Hello from Illinois, thinkin about gettting a Bradley 4 rack smoker

[SmokinRAM]

 Hi folks, I have been looking at a lot of the forums trying to figure out what I want to do. I have borrowed a buddy's pellet smoker and was all set to buy a pellet smoker from Smokin Brothers, just savin my pennies, but I saw some Bradley Smokers at a race a couple weeks back and got talkin to the salesmen. I then spoke to a friend the other day who just bought a 6 rack smoker from Bradley and he said he really liked it. The reason why I have kinda changed my mind to the Bradley is because we do a lot of camping and want something that is easy to take with us, but still cook a lot of food. The Smokin Brothers Pellet Smoker weighs around 150 lbs I believe so not so portable plus the Bradley Smoker is about 600 dollars less. I like the idea of the pellets, but it seems that the Bradley would produce the same flavor with their pucks. Just looking for some advice, suggestions to push me over the edge to get one.

Thanks for your suggestions and look forwards to the knowledge you folks will be able to pass on.

[tailfeathers]

I have a six rack digital Bradley and I love it. I will caution you however that you should keep in mind that a Bradley smoker has a 500 watt heating element and another 125 or 150 in the puck burner, so you need to remember that "low and slow" is not a suggestion, it is the only way you can cook with one, unless you modify it by adding either an additional element or replacing the factory one with a 900 watt element as many on here have done (me included). I also bought a pellet tube from A-Maze-N products so I can use either the Bradley pucks or just pour pellets in the tube and lay it in the smoker.

[beefmann]

welcome aboard, i have had a 4 rack for 9 years  now and use it  quite a  bit, if you  want to  take it  camping you  may  want to  consider the propane version making it  easier to  carry the  fuel,,,  most  smokes  can  run 18 to 24  hours some a  lot  less, i have  done a  few around 5 hours. running a  generator for 20 hours  can  get into some serious $$$$ where propane would be a  lot  less...

so on a  short note  take a  hard  look at all the  smokers and make the  best decision for  what you  want to  do

[SmokinRAM]

How well does the smoker do in colder temps like 20 to 30 degrees outside. This tube your talking about, you use this instead of the pucks?

[tailfeathers]

I use my smoker in freezing temps quite often, have even used it in subzero weather. They are very well insulated, you can lay your hand on the sides and it wont feel hot. Wind is the worst thing for them, it seems to suck the heat right out the vent. As for the tube I mentioned, go to A-Maze-N products website, they have various sizes and styles of tubes or trays that you can fill with pellets to produce smoke. I bought a 12" tube and have used it quite a bit, a five pound bag of pellets is about 6 bucks and will fill a gallon ice cream pail. I would estimate that you get around an hour of smoke per cupful of pellets, so the tube will pay for itself very quickly. I still use pucks some of the time, but I like the flexibility of being able to use either/or. You might also want to order either frog mats from yard and pool or Q-mats from A-Maze-N, they are nonstick mesh mats for your smoker racks that save tons of cleanup time. Good luck!

[SmokinRAM]

 Thanks for the info tailfeathers i will look into getting those frog mats and that tube if I decide to do with the Bradley.

[pondee]

Hello from Northern NJ:

I have a pellet grill/smoker (GMG Daniel Boone) and a Bradley (Digital 4 rack) and use them both.  I find the Pellet Grill to be easier to use for shorter cooks (ribs) and higher heat grilling (with Grill Grates) and the Bradley better suited for long and slow overnight cooks (pork butt and brisket). The Bradley is also better at cooler smokes (cheese, fish et al.) I find the pellet smoker to give a lighter smoke flavor than the Bradley, which you can adjust more easily by the number of bisquets used.  I also like the Bradley for longer cooks (12+ hours) as pellets are an expense and the electric costs of the Bradley not so much.  The Pellet smoker can be used to grill, the DB gets to 500* and, with Grill Grates, provides a nice sear.  I still, on occasion, will use my Weber gasser.

A pellet smoker/grill and the Bradley, although they have an overlap, are not identical cookers.  I got both, but then "He who dies with the most toys, wins."

Happy cooking.  A man may rely upon a woman (or a partner of his choice) for sex and food.  Once he learns to cook and has , at least, one good hand, he will never be h***ry and h**ny.

[SmokinRAM]

  Is it normal to smoke a brisket or pork butt over night and into the next day?, I have always smoked them at 180 for about 6 hours until the meat reached 160 degrees then wrapped and turned up to 225 until meat temp was 195 to 200. They usually take 10 to 12 hours. Would it take longer in a Bradley?

[TedEbear]

  Is it normal to smoke a brisket or pork butt over night and into the next day?

Yes.  The general rule is that it takes 1.5-2 hours per lb to fully cook.  It would be nearly impossible to not have it go through the night at some point.  I cook butts at 210 and briskets at 225.  I've had an 8 lb butt take as long as 21 hours to reach my target temp of 195*F.

Unless I'm shooting for a specific time to have it done by I usually start mine in the late evening and let it go through the night.  I have a wireless Maverick ET-732 monitoring the temps for any grease fire or a power failure.  I keep it on my nightstand and it will wake me if anything unusual is going on.

As far as wrapping, it will speed up the cooking process but unless I'm in a hurry to get it cooked I don't wrap.  I like for the meat to take its time when it goes through the stall period and wrapping softens the bark, which I like to have.