I need help in the UK

[maxon8]

I live in the UK and am interested in buying an Original Bradley or a new 4rack Bradley Digital when they arrive in September!?. As I like to do my research before buying a product can anyone put me in contact with other manufacturers that market smokers comparable to that of the Bradley in order for me to compare specifications etc. I have not found anything in the UK and only small box / dust type fish smokers from US. Any help would be appreciated as I am new to this.

[Oldman]

Greetings maxon8,

can anyone put me in contact with other manufacturers that market smokers comparable to that of the Bradley in order for me to compare specifications etc.

Over the years I think I either made or owned just about every type of smoker out there. IMO there are no other home smokers that are comparable to the Bradley...sorry I could not point you in another direction.

Olds

[BigSmoker]

I've had my bradley for over 2 years now and love it.  I'm sure there are some other products avaliable to you in the UK but I don't know which ones.  Buy a Bradley and I promise you will not be sorry.  Welcome aboard ;).

[jaeger]

Welcome to the forum maxon8!

I don't have a smoker for you to compare with, but I can tell you that I am more than happy with mine and Bradley has outstanding customer service if you do have any problems.

[manxman]

Hi maxon8,

Welcome to the forum. I previously had a Brinkman smoker which I bought through Costco (Liverpool branch) who tend to have various US smokers in stock from time to time. I saw buying a Bradley as a trade up!

I do know both Brinkman and Weber smokers are available, also see:

http://www.askari-fishing.co.uk/

who have a range of smokers available. Not sure what else is currently available.

I did a comparison when I bought my smoker around 18-20 months ago, the Bradley came out tops by a long way as suitable for my needs and I have not looked back since. The only frustrating thing is the price of the pucks in the UK compared to what our American collleagues pay but even then it does not work out that bad.

Hope this is of some help, the other thing is to buy the smoke generator and make your own unit depending on whether cold smoking of hot smoking is your forte.

Didn't realise the new (european) models were not available until Spetember, the US ones have gone on the market this week.

Also see:

www.barbecue-online.co.uk/acatalog/ BBQ_Shop_Brinkmann_Smokers_47.html
www.barbecue-online.co.uk/ acatalog/copy_of_Weber_Smokers.html


If I was in the market right now i would go for the four rack BS digital model.

[icerat4]

Only one way to Smoke.Thats BRADLEY  ;D

[maxon8]

Not sure if I am using forum software correctly but would just like to thank all for your replies. I think you are right, I will go the Bradley route.
I have 4 further questions!.
1.Can you tell me if the Original Bradley and the new Digital are fully serviceable products. In other words do they have a full parts backup and if so to what degree, within reason are they broken down?.
2.Are there any after market non Bradley parts that you would recommend fitting to the Original Bradley/Digital that will make the units better or more useable?.
3. Has anyone upgraded an Original Bradley or used a Bradley Smoke Generator to design a unit that is equal to or of an even better spec than that of the new Digital?. If so how do I get a copy of the design?!!!. ;D

I await you replies with interest. Many thanks. maxon8 :

[manxman]

Hi maxon8,

The BS comes with a full one year warranty, I had two smoke generators pack up within the warranty period and getting replacements were not a problem. I also got to keep the broken ones as spares.

There was an issue with the puck advance motor on the smoke generators which was discussed in some detail on the forum if you do a search, I would assume this has been addressed on the forthcoming new models. Typically if there was a problem with these motors it occured in the first couple of months, i.e within the warranty period, but the motors are not available separately. A whole new smoke generator was required!

My understanding is that some spares are available though Grakka UK, the importer. I did discuss this with John Watkins (the owner) but I am not sure of the current state of affairs. I would contact then regarding this to see what they have to say.

[email protected]
[email protected]

There are a variety of add ons available to further enhance temperature control etc but most seem to be aimed at the US marker, if you do a nose round the forum under "PID" "Guru" "Raptor" to name but three headings you will find further information. Some will give even more control than the new digital model but I regard smoking as an art, not a science and I get brilliant results with no add ons! However, it's "horses for courses" and all I can say is that there are products availabe to further enhance the BS smokers, there also diagrams and instructions available on the forum and members with the expertise to assist, albeit mainly using 110V components. You would have to source equivalent 240V components but again there are some posts on this already on the forum.

