Preheat smoker?

[NNSmoker]

I notice that it takes about 10 minutes to get smoke in the DBS. I was wondering, does anyone add 20 minutes to the smoke time and leave the burner empty for the first 20 minutes. Seems this would get more out of the pucks.

[HCT]

YesSir, I let it heat up for the first 20 than advance the bisquette. No sense in wasting it.

[begolf25]

I do the same thing. I usually let my smoker preheat anywhere from 1-2 hours. Then load the generator and advance the first puck onto the burner. Once I see the smoker start to roll I load up the smoker.

[Lefty_Smoker]

I think pre-heating the Bradley is a very important step to getting the smoke off to a good start.  Here is my pre-heating procedure:

First I crack a cold one to ensure proper hydration, then I load up the water bowl or tin-foil pan with hot, hot water, crank the slider all the way to the right and then let the Bradley pre-heat to my desired temp, maybe even a bit hotter.  By this time I usually need another cold one, once that is taken care of, I load in my wood pucks of choice, and then hit the puck advance button three times to get the first wood bisquette onto the puck burner.  Be sure to pause in between button presses to allow the puck advance to complete each advance. Then I load in my three metal pucks on top of the stack of wood bisquettes and then wait till I see smoke billowing out the top vent.  This usually takes another 10 minutes or so after the first wood bisquette has reached the burner, take this chance to once again ensure proper hydration.  Once I finally see heavy smoke billowing out of the vent, I then load in the meat as quickly as I can to preserve what heat is in the box.  Adjust the slider all the way to the right again to get the box back up to temp as quickly as possible.  Sit back, crack another cold one if necessary and enjoy the smoke.   

Pre-heating usually only takes 1/2 hour at the most with an empty smoker and a bowl/pan full of hot water.  A pre-heated brick wrapped in foil can also help retain heat in your box if necessary.   

[Payson]

Are the metal pucks still readily available? If so, where would I find them and what should I expect to pay for them? Odd that Bradley doesn't sell them directly!

[Lefty_Smoker]

Bradley doesn't sell them directly because they aren't a Bradley product.

In reality, they actually lessen your use of Bradley wood Bisquettes, so naturally, Bradley probably doesn't have much interest in selling/marketing the metal pucks.  After all, Bradley is in the business of selling WOOD bisquettes.  

[brderj]

Ok, I'll bite....whats the metal puck for?

[Lefty_Smoker]

The metal pucks were thought up by a fellow Bradley board member, and were intended to solve the problem of half spent/wasted pucks that result at the end of every smoke session.  Due to the cost of the Bradley wood bisquettes, the cost of wasted pucks can add up quickly.   

The bisquette advance mechanism pushes bisquettes out onto the burner plate, but the last two bisquettes in your stack don't get burned completely because the mechanism requires pucks to push other pucks.  When you get to the last three bisquettes in your stack, the bisquette advance mechanism fails to advance the bisquettes properly.  You end up with one wood bisquette that remains on the burner plate and will continue to smolder until you intervene.  The next to last wood bisquette next to the plate burner also ends up smoldering most of the time.  You end up with one or two half burnt pucks, but even worse, the puck that ends up sitting on the burner plate, smoldering, could end up imparting a bad, bitter, sooty, taste to your food.  Remember, the Bradley wood bisquettes were only intended to be burned for 20 minutes, and then extinquished.  Burning them longer by letting them smolder on the hot plate may make your food taste bad.

By loading several metal pucks on top of your stack of wood bisquettes, the puck adance mechanism works as it should and continues to properly advance all the wood pucks in your stack to the burn plate. If you use 3 metal pucks, the last wood bisquette is even extinguished properly after the intended 20 minute burn time, there by completing the smoking cycle.  If you just use two metal pucks, the last wood puck stays on the burn plate until you remove it, which is why most people prefer to use 3 metal pucks, or a combination of 2 metal pucks followed by another wood bisquette.

Besides saving wood bisquettes, the metal pucks also help facilitate hands free smoking.  Without the pucks, you must intervene when the last bisquette is done burning, otherwise it will smolder on the plate.  Using the metal pucks, the last wood puck is extinquished automatically, eliminating the need for you to intervene after the first 2-4 hour smoking period.  This allows you to load a set number of pucks to determine your over-all smoking time, and then once the metal pucks reach the burner plate, the Bradley simply acts as an oven instead of a smoker.  The metal pucks make the Bradley more of a set it and forget it smoker than without them, imho. 

Well, that's it in a nut shell, I think.  :)

[brderj]

Well that doesn't sound good at all.  If your sleeping during the smoke cycle and the last briquette is just sitting there smoldering, that could be bad ju ju.  So I suppose I'll ask the repeat question...is there a place to purchase these?  The guy who made them still around?  Sounds like more of a necessity than a want...

[Habanero Smoker]

This thread give directions on how to order Bubba Pucks;
http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=5371.0

[NNSmoker]

Don't forget to add another 20 minutes to your smoke time so the last Bubba Puck will be advanced onto the plate. When the smoker shuts down, it does not advance.

[NePaSmoKer]

I dont preheat and i do use 3 drilled bubba pucks. Everything i smoke turns out great but i use a BBQ GURU/RAPTOR  ;D

nepas

[Tiny Tim]

I preheat everything and then let all the heat out while I load the food into the smoker.  Food gets loaded, then the pucks, then me. ;D