I should be on the payroll

[Quarlow]

Check this series of e-mails. This guy was looking for a used "little chief". I had to send him the word of "Bradley". I didn't think he would reply but he did and this is what ensued.

You should check out,
Bradleysmoker.com"http://shop.bradleysmoker.com/products.php?category_id=2&gclid=CMifn8_p_ZwCFSYoawodgnaAbA   

Colin
Thanks for the link but really only looking for one of the BIG/LITTLE CHIEF Front Load Smokers . . . more than adequate for my purposes . . . just want to be able to smoke some fish once or twice a year.
And not looking to spend a lot of dinero.
Thanks,
Bryan

Hey Bryan I hear what you are saying times are tough.To bad and I know you won't want to here this, but I gave one away about 3 months ago.Sorry and he didn't really need it. would much rather have given it to someone who could appreciate it like yourself.Anyway, You should check out the bradley site they have a lot of good smoking recipes and they have a great forum you could sign up to as I have. It is dedicated to guys that love to smoke stuff. And these guys smoke just about everything. And they are nonjudgemental. If you have a Bradley or a little chief it don't matter cause they all have been there and some still have other smokers. They are a real good bunch of people and you can't ask a question that someone can't answer. They would have you smoking on the little chief to your hearts content. Just the other day I made dry rubbed ribs and smoke them for 3 hr. then well the Bradley also cooks so they cooked for 3 more hrs. Man they were falling of the bone. The weekend before I took a pork loin roast and filet it. Then I stuffed it with a stuffing of dried apricots, mandrin oranges,pecans and rasins. Then to that I added a box of stuffing mix and some maple syrup. Put it in the roast and rolled it then tied it up and smoked it for 2 hrs and cooked it for 2 more hrs. Anyways I am raving, but you should check out the forum. It just might inspire you to masterful cooking. If you do come to the forum look me up, I am known as "Quarlow" just tell me your " bryan from craigslist and will chat.

Too which he replyed:
Colin,
me:Hey Bryan I hear what you are saying times are tough
he:Gotta watch the ole greenbacks these days is all.
me:To bad and I know you won't want to here this, but I gave one away about 3 months ago.
he:AAARRRGGGHHH!!!
me:Sorry and he didn't really need it.
he:Sheesh . . . was it a L C Front Loader?
me: I would much rather have given it to someone who could appreciate it like yourself.
he:Yer gonna have lotsa friends with a demeanour like that!
me:Anyway, You should check out the bradley site they have a lot of good smoking recipes and they have a great forum you could sign up to as I have. It is dedicated to guys that love to smoke stuff. And these guys smoke just about everything. And they are nonjudgemental. If you have a Bradley or a little chief it don't matter cause they all have been there and some still have other smokers. They are a real good bunch of people and you can't ask a question that someone can't answer. They would have you smoking on the little chief to your hearts content.
he:I'm really only looking for what to smoke some salmon I caught on the Lab Day weekend . . . but maybe I should expand my horizon . . . and start looking into doing other things!
me:Just the other day I made dry rubbed ribs and smoke them for 3 hr. Then, well the Bradley also cooks so they cooked for 3 more hrs. Man they were falling of the bone.
he:Whoaa baby . . . nothin' beats ribs fallin' off the bone . . . with the exception . . . maybe . . . of . . . smoked salmon!
me: The weekend before I took a pork loin roast and filet it. Then I stuffed it with a stuffing of dried apricots, mandrin oranges,pecans and rasins. Then to that I added a box of stuffing mix and some maple syrup.
he:Damn . . . that sounds mighty interesting!
me: Put it in the roast and rolled it then tied it up and smoked it for 2 hrs and cooked it for 2 more hrs.
he:Sounds delicious!
me: Anyways I am raving, but you should check out the forum. It just might inspire you to masterful cooking.
he:So . . . as I understand it . . . the Big/Little Chief smokers . . . just smoke the food . . . and don't cook . . . but these Bradly Smokers you are talking about smoke and also work like an oven to cook the product? What kind of price range are they in? Sounds interesting . . . could get carried away with this.
me:If you do come to the forum look me up, I am known as "Quarlow" just tell me your " bryan from craigslist and will chat.

he:Thanks for the invite . . . I'll have to start investigating.
Thanks for the info Colin . . . 'ppreciate your time!!!
Regards,
Bryan

