New to the Bradley scene, not to smoking - basic question

[Doc BBQ]

I bought an OBS on black friday via amazon.com - was delivered on Tuesday!
No extra discount, (but still a great price of $252 delivered) just a coincidence.

There weren't really any instructions on how to begin - possibly because it's that easy, but I'm not sure.
When I plugged the unit in, I already had the bisquettes loaded in the chimney. That was wrong?
Every 20 minutes a new bisquette is loaded and the old moves closer to the water bowl of death.

Where are these bisquettes burning? Inside the smoke generator where it cannot be scene or in the second or third
position (where the fourth position appears to be water bowl time)?
Should I have turned the unit on, let it get to temp (225'ish) and THEN load the bisquettes?
Looking for some basic info - thanks in advance for the reply.

[KevinG]

They burn on the last position before falling off into the water bowl. Most people do pre-heat the smoker before loading and turning on the smoke generator because the temp will drop when you put the load of meat in.

[RAF128]

You're right.   The burner is the last stop before they take the plunge.   Letting the smoker warm is a good idea.  
Did you not get instructions with the smoker.    They tell you to season the smoker before the first use.   You should also was the racks and the v-tray.  
Last piece of initial advise is to hang around here.    Plenty of help if you need it.   Any questions, ask away.

[lumpy]

Crank that bad boy up and you will see what gets hot, and teach you not to touch these spots (like we have all done :D).

[KevinG]

And where are my manners ??? Welcome to the forum! Oh there is a little trick a lot of us do to help to keep the temp from dropping too far with a big load of meat, and that's to put in a couple of foil wrapped bricks in the bottom of the smoker to help retain the heat.

[ArnieM]

Hi Doc and welcome to the forum.  Congrats on your purchase.

If, by some chance. you didn't get an owner's manual, you can find it here:  http://www.bradleysmoker.com/pdf/Bradley%20Booklet%206-08.pdf

You can find recipes and more info here:  www.susanminor.org.

[Doc BBQ]

Thank you  both for the quick response(s).  Sadly, I apparently only half-read page 8 of the owner's manual that answered my questions. Well, I guess we will learn later this afternoon what an unseasoned unit with unwashed racks will yield. I was (and am) too excited to read about this stuff!

I am using this indoors (venting it out my 1350 cfm hood in the kitchen - set very low btw). The temperature has only reached 85' C after 30 minutes of preheating, placing the meat inside, and leaving it closed for the last hour. My vent on top of the unit is half open, the Temperature Heat Control Switch is slid to full power (all the way to the right). Am I being too impatient or should I be concerned it has not reached a higher temperature by now?

I just added a remote probe/thermometer inside the unit to verify the temperature - it's up to 202'F. Maybe I shouldn't rely on the thermometer poking out the door.

[FLBentRider]

W E L C O M E  to the Forum Doc BBQ!

[watchdog56]

Welcome to the forum. I hope your smoke alarm works. Inside the house-hmm interesting.

[KevinG]

I'd hope the 200 is more likely the temp, sounds like the door thermometer might not be right. If you open the door and it's a heat wave, then you'll know which is right, but you don't want to do that often because like I said earlier recovery takes a long time. You might want to verify with another thermometer if you have one.

[SouthernSmoked]

Congratulations on your purchase and welcome to the forum...Enjoy!

http://www.susanminor.org

Remember we like pic's!!

[SoCalBuilder]

Welcome aboard Doc. The door thermometers seem to be notoriously inaccurate, but mine actually seems fairly accurate. The hot spot in the Bradley is at the back where the heater is and rises up the back (physics... Go figure?) I saw what you had loaded on another thread and I think most people would tell you to just open that vent all the way. I, like others never touch the vent. The ribs and thighs you're smoking don't require extended cooking times, but when you get around to pork shoulders and brisket, you may want to look at investing in a PID unit for temp. control.

Just keep reading this forum. It's the best education you can get.

[Habanero Smoker]

Hi Doc;

Welcome to the forum.

The following links has a lot of information:
Bradley FAQ's
Recipes

[TMB]

Hi Doc and welcome.   

After hitting Tenpoint5 up for info before doing my first cook in my OBS, he told me to let the unit warm up and turn the smoke generator on for about 20 min's then feed my pucks in.  This was dang good info and I think ya' should give it a try. 

[RossP]

Welcome to the forum, the guys seem to have you covered.

Ross