Looking to buy a smoker and would like some advice

[dood56]

Hello all. I am looking to getting into smoking and would like some advice on what to get. I have been looking at the Bradley Original Smoker, the Bradley Digital Smoker, and the Masterbuilt Digital smoker. I will be making food for 3 people regularly. I would like to smoke basic meat, turkey, and fish. I am concerned about the cost associated with the bisquettes since it seems like it will get expensive compared to wood chips. However, I am more concerned with the quality of the smoked food. Is the extra cost worth it? I have never smoked before and looking to get some experienced opinions so I make the correct purchase the first time. I live in North Carolina and would be smoking year round. Is the Bradley something I can use in my garage or do I have to use it outside. I appreciate any assistance offered!

[Quarlow]

Hello Dood56 and welcome to the forum. As for the cost of smoking when you figure it out in comes out to around $1.25 an hour. That is not a lot to me. You have to understand that with the bradley you don't smoke for hours and hours. Most things only smoke for 1.5 to 2 hrs. A pork butt which cooks for 14 to 20 hours only gets 3 to 4 hrs of smoke. That to me is not a lot of money for the best damn tasting food you ever ate.

[FLBentRider]

W E L C O M E  to the Forum dood56!

I have an Original Bradley Smoker. I have not owned a masterbuilt, I cannot speak to that comparison.

For me, the cost of the bisquettes is not really an issue, since in comparing it to the brinkman I had before the "maintenance" was much higher in cost to me.

I think it works out to about $1.00 an hour to run the smoker. I put four hours of smoke on most things.

The smoke that the Bradley produces is cleaner - since the pucks are extinguished before the bitter stuff gets generated.

I am a Satisfied Bradley customer.

but even if you get the Masterbuilt you are still welcome here!

[classicrockgriller]

welcome dood, Quarlow is exactually right on the money.

Good Luck in your decision.

[Quarlow]

Sorry I had to go answer the phone. As for which one to by I am sorry but I can not recomend anything other than the Bradleys as I have never used any others and for me the Bradleys are the best. Which model to buy is not to hard to figure out, but you need to answer some questions. Do you think you will want to smoke salmon and make smoked sausage and stuffed meats like that or are you just going to be smoking simple for yourselves. Will you smoke food for large partys or not. If you are just going for simply smoking for yourselves and no big partys or gatherings then you can probably manage with a 4 rack digital. But if you think you will do smoked salmon, pork butts and briskets that take along time then you might want a 4 rack original and add a PID to it. A PID is a temperature controller that plugs into your Bradley and gives you better temp control and also allows you to program strategic temp changes at critical times so as to produce nice finished food. If you are going to do sausages and salamis and stuff like this then you probably want a 6 rack which only comes in a digital and you may want to add the PID to that cause sausages don't like to much temp swings or you get whats called fatted out and you won't enjoy your product.

[ArnieM]

Hi dood.  Welcome to the forum.  I don't think many people here would recommend the Masterbuilt  ;D

My cost comes out to about $1.26/hour for the bisquettes plus electricity.  The smoke is quality smoke, therefore shorter smoking times.

Quarlow summed it up pretty well as to which unit and such.  I have the OBS and it works quite well.  Bradley customer service is second to none.

[dood56]

Well, I can definitely say I will be using brisket. When I lived in Texas, my wife and I came to absolutely love brisket. Salmon is another item we enjoy, but we have not tried anything smoked yet. As far as sausage is concerned, we would probablly just be cooking stuff bought from the store. In time, it may be something we would get into, but I assume when you are talking sausage, you are talking the raw stuff like you would make from deer meat. I appreciate the assistance on the cost factor. I was under the impression you were running the smoker for 7 or 8 hours and you could see how that would drive costs up. Any other inputs are greatly appreciated, but thus far the Originial with a PID sounds like my cup of tea. I am familiar with how a PID works since I have something similiar set up on my kegerator. I appreciate the responses!

[classicrockgriller]

Aawwww, a kegerator and a Bradley! Now that's livin!

[squirtthecat]

Aawwww, a kegerator and a Bradley! Now that's livin!

Yeah, you'll fit right in around here!

Go with the Bradley OBS + PID, you won't be disappointed.