To which I replyed:
Hi Bryan, Yeah times are tough all around.
Yes it was the LCFL. I actually do smoked salmon a lot and I was also out on labour day at the "Stave river gong show". We kept 3 that were not to bad. Here is a pic of my last batch of smoked salmon. It was 50 lbs my buddy got when he was in Uclulet on a fishing charter. Now my smoker is a 4 rack, but this was more than it would handle. So I had to borrow my brothers 6 rack. Mine will do 25 to 30 lbs of salmon. I also sent a pic of the stuff pork loin. The big and little chief will hot smoke to a degree, but as far as cooking food I don't think it gets hot enough, and you have to be careful about getting your food hot enough to prevent it from spoiling while you are smoking, Plus your only heat source is the fire that is creating the smoke, and typicly you don't want as much smoke as it would take to cook in it.
The Bradley has a heating element it it so you can achieve over 300 degrees to effectivly cook anything. These guys are doing beer butt turkeys that look amazing and they are juicy. It also does real smoked almonds, as opposed to "Blue Diamond" almonds which are not even smoked they are roasted in an oven.
Now as far as the price on these they are a little pricey but when you consider the you could almost get rid of the barbeque, they are a very good deal. That said the one like mine is $399. but I got mine free with my save-on foods points for 100,000 pts. I know you are cringing at the price and while I am at it, I will tell you that you have to use their wood to.
  Now the thing about the Bradley is that it uses what they call a "bisquette" which is 1/2" x 2 1/4" compressed wood puck like a mini presto log. These go into a smoke generator with a tube on the side so you can load 8 hrs worth of pucks. The smoke generator feeds one puck on to a heating plate every 20 mins. In doing so these pucks are only burnt to the point of charcoal and then it is pushed by the next puck into a bowl with water. This extinguishes it. The thing is that when wood burns beyond charcoal it starts to produce tars and the carcinogens that are not good for you and start to make the food taste bad, so with the Bradley you are only getting essentialy clean smoke without the bad stuff, which gives you a real nice smoke flavour.
I have been smoking fish with my dad since I was a kid and there was always this slight acrid flavour to it. We had a big smoker that we built 3'x3'x12' and we smoked those fish for 12 to 14 hrs. Well we grew up with that flavour and that was the normal way to smoke things. But then I heard about the Bradleys and when I read about the way the pucks just burn to charcoal, I knew what that acrid flavour was. So I got my bradley and the flavour is so much more enhanced and not overpowering. Plus the other things you can do is incredible.
Now back to the pucks, I don't want you to think I am fooling you or anything and I probably sound like a Bradley salesman, but I am not and this thing is adicting. The pucks are about $18 to $25 bucks a box depending where you buy them But that is 12hrs of smoke and you do not smoke anything that long . My salmon was smoked for 6hrs and that is the longest I have ever applied smoke to anything in the Bradley. The pork loin was only 2.5hrs, I did some chicken thighs stuffed with smoked cheddar wrapped in bacon. They were smoked for 1.5hrs and then I threw them on the barbecue to crisp the bacon for 10 mins. Oh and with a simple homemade attachment which dettachs the smoke generator from the smoke tower and then ducts the smoke up to the tower, you can cold smoke all kinds of things. Like I did cheese (old cheddar, mozzerella and german swiss). It was awesome. If you like salmon loks, then the cold smoke is the way to go. In fact I don't really like it, but I will eat raw salmon on sushi( go figure) but they have a recipe for Loks that I will be trying. If you go to the Bradley forum and just check it out, you will see how passionate these folks are about there smoked food. They are a great bunch of people and like best friends. They trade recipes and everyone takes pics of their latest smoke and tease each other. It is great. And there are people from all over the world with these Bradleys. One fella is from Jordan and a bunch from England, all down the states and across canada. There's a couple local guys and women are right into it also.
Now that I have blown off steam, how much fish do you have and how do you like it smoked. I personlly like a hot smoked fish with a dry brine made of course salt and brown sugar and some other spices thrown in. It comes out on the drier side but not dried out.

The saga continues tomorrow.

[Hopefull Romantic]

Hey Q, are you doing the Bradley "thing"; "COOK THEM LOW AND SLOW"??? ;D ;D ;D

HR

[classicrockgriller]

Q, interesting story, and I know from talking to you the passion you have for the Bradley, It's just hard sometimes not to tell someone about it.

PS. you got your typing lesson for the day in on this post. I'd be wore-out.

[ArnieM]

Hi cousin Q.  Boy, what are you doing for your next 1000 word essay?  ;D 

It looks like you might bring another one into the fold.  It'll be interesting to see the follow up.

I like sashimi but prefer tuna more than salmon - cut wafer thin with wasabi and tamari.

My local mart has wild-caught steelhead salmon fillets on sale this week for 6.99/lb.  I think I'll have to smoke up some of those.

