Will our problem happen in a Bradley too?

[elf.elf.baby]

Hi.  We are considering a Bradley smoker to replace a Kenmore electric
vertical.

The Kenmore (I believe it's actually a Brinkmann) problem is that in pleasant weather (above 50 degrees or so)
the Kenmore either won't light the wood, or becomes too hot for smoking. We seem to
need more heat dissipation (ie colder outdoor temps), basically so the burner can be on more, making smoke  but those colder outdoor temps keeping the meat area at smoking temp.
The first question is, does this make sense? We've used the Kenmore successfully in past years with ambient around 45 degrees. This year, at around 60,  dried out smokeless meat or long & slow smokeless meat.

If it does make sense, how does anybody make a single heating element (I say burner and heating element interchangeably) smoker work in the summer?
SO that's the first question/puzzle.

Bradley, which I had researched before, seemed to be the answer, and pricing had come way down. (Or I looked harder).
Then, probably getting into this way too much for our actual needs, I looked at Auber Ins.

Their descriptions of the Bradley's analog, and even digi controls, made us think that just having a separate wood burner may not be enough.  Since it seemed illogical to get a more pricey digital Bradley and an Auber, I looked at the two 'original' models, but price diffs seem to eliminate the original original.  Yet, I wonder about USA/Canada-made vs offshore. Quality control, etc. Comments?

That's the 2nd question/puzzle.

THEN, I thought, wow, could we attach a Smoke Generator to the Kenmore? Leave the heating element in, which connects on the right side, and put the SG on the left side.

Oh please, somebody reply... :) :) :)

[Saber 4]

I'm in Texas so I have the opposite issue with ambient temps, I am smoking in 80-110 degrees in the shade and I have had a couple of cooler smokes after a cold front passes, this will be my first winter with the Bradley but I'm not expecting any issues. I may even take it camping for Thanksgiving Turkey. I don't know about your Kenmore but the Bradley Cabinet is insulated which helps retain heat in the cabinet from the element. I have the 4 rack digital and have not seen a need yet to upgrade my element and get an Auber PID, with the possible exception of the sausage making I am now getting into. The Bradley smoke generator stays on for as long as you set it for time wise and doesn't cycle on and off like you are describing for your Kenmore, it also pushes a new puck onto the burner every 20 minutes so that you get maximum smoke generation for the duration of your smoke cycle. Most of us don't find a need to apply smoke for more than 3-4 hours with some going as long as 5 hours typically. Many people use either hot/boiling water in the puck bowl and/or foil covered bricks to help with heat retention when adding meat or checking on progress. This may be a little rambling but I have tried to answer your questions as best I could with my experience others with much more experience can take over where I have left off, if you have other questions as a result of this feel free to reply and ask away.

[KyNola]

I'll take a shot at a portion of your questions and others will chime in as well.  The Bradley works well in all ambient temperatures.  The ambient temperatures may have an effect on the temp that the Bradley will reach, meaning, it warmer weather it will reach the higher temperatures more readily.  In the colder temperatures the Bradley will function just fine because the Bradley is well insulated.  However, if you have a strong wind blowing across the top of the Bradley, the wind will suck the heat right out of the tower.  Another thing you need to know up front.  When you place a heavy piece of cold meat in the Bradley, the temp in the tower will drop like a stone and may take several hours to come back to your preset temp because the meat acts like a heat sink and sucks up every bit of heat energy that the 500 watt heating element puts out.  There are tips and tricks to help that situation and we will be happy to help you with that should you decide to purchase a Bradley.

The Bradley has a water bowl in the bottom to extinguish the burnt wood pucks and collect grease drippings to prevent a grease fire in the tower.  It serves another purpose as well.  The moisture will begin to put off steam which aids in keeping your meat moist.  If you overcook the meat, the meat is going to be dry regardless.

I'll let the folks who have modified their Bradley's by adding additional heating elements and the Auber PID talk to you about that.  I have not added a second element as I personally don't have a need for it.  Others feel like they do.  That's why they make vanilla AND chocolate.

[KyNola]

Oops!  Sorry Saber. ;)

[Saber 4]

Oops!  Sorry Saber. ;)

No Worries KyNola looks like we covered some of the same points from different angles, Hope we helped the elf.

[Grouperman941]

As far as the temperature goes, I smoke regularly with an ambient temp around 90 F with high humidity. I have to wait until winter and night-time to cold smoke. There are lots of posts here with people smoking at or below zero. The Bradley just works.

Depending on what you are cooking, you may not need a PID controller. IMO, it is not necessary for most cooks.

[tskeeter]

elf, I think a Bradley would help you address some of the challenges you've experienced with your Kenmore.

The Bradley uses a dedicated "puck burner" rather than relying the the cabinet heating element to power the smoke generating apparatus.  So, the "puck burner" does not cycle on and off depending on the temperature in the cabinet.  It's on all the time that you set it to be on, generating smoke.

One of the nice things about the Bradley design is that it is pretty easy to convert to a cold smoker, to address your "too hot" issue.  The smoke generator, including the "puck burner", is a separate component of the smoker rig.  You can operate the smoke generator without having to turn on the heating element.  Much of the time, I can smoke items like cheese, without getting it too hot, simply by leaving the heating element turned off.  Bradley also sells a cold smoker adapter that allows you to move the heat from the smoke generator away from the smoker cabinet, which keeps the smoker cabinet pretty close to ambient temperature.  Basically, all you have to do is lift the smoke generator off the mounting studs that it hangs on on the side of the smoker, attach the duct from the cold smoke adapter to where the smoker generator extended through the cabinet wall, and hang the smoke generator on the smoke cooling chamber provided as part of the cold smoke adapter.  Pretty easy, peasy.  (Several forum members have fabricated their own cold smoke adapters, too.  I think you'll be able to find posts about some of them on the Accessories forum.)

[elf.elf.baby]

Thank you, guys. Or ladies. It had never occurred to me that the Kenmore's lack of insulation would be part of the problem. I had it backwards. Sortof. I think.
Today, we decided to get the Bradley digi 4-rack, and then decided to just get a Smoke Generator and attach it to the Kenmore, and then we decided to get a Smokenator for our never-used Weber One-Step Platinum, by now a real collector's item. Tomorrow, who knows.
By the way, if anyone reads Yelp or Trip Advisor  and sees my highly professional sounding restaurant reviews (haha) and then wonders how the heck this person can't smoke to save her life, there is really nothing illogical about it.  It's magic.
Film at 11. More replies welcome, especially about the qc issue. Thank you.

[Saber 4]

Save yourself the hassle and get the Bradley to start with, it will be simpler than doing mods on the Kenmore and you can always convert the Kenmore to a cold smoker later on once you've gotten your addiction fully reborn.