new bradley owner

[Seahawk]

hello I'm new too this forum and have a couple of questions.


1.what is a good temperature to smoke salmon with the Bradley smoker for woodsmoke and  what is the correct procedure for preheating the smoker? and do i need to turn on the smoker and the oven for preheating.

[Quarlow]

Hello Seahawk and welcome to the forum. I  smoke my fish at around 170 to 180f. As for wood that is a matter of taste, I like alder and apple.
Mesquite-Very strong
Hickory-strong
Oak-strong but not overpowering
Pecan-mild version of Oak
Maple-Mild
Cherry-Mild & fruity
Apple-Mild, fruity with a slight sweetness
Alder-Light with a hint of sweetness

And you don't need to smoke it the whole time either, I like lots of smoke so I will give it 4 hrs and then just let it cook till its done. Thats alot of smoke. The Bradley gives very concentrated smoke so even something like a pork butt that cooks for up to 24 hrs only gets 4 to 5 hrs of smoke.
You want to preheat the smoker with the element on and the puck burner too. It will help get the temp up, and let it heat for about an hour. Also get a couple of nice bricks and wrap them with tin foil and keep them inside. I put one on the bottom next to the water bowl and the other I set on the v-tray or on the first rack if it is not in use. They act as a heat mass so that when you open it for whatever reason your tower temp will recover quickly.
Oh and contrary to what you might think keep that vent open. 1/2 to 3/4 all the time and for poultry wide open.

[Seahawk]

thanks for the advice quarlow but one more question after the hour of warm up do you then add the smoker pucks prior to adding the fish.

thanks for all you help.

[Quarlow]

Yeah put them in just before you put the fish in. Some guys will add the smoke 20 mins before but I think you just lose all the smoke when you are putting the fish in so about 5 mins before load your pucks and then advance them till your first one is on the burner and give it 5 minutes, then stick your fish in bing,bang, boom and "Roberts your fathers brother"(bob's your uncle).

[Habanero Smoker]

An alternative method of smoking salmon is following the method Kummok uses. His smoking/cooking method is in section #5 of the following link.
Alaskan Smoked Salmon

Also located on the recipe site.

Alaskan Smoked Salmon

This link is full of tips and trouble shooting ideas.
Bradley FAQ's

Oh! And welcome to the forum.