[Quarlow]

me:Hi Bryan, Yeah times are tough all around.
he:Hey Colin
me:Yes it was the LCFL. I actually do smoked salmon a lot and I was also out on labour day at the "Stave river gong show". We kept 3 that were not to bad.
he:I haven't been much of a fisherman for most of my life.
he:My Dad took me out a few times as a kid but we never had much luck.
he:My wife and I have good friends who live in Mill Bay and 3 or 4 years ago they bought a property in Bamfield and built a small home, complete with wharf, and Jim set himself up with a magnificent 28' fish boat . . . fab set up . . . 9

he:They invited us over for the Lab Day long weekend two years ago and I managed to boat 5 salmon totalling about 80 pounds.

he:Here I just landed a 20+ pounder . . .

he:Here's my two prizes . . . a 23 and a 21 .

he:We got invited over again this past Lab Day . . . and I boated 5 keepers . . . actually boated about a dozen fish but there was a restriction on Coho so we had to release a bunch . . . still had a blast . . . although the fishing was actually "slow" over the weekend.
he:Here's this year's trophy . . . I think this one was another 23 . . .

me:Here is a pic of my last batch of smoked salmon.
(insert my pic of smoked salmon)
he:That looks mighty appetizing . . . and I bet it tastes better than it looks!
he:I don't think I took any pics of my smoking escapade . . . but here's a pic of a planked salmon I did on Father's day that turned out damn tastee . . .

me:It was 50 lbs my buddy got when he was in Uclulet on a fishing charter. Now my smoker is a 4 rack, but this was more than it would handle. So I had to borrow my brothers 6 rack. Mine will do 25 to 30 lbs of salmon. I also sent a pic of the stuff pork loin.
(insert my pic of stuffed pork loin)
he:That also looks damn tasty!

