How long does a bisquette last? No, really... how long?

[mipper]

I used my new smoker for the first time today, and advanced the pucks every 20 minutes like recommended.  Then afterwards, I looked at the residue - I was expecting the majority of the puck to be consumed, but there was a ton left over!

It's not the cost that concerns me as much as the inconvenience of having to stop what I'm doing to press the button every 20 minutes.  (Yes, I know there's an auto-feeder model, but I didn't feel it worth the extra cost.)

What has been your experience with using the pucks for longer than 20 minutes?  Perhaps there is a different calculation that can be determined based on temperature and possibly also based on type of wood in the puck?

[pwven]

I used my new smoker for the first time today, and advanced the pucks every 20 minutes like recommended.  Then afterwards, I looked at the residue - I was expecting the majority of the puck to be consumed, but there was a ton left over!

It's not the cost that concerns me as much as the inconvenience of having to stop what I'm doing to press the button every 20 minutes.  (Yes, I know there's an auto-feeder model, but I didn't feel it worth the extra cost.)

What has been your experience with using the pucks for longer than 20 minutes?  Perhaps there is a different calculation that can be determined based on temperature and possibly also based on type of wood in the puck?

All the Bradley Smokers soled in South Africa are fitted with automatic puck pushers and set at 20 minutes. My bisquettes after 20 minutes is burned out about 95% or more.

[Habanero Smoker]

I used my new smoker for the first time today, and advanced the pucks every 20 minutes like recommended.  Then afterwards, I looked at the residue - I was expecting the majority of the puck to be consumed, but there was a ton left over!

It's not the cost that concerns me as much as the inconvenience of having to stop what I'm doing to press the button every 20 minutes.  (Yes, I know there's an auto-feeder model, but I didn't feel it worth the extra cost.)

What has been your experience with using the pucks for longer than 20 minutes?  Perhaps there is a different calculation that can be determined based on temperature and possibly also based on type of wood in the puck?

All the Bradley Smokers soled in South Africa are fitted with automatic puck pushers and set at 20 minutes. My bisquettes after 20 minutes is burned out about 95% or more.

+1; with the addition that all Bradley models sold anywhere have the automatic bisquette advance.

Your generator should automatically feed your bisquette every 20 minutes. If it is not automatically feeding the bisquettes you have a problem with the generator. Call Bradley customer service, or post the problem here, so that others can help.

[mipper]

That is very interesting to hear... I have a smoker with an "advance" button that I have to push manually.

https://www.lowes.ca/smokers/bradley-smoker-bs611-original-electric-smoker_g1545973.html

Any other thoughts?

[TedEbear]

Does it do anything after 20 minutes?  It is either broken or there's a wire loose inside the SG box that is preventing it from automatically feeding a puck every 20 minutes.

[Sausage Master]

Automatic.  You only have to hit the button once.

[tskeeter]

That is very interesting to hear... I have a smoker with an "advance" button that I have to push manually.

https://www.lowes.ca/smokers/bradley-smoker-bs611-original-electric-smoker_g1545973.html

Any other thoughts?

The advance button is there to allow you to manually advance bisquettes.  But, use of the advance button is not required to advance every bisquette.  The auto advance function takes care of that.

I only use the advance button to advance bisquettes when I first start the smoker.  I fill the bisquette magazine.  Turn on the smoke generator.  The bisquette feeder cycles and advances the first bisquette toward the bisquette burner.  I then use the advance button to feed two additional bisquettes.  This pushes the first bisquette on to the bisquette burner.  From there, the smoke generator auto feeds another bisquette about every 20 minutes until the bisquette magazine is empty.

[tskeeter]

Mipper, Bradley bisquettes aren't intended to burn to ash.  They just char through, leaving a charred black puck.

Under some circumstances bisquettes may not char completely.  The situations that I know of that result in incomplete char include bisquettes that have absorbed moisture from the air, quite cold weather, certain types of wood tend to have incomplete char more often (oak is one, if I remember correctly), or due to puck density variation from puck to puck.

I don't worry about the instances of incomplete char that I experience.  It doesn't seem to affect the quality of what I am smoking.