Greetings from Utah

babybacks · November 17, 2009, 02:42:45 PM

I've been poking around on this forum for a while, and thought it might be time to be more involved and create an account here. Thanks to many here, I've enjoyed some good barbecue over the last few years. I've had my Bradley 4 rack stainless since Christmas of 2006, and try to smoke at least once every 2 weeks, rain, snow or shine.

Perhaps this is how it is out west, but most people in my state (Utah) think barbecue is throwing a burger on the grill. It's been an uphill battle to educate the masses, but those who come over for dinner when the Bradley is fired up tend to learn quickly about true barbecue.

Unfortunately after almost 3 years of using my smoker, the heating element (or switch) went out last weekend (had to make the pulled pork in the oven, definitely not the same). I plan to take it apart tonight to diagnose the problem. Where is the best place to buy replacement parts, should I need them?

I have been slated to smoke the Thanksgiving turkey this year. Hopefully I can get it fixed soon, I don't want to have to settle for baking or deep frying the bird.

FLBentRider · November 17, 2009, 02:57:49 PM

W E L C O M E to the Forum babybacks!

You can get replacement parts from Bradley, and yardandpool.com carries some.

yardandlpool.com has the faceplate and the control board - http://www.yardandpool.com/Bradley-Smoker-Lower-Face-Plate-and-Control-Switch-p/faceplcomp.htm

As cold as it gets in Utah at least when I was there, you should be able to cold smoke the pork or turkey with just the smoke generator.

Then transfer it to the house oven.

babybacks · November 17, 2009, 03:22:38 PM

Thanks FLBentRider, that is a good point about cold smoking. I wish I would of thought of that with my pork butt last weekend, it was plenty cold, in fact it was snowing outside. If I can't get the replacement parts in time, hopefully it will be cold enough next week for the turkey.

Thanks for the tip on yardandpool.com, I'll have to compare prices with them and Bradley.

FLBentRider · November 17, 2009, 03:54:14 PM

Bradley may be shipping from Canada, although I think they have a warehouse operation stateside.

Yard and Pool is a great company to deal with.

I get 2 or three days of cold smoking weather a year....

JoeHifi · November 17, 2009, 06:05:30 PM

Welcome to the forum babybacks.

babybacks · November 18, 2009, 10:32:15 AM

I ordered the faceplate and switch through Bradley this morning (prices were a little better than yardandpool.com), they said it would be here in time for the Thanksgiving smoke. Nice.

I also ordered 2 extra back feet (to mount on the front) for the smoker to get the weight off the new face plate. Hopefully this will prevent the plastic from cracking in the future.

ArnieM · November 18, 2009, 10:50:11 AM

I had a cracked faceplate. Called Bradley on a Monday. The new faceplate arrived Thursday. Brian asked if I wanted the back feet to do the mod. I said "sure" so they threw those in too. Mine was still under warranty. Great service.

Good luck with your TG dinner.

babybacks · November 18, 2009, 12:08:50 PM

That is good service. Hopefully they will improve the design in future models so the faceplate doesn't crack, as it seems to be an all too common problem.

I had to pay for the back feet, but they were only $1.00 each, so no big deal. I can't remember who I spoke with from Bradley, but he didn't know about the mod, must not have been Brian.

classicrockgriller · November 18, 2009, 06:56:58 PM

bb, welcome to the forum and hope you come and visit and share some of you smokes with us.

Glad you are back on the road to smokin again.

muzzletim · November 20, 2009, 08:28:41 AM

Welcome to the forum, great bunch of people and lots of good solid tips about making things!

Hopefull Romantic · November 20, 2009, 08:34:07 AM

Welcome to the forum BB and glad to see that your troubles are behind you.

HR

KevinG · November 20, 2009, 10:02:03 AM

Welcome BB, get that thing workin so we can see some pics!

babybacks · November 25, 2009, 10:56:17 AM

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome, this is one of the more helpful forums I've seen with some very nice people.

And now for some bad news. I haven't received the parts I order last week, so I called Bradley yesterday to obtain a shipment tracking number. They said the extra feet I ordered were on back order, so nothing had been shipped. I didn't receive any notification of the back order, nor did they send the face plate separately. Shipping had already closed for the day so they could not overnight the shipping of the faceplate. So...basically I'm stuck on Thanksgiving eve with a turkey in the brine and a broken smoker. I'm quite frustrated to say the least. :'(

Bradley was very apologetic and offered to throw in a box of wood pucks. This was a nice gesture, but I'm still upset at the situation, seeing as I haven't figured out how I'm going to cook the bird. The faceplate should be here by Friday, but that doesn't do me much good for my current situation. Now I wish I would have ordered through Yard and Pool.

I'm quite frustrated with Bradley right now and needed a place to vent, hopefully you don't mind.

KevinG · November 25, 2009, 11:18:45 AM

Too bad to hear about your Bradley! Your bird isn't ruined yet, you can still cook it in the oven, on the grill or in a roaster. You just wont get the smoke. You might be able to pull off some smoke flavor by grilling and having some wood chips that were soaked in water placed in a foil boat put on the coals.

babybacks · November 25, 2009, 01:26:25 PM

Thanks Kevin. You're right, the bird isn't ruined, it just won't be nearly as succulent as it could have been.

My smoke generator still works, so I might try cold smoking it, then transfer it to the oven. My only concern with this is keeping the smoker temperature low enough (I don't have a cold smoke adapter) to keep the bird out of the danger zone. I'm thinking about packing the smoker with ice (in non leaking bags), and leaving the vent wide open. If anyone else has any advice on how to keep the temperature down, please let me know.

The other option is to deep fry, but I'm not too motivated to spend $50 on oil this year.