me:The big and little chief will hot smoke to a degree, but as far as cooking food I don't think it gets hot enough, and you have to be careful about getting your food hot enough to prevent it from spoiling while you are smoking, Plus your only heat source is the fire that is creating the smoke, and typicly you don't want as much smoke as it would take to cook in it.
he:Everything I have been reading sez the L/BC smokers are just for smoking . . . not for cooking.
me:The Bradley has a heating element it it so you can achieve over 300 degrees to effectivly cook anything. These guys are doing beer butt turkeys that look amazing and they are juicy. It also does real smoked almonds, as opposed to "Blue Diamond" almonds which are not even smoked they are roasted in an oven.
he:That sounds interesting as well.
me:Now as far as the price on these they are a little pricey but when you consider the you could almost get rid of the barbeque, they are a very good deal. That said the one like mine is $399. but I got mine free with my save-on foods points for 100,000 pts.
he:Gonna have to check and see how points the missus has! Hmmm . . . just checked . . . 68K . . . not that far off . . . hmmmmm . . . free with 100K . . . or $259 + 15K points . . . and I have a Xmas coming up . . . gonna have to spend big time at SaveOn I guess!!!
me:I know you are cringing at the price and while I am at it, I will tell you that you have to use their wood to.
he:Yup . . . that's a pretty heavy hit if you have to buy one . . . 'specially when I was only thinking about spending 40 or 50 bucks for a good used B/LC! I understand there is also a digital model that is only a few dollars more that controls and regulates the temp . . . do you have any experience with the digital models?
me:Now the thing about the Bradley is that it uses what they call a "bisquette" which is 1/2" x 2 1/4" compressed wood puck like a mini presto log. These go into a smoke generator with a tube on the side so you can load 8 hrs worth of pucks. The smoke generator feeds one puck on to a heating plate every 20 mins. In doing so these pucks are only burnt to the point of charcoal and then it is pushed by the next puck into a bowl with water. This extinguishes it. The thing is that when wood burns beyond charcoal it starts to produce tars and the carcinogens that are not good for you and start to make the food taste bad, so with the Bradley you are only getting essentialy clean smoke without the bad stuff, which gives you a real nice smoke flavour.
he:Sounds like a slick system . . . I like the idea that you can set it to go . . . and leave it for 8 hours or whatever . . . until it is finished . . . and not have to be bothered with fiddling with it.
me:I have been smoking fish with my dad since I was a kid and there was always this slight acrid flavour to it. We had a big smoker that we built 3'x3'x12' and we smoked those fish for 12 to 14 hrs. Well we grew up with that flavour and that was the normal way to smoke things. But then I heard about the Bradleys and when I read about the way the pucks just burn to charcoal, I knew what that acrid flavour was. So I got my bradley and the flavour is so much more enhanced and not overpowering. Plus the other things you can do is incredible.
he:So does the Bradley produce a superior smoked salmon versus the Big/Little Chief output? That's my real bottom line question . . . which one produces the best results smoking?
me:Now back to the pucks, I don't want you to think I am fooling you or anything and I probably sound like a Bradley salesman, but I am not and this thing is adicting. The pucks are about $18 to $25 bucks a box depending where you buy them But that is 12hrs of smoke and you do not smoke anything that long . My salmon was smoked for 6hrs and that is the longest I have ever applied smoke to anything in the Bradley.
he:So what does 6 hours of smoke end up costing? If it's $18/25 for 12 hours . . . and you need 6 hours . . . then that is costing $9/12 per smoking operation . . . which is pretty expensive if you just want to do one item . . . say a batch of chicken wings for dinner or a beer baked chicken or some such . . . or am I missing something here? Do you use less smoke with fewer items . . . or is it the same regardless?
me:The pork loin was only 2.5hrs, I did some chicken thighs stuffed with smoked cheddar wrapped in bacon. They were smoked for 1.5hrs and then I threw them on the barbecue to crisp the bacon for 10 mins.
he:Tastee!
me:Oh and with a simple homemade attachment which dettachs the smoke generator from the smoke tower and then ducts the smoke up to the tower, you can cold smoke all kinds of things. Like I did cheese (old cheddar, mozzerella and german swiss). It was awesome. If you like salmon loks, then the cold smoke is the way to go. In fact I don't really like it, but I will eat raw salmon on sushi( go figure) but they have a recipe for Loks that I will be trying.
he:I'm not much on sushi or raw fish . . . so that's not something that I would be interested in.
me:If you go to the Bradley forum and just check it out, you will see how passionate these folks are about there smoked food. They are a great bunch of people and like best friends. They trade recipes and everyone takes pics of their latest smoke and tease each other. It is great. And there are people from all over the world with these Bradleys. One fella is from Jordan and a bunch from England, all down the states and across canada. There's a couple local guys and women are right into it also.
he:I did have a kwik peek over there . . . but haven't studied anything in detail yet.
me:Now that I have blown off steam, how much fish do you have and how do you like it smoked.
he:Well . . . I brought home five . . . cut a bunch up into steaks . . . and I think I cut another into fillets . . . and have 2 left whole that I am planning to smoke. I borrowed a friends LC two years ago and did my first batch that turned out not too bad . . . although perhaps a little too salty . . . and smoked a little too long resulting in a little too dried out . . . but damn . . . with an assortment of cheeses and crackers . . . and an ice cold beer . . . it sure tastes good!
me:I personlly like a hot smoked fish with a dry brine made of course salt and brown sugar and some other spices thrown in. It comes out on the drier side but not dried out.
he:That's what I used . . . rock salt and brown sugar . . . even added a touch of maple syrup . . . but in all honesty couldn't taste the MS in the final product. Great stuff Colin . . . thanks for all the info!
Best, Bryan

To this I will reply and then post it here.

[classicrockgriller]

my eyes are crossed

[Quarlow]

LOL CRG, you think that was something, get a load of this. If this guy doesn't buy a Bradley I will be literally a monkeys uncle.

