First smoke - feedback on temp and other issues?

[blaked]

I "completed" my first picnic yesterday. Completed gets quotation marks because I took the pork off at about 185 and wrapped it to finish it off today. This is not ideal, but it is what it is. I was a little surprised/disappointed/curious because my experience on the Bradley was so very different from my experience on the WSM. A little feedback on why this meat didn't get to temp would be very much appreciated. The particulars:
Six rack digital single element (new), perfect day (just about 80, slight breeze)
Two bone-in shoulders, about 15# total
In about 15 hours at a fairly consistent temp of 215-220, despite cranking temp setting to 250+ and 280 in the last couple of hours (could not get it above 223)
Turned smoke off at about 4 hours
Now reheating/finishing in convection oven, elevated in a roasting pan with beer drip at 350

So did something go wrong? My biggest question is why I could not get the temp up higher. I intend to use the Bradley for cold smoking and more delicate smokes and to use the WSM for big cuts (pork picnic, brisket, etc), but I still thought the Bradley should get to at least 250 with ease. I recently did 30# - boneless - on the WSM in about 8 hours. Should I have wrapped (I don't typically)?
Guests come at 4 today and most of them won't know the difference, but I had higher hopes for EASE with my new BDS. Hoping you fellas (and the lady or two) can help set me straight!

[Ka Honu]

You're not really using the Bradley the way it's meant to be.  Essentially it's a not-all-that-well-insulated toy oven (500W element) with a smoke generator and with a decent-sized (like 15 pounds) load you may find it difficult to achieve/maintain temps much above 200-225^o (especially if you open the door during the cook and have to recover).  Some of the ways to work around that (other than modifying the heating element) are by using heat sinks (hot water, foil-wrapped brick, etc.), foil-wrapping after the smoke period, keeping the door closed (If you're looking, you're not cooking), or by using the Bradley for smoking (up to 4-5 hours) and then transferring to another heat source for the remainder of the cook.

Regardless, two shoulders totaling 15 pounds will almost always take longer than 15 hours to finish in a stock Bradley. We say to plan on 1.5 hours per pound but as you know that can turn out to be from about an hour to over two - the pig is in charge; you and your smoker aren't.  The only way to tell is by internal temperature.  GET AND USE A GOOD PROBE THERMOMETER to monitor the internal temperature (Maverick is a favorite brand around here) and check the results with an instant read (Thermapen is the fave) before pulling.  When it's done (about 195-205^o for pulled pork depending on who you ask), it's done and then still can use an hour or so of FTC (wrap in foil, then towel, and put in cooler) to rest and redistribute the juices.

[beefmann]

Ka Honu has you   pointed in the right direction

[GusRobin]

Other factors:
1) How was your vent set? if you have a closed vent it will keep the moisture in and the temps low.
2) Where were you taking the temp reading? If above the meat is was probably reading lower than the actual temp.
3) Were you on an extension cord? That could reduce power to the element.
4) what you experienced was about normal. I have done 8 - 16 lbs at 225 * and it has taken as long as 22-24 hours.

[blaked]

Had a Mav two-probe, and an additional meat thermo in the 2nd butt, and the oven probe was running about -10 from the Bradley, but still. Trying unsucessfully to pump it up above 220, on a hot day that far into the smoke, was frustrating and disappointing. I was on an extension cord yesterday, so that would've hurt a bit of power. Vent was wide open.
And I suppose I should say, of course there was no peaking - opened one time to swap out the drip pan. Heavens boys, I'm not THAT green.  :D

[tskeeter]

Blaked, when I switch from a Masterbuilt to the Bradley, I thought the Bradley seemed to be more susceptible to heat loss due to wind.  A breeze seemed to just suck the heat out of the smoker.  I suspect that part of what I observed was the difference in the capacity of the heat source.  As Ka Honu indicated, the Bradley has a 500 watt heating element, while the Masterbuilt had an 800 or 850 watt element.

One of the techniques that some forum members use to boost the Bradley heating capacity is to continue to run the puck burner after they have finished smoking.  That adds about 25% to the heating capacity.

I also noticed that in a picture one forum member posted, they had installed an extended vent on their smoker.  Only seemed to be about a 6 inch extension.  I wondered if this was done to reduce the vacuum effect on the smoke and heat when it was breezy.  Maybe an engineer, or someone else who knows about pneumatic transport systems can enlighten us.

[Wildcat]

I am sorry to hear that you are disappointed. The Bradley, as mentioned in their advertising, is designed to be a low and slow smoker. This is evidenced by the 500 watt heating element and a relatively low setting on the high temp limiter switch. I do not remember what it is set at but most of them will not get much above 240 and especially with a full load until the meat temp gets high. Big heat sink with a large load. Also, the Bradley produces a very clean smoke and I have found that 4 hours of smoke is all that is needed for the largest of loads. After that you can finish cooking in anything you want to get the meat done. I primarily do butts for pulled pork and for one or two decent sized butts I allow 18 to as much as 30 hours when I do the entire cook in the Bradley. You will also find if you use a lower the cooking temp that your meat will easily pull and be done at a lower meat temp. Just do the fork test starting at 170. You can easily cook at 190 to 200 and stop cooking at around 175 and have the meat falling apart. If you cook at 220 then you will probably need to go to 190+ for pulling. Everything is relative here and the longer it remains in the stall where the connective tissues are breaking down and the fat is melting, the lower the temp of the finished product needs to be.

[blaked]

Just do the fork test starting at 170. You can easily cook at 190 to 200 and stop cooking at around 175 and have the meat falling apart. If you cook at 220 then you will probably need to go to 190+ for pulling. Everything is relative here and the longer it remains in the stall where the connective tissues are breaking down and the fat is melting, the lower the temp of the finished product needs to be.
That I did not know. Regarding your statement above, are you foiling it at 160, or just leaving it unwrapped all the way to 175+?
I have had drilled into my head that 193+ is the magic number, regardless of time in the chamber. When I took it off on Wednesday night at 180-185, it did not feel ready to pull. I wrapped and reheated yesterday morning (at the time of my initial post) and took it off heat at about 194, let it sit for about 3 hrs and then pulled it. It was pretty good. Less smoke flavor than I'm used to (but probably better for most tastes) and less pronounced bark - mostly due to the wrap, I'm sure, but also probably due to the BDS v the WSM.
After this feedback, plus the very happy guests yesterday, I have to remove "disappointed" from my reactions. Surprised and curious, indeed, but isn't that the fun of a new toy?

[Ka Honu]

Experiment a little bit and you'll find the learning curve evens out pretty quickly.  I've found that the easiest way for me to achieve what I want is to smoke two butts at a time for 4 hours in the Bradley and then rack one of them "nekkid" over a drip pan in the oven at 225^o while the other goes into the crockpot.  Then I mix the two when pulling for both great bark (from the oven-finished butt) and lots of excellent drippings (from the crockpot).  I defat the drippings and mix in what I need, then freeze the rest (in ice cube trays) to use later for adding to leftovers, using to flavor soups, etc.

[Wildcat]

Generally, the only time I foil is to either FTC if I need to wait 3 or 4 hours until chow time, or to cover and let it rest until cool enough to handle. All butts are different and although some of them allowed me to stop at 170 to 175 degrees, most of them go to 180 to 190 before they are ready to easily pull apart. 99 percent of the time mine are hard to pick up without them falling apart. I personally try to smoke/cook them at an average cabinet temp of 205.

Butts are hard to mess up. They are probably the most forgiving thing you can smoke.