I would try and get a remote thermometer, the one in the old model BS door can be pretty inaccurate. The main thing is to get something that will monitor internal meat temperature rather than just cabinet temperature, I think even the new models only have the capability to monitor the latter. Many in the US have purchased the Maverick ET73 dual probe unit, it is not available in the UK (or wasn't 18 months ago) but someone on the forum kindly bought and sent one to me.

Other bits I would invest in are the "jerky" racks, non-stick coated smaller meshed racks which are a lot more user friendly than the stainless steel ones supplied as standard and if possible some "bubba pucks", aluminium discs that replace the last 2 to 3 pucks at the end of a smoke to a) save wasting 3 wood pucks per smoke and b) they help keep the smoke generator heater plate a lot cleaner at the end of a smoke. Again, there is more info on these if you do a search of have a look at Chez Bubba website. (see below)

Bubba puck are only available in the US but I do know Chez Bubba will send them to the UK, his website and contact details are available though the forum. Jerky racks are available from Grakka and most of the dealers.

Hope this helps, fire away if you have any other queries. ;D

[maxon8]

manxman,

Thank you for your extensive reply all of which has been noted. I think I will keep on reading the forum topics as a lot of the information is very useful.
It would appear that the Original Bradley / 4 rack Digital is of an ideal size for a family of 4, I say this in ignorance as I have no idea of it's meat output. To justify the effort of building a hot smoker with the Bradley Smoke Generator it would appear that a larger unit with a higher output is more appropriate. If I am right can you give me some idea of how many pounds of mixed meats can be smoked in the Original Bradley / 4 rack Digital in one go without an overload?.

I agree with you, I think smoking is an art. It would appear that understanding the temperature helps this art. I am therefore interested in finding out more info on the temperature sensors. As I understand some units offer 2 sensor inputs one for the smoker cavity and one for the meat temperature. Where do I get sales information on the various models?. 

Any help would be appreciated.

maxon8

[manxman]

Hi,

If you have a contact in the US this is the Maverick ET 73 that many people on the forum have, someone kindly got one for me and shipped it to the UK together with some aluminium pucks. I seem to remember the best deal I found was $34 around 15 months ago.

www.ekitchengadgets.com/maresmth.html

Specification for the Bradley Smokers see:

www.bradleysmoker.com/

which also has a link to the UK site.

Specifications for the digital models also see:

http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=2797.msg25587#msg25587

I have hot smoked up to about 25lbs meat but the time taken to do this very much depends on what you are smoking. 25lbs salmon fillets made up of numerous small pieces is a different matter to smoking 3 x 8lb briskets for example but both are possible but will take different amount of time. The former may take around 6 hours, the latter 12 hours plus gives you a rough idea. Mixing type and size of meats in a single smoke then introduces more factors but I find it generally better to put everything in at the same time, smoke/cook and pull the different pieces at different times.

However, the hot smoking of salmon involves a specific series of temperatures that does not really lend itself to putting other things in at the same time, you would also not want brisket dripping on your salmon or vice versa!

See:

http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=107.msg935#msg935

The term "low and slow" is mentioned on the forum quite a lot, the BS is essentially a slow cooker given the wattage of the heater element. Understanding the temperatures is very much part of this process and comes with experience and there are many on the forum more experienced than me.

However, there are posts on the forum that cover most cuts and sizes of meat and include whole chicken and turkey so their is a wealth of information already here. In addition a posting with regards to specific queries will normally bring a quick response from someone with the relevant knowledge.

To me the BS is an ideal family size smoker, I invested in a vacuum sealer and vacuum pack much of what I process, I can then just take meal sized portions out of the freezer and "boil in the bag" to provide quick and extremely tasty meals that beats anything that could be shop bought. It also means I can do larger quantities of individual foods such as smoked cheese, bacon etc for example and vacuum pack it and extend the storage life.

Hope this helps give you a "feel" for the BS.  :)