs of meat at  once  max , the 4 rack will be more then  enough,

hope this helps

ps, welcome to the forum