[dood56]

The only problem is, I have a leak somewhere and my homebrew is not carbing. I hope to have that fixed this week and would like to enjoy a cold one with some pulled pork this weekend. That is why I am looking for some advice.

[Quarlow]

Yeah the money you save on buying the OBS(original Bradley Smoker=4 rack analog temp control) is well worth the cost for the PID. It just makes for a well rounded package. With smoked salmon you want to start with a lower temp and then ramp the temps up as things progress and the same with sausage. Briskets and pork butts, you benefitfrom the PID as you can set it up and then don't have to babysit the thing. For me in a perfect world I would have an analog 6 rack with a PID, but the world isn't cause they don't make a 6 rack analog. I would like to have the 6 rack for doing large loads of smoked salmon but at least I can borrow my bro's 6 rack digital. I usually do 30 to 40 lbs of salmon at a time. Well good luck with what you choose and any more questions just fire away.

[classicrockgriller]

All I can tell you is that I have not had a bad meal from the Bradley.

I live in Texas and "usually' don't have to fight the cold.

There are several members that have a home for their Bradley in the Garage with vent systems for venting the smoke outdoors.

There are several members that have taken a utility cabinet and insulated it and smoke outdoors in the negative degree temps.

If the OBS is the one you want, Amazon has it for $288 and free shipping to your house.

If you have anymore questions just ask. This forum is got some really talented people that love to help.

[JT-MO]

I will list a few pluses I have seen or personally experienced and then you can compare with others.

OBS + PID is a great setup, but even the OBS is nice by itself.
I have a PID cause I don't want to fuss with a temp slider trying to get it dialed in to what I need.

This awsome forum, but it is for anyone regardless of your equipment.

The stuff I have seen here on this forum regarding the bradley support is just mind blowing. The service these guys & gals get from bradley with issues they may of had is top notch. I never had any issues with my bradley, so I never got to deal with support, but I feel better knowing they are great.

Clean smoke, and you only smoke for maybe 4 hours top on an item (depending on size, type, etc..).
So cost isn't as high as one would think, it's not like you need a lot of pucks to do a dinner. Twelve pucks will give you 4 hours of smoke (look into bubba pucks as well, more on that can be found on this forum).

I have used my bradley twice since christmas, and using it is simple, clean up is easy, the food that comes out of it is great.

I use mine outside on the front porch which has an overhang and some wind protection. But I have seen some nice setups where people have them in the garage with a vent hood, etc.. If interested look on this forum and you will find a few ideas.

I have never used a masterbuilt smoker so I can't say anything about them.

[Caneyscud]

Never owned a Masterbuilt, but have or do own several smokers - 6 or 7 at last count.  No gas ones and no electric ones except the Bradley (the Traeger I don't consider an electric).  They all cost to run and they all seem to cost about the same.  It'll cost me $15 to $20 in charcoal and store bought wood to do a  smoke in one of the bigger stickburners or it will cost me  $5 to $8 in a Bradley.  Traeger willl be $8 to $15.  Of course the stickburners can cook a much greater amount of food for that greater cost in fuel. 

The rest of the guys got ya covered.

[Quarlow]

My apologies, I sometimes forget that others will read this looking for advice on what to buy. For the record I want to say that all of the Bradley smoker's do an excellent job on their own and you do not have to have other peripherals to enjoy great success at smoking food. I personally do not have anything other than an OBS and I turn out great food with it all the time. I will say that I will be adding a PID when funds permit but this is a personal choice and not something that is a must have with in my personal opinion "The Best home smoker ever produced" which stands alone to produce the best quality smoked goodies. The customer service received from Bradley's team is second to none and that is a rare thing to get in this day and age of the disposable world we live in. With Bradley's fine service and quality products you will enjoy many, many years of good results with your Bradley choice. The addition of other components only enhance the outstanding results you will get from your Bradley smoker. This is not meant to be a commercial for Bradley's, but I feel in my enthusiasm I may have cause somewhat of a disservice to them and others by leading them to believe they needed to add costly components in order to make this smoker a viable choice. This is so far from the Truth and let me so bold as to say that you won't find many folks who have knowledge of this product that will say otherwise. My apologies to you and the good folks at "The Bradley company" if I have lead anyone astray.