Hi Bryan,I am not that much of a fisherman either. My dad built a 36' cabin cruiser when I was a kid, so we spent alot of time cruising the Georgia Strait. We did some fishing but it was mostly my dad and my older brother. Then when I was 17, I went out on our neighbors commercial troller. Then the next year I went out with his partner. I lived in Prince George for 6 yrs and did some fly fishing and a bit of supervised fishing with friends that knew what they were doing. I also got a bit of practice at tieing fly's. That is something I will take up again when time permits.
You are a very lucky guy to have a friend like the guy in Bamfield. Some of the folks(in fact probably almost all of them) would give there left nut to experience your trips and if the don't it is only cause they have done something like it. Alot of them are hunters and fisherman also. A lot of people pay alot of dough to take trips like that. Those are some sweet fish you caught.
As far as not taking any pics, that will have to change if you join the family( I mean the forum)LOL. Cause that is the cost of all their good advice.
That's some "Good Eats"pics. Oh yeah there seems to be a strong following of "Alton Brown" from the tv show "Good Eats", and well shh don't tell anyone but his is my hero too.
As for the "Little chief or Big" ya know they are good for what they were intended. I would not want to slight that smoker as I have eaten and helped to smoke a lot of fish on them. But the "Bradley" in souch a cut above it that you can't really compare them. They a great for taking camping or fishing cause the LC needs no power, but "Bradley" has a propane smoker you can take anywhere. Just needs a propane bottle and hook it to your car or boat battery and away you go.
Now if you can get one on the Save-on points" all the better even if you just use 15,000 points, at $259. that's still a hell of a deal. Knowing what I know now I would even pay full price for one.
About the digital model, that is what my bro' has. Only his is the 6 rack digital. These are nice but, I'll tell you what is going to happen with my Original 4 rack, I will be buying what is refer to as a PID. This is a digital temperature controller that just happens to hook right up to the "Bradleys". It is actually a step above the "Bradleys" digital controller because you can set temperature changes to when you want (sorry Brian).
OH Brian is the main man at "Bradley" which by the way their head office is right here on Annacis Island. And he monitors the "Bradley" forum as much as possible to help anyone that is having troubles.
You will never find a better company to deal with than them. If you have any trouble the stand behind their equipment 100%. This is not just a business, it's their life. They use their smokers so they no what their talking about. When I got mine from Save-on's there was a problem with it. Save -on's said to call the company cause the were local. I did and they said to come over and they wolud look at it. I figured "here is my next war" but when I got there, they sent me around the back to have the shipper look it over. He looked at it and then disappeared for only about 5 mins. When he came back they gave me a brand new one and let me keep the smoke generator from the original one. That is about $100 cdn.
Another mod that the forum members have come up with and you can buy the kit, is to add racks to double what is there.
You ask about the superiority of the smoke, Yes away superior smoke cause as I said before, you are getting clean smoke with no tars or carcinogens, and no acrid flavours. I will probably be sued by Little Chief for all this. But that facts are the fact. And all these folks on the forum can't be wrong. Some of them have invested considerable expense just to house their smokers and to set them up to the ultimate smoking rig. To the point of these being a shrine in their backyards.
Next is the cost of the smoke. Like I said before, You don't smoke most things all that long. A batch of chicken wings you woul smoke for 1hr. and the let them cook in the smoker till they are done to perfection. This worked out to be $1.50 to $2.00.Your looking at around .50c a puck. My stuffed pork loin was only in the smoker for 2 1/2 hrs. It was just something that I came up with out of this and that and I didn't know how long it would take. Somethings smoke for along time, like Pork butts which can take 18 to 26 hrs. Now I am not sure how long they smoke these of the top of my head but you are also looking at a substantial investment in time and money. They will do 4 or 5 of these in on shot either for large gatherings or they freeze the rest. So $20 or $30 bucks worth of smoke is nothing when you think about it. As for more or less smoke, it doesn't matter how much you put in it( to with in reason) but 2 lbs of chicken wings takes as much smoke as 15 lbs.
As for the Bradley forum, Hang out in the background till you are comfortable. I checked it out for 6 months till it sunk in that this was more than just a fish smoker. What can I say, I am a little slow eh.
So just think what it would be like, You have smoked some real nice cheese, oysters, salmon and that's just the appetizers. Then you pull out the pulled pork and barbecue sauce, some nice buns and coleslaw (all of which you got from the forum recipe book online) everyone at your dinner party are raving about the food and when they leave, the bastards have eaten everything. That is a successful party. There I go sounding like a salesman again. By the way I have been posting our e-mails on the forum and they all say the same thing. I am very passionate about this thing. It's a monster and very addicting.
Hey if you want you could brine those fish up and I would show you how this thing( ha some of these folks even name them) works and then smoke them up for you. If you are not interested after that, well there has to be something wrong with you, LOL, just kidding. That is how strongly I feel about it. Believe me, you will have a good time with a "Bradley" and get years of enjoyment out of it. There, I sound like a salesman again. I am going to have to talk to Brian about a payroll or something.
So if you are interested give me a phone call.

[classicrockgriller]

well if he doesn't buy one you'll be smokin his uncle's monkey

[Quarlow]

Ok CRG that was sick, but damn funny.ROFLMAO.

[classicrockgriller]

good talkin to ya

[ArnieM]

Hi cousin.  Do you mind if I call you CQ?

Any more news on this yet?  So far, it sounds like you might be able to turn it into a reality show or at least a short story.

[classicrockgriller]

I hope CQ didn't talk him to death.

[Quarlow]

Yo Arnie CQ is fine, but just for cousins and close friends eh. I am just about to check my e-mail now.

[pensrock]

Wow, you guys sure must like to type. My hands hurt just looking at all that.  ;D

Sure makes me wish I had a typing course in school. Back then it was mainly offered to the girls and most boys would not have taken it even if it was offered.  :) Times sure have changed. I get by with two fingers on each hand.  ;D ;D

[HawkeyeSmokes]

I think our buddy CQ has become the NEW BILLY MAYS of the Bradley Smoker! And that's a good thing.  ;D