Hello from Sunnyvale

[mhoy]

Didn't know what to get my wonderful wife for her birthday. Suggested a number of things, and guess what, she wanted a smoker! I didn't think we wanted to get out of bed to add charcoal and so an electric smoker seemed the way to go. This forum along with comments on Amazon.com suggested that the Original Bradley was a unit that we could likely achieve success with.

So here we are and a Original Bradley Smoker is set to arrive in a couple of days along with 60 assorted bisquettes.

I'm still trying to decide on which wireless temp. probe, the latest Maverick or perhaps you have some suggestions? Are dual probes necessary/really useful?

Is there anything else that would be handy for an aspiring set of low and slow cooks?

BTW: My wife had some candies smoked salmon from the Cod Father in Kelowna, Canada. If anyone can point me in the right direction for a recipe I'd be grateful.

Thanks in advance, (a very civil forum from what I've been reading so far).

Mark

[La Quinta]

Hey Mark...Welcome...I have a Maverick but I think there are a lot of members you can get info from about the latest temp gadgets...

anyhoo...

I think it's great the your wife wanted a smoker for her birthday!!! Gives you both an opportunity to smoke stuff together...it is quite fun really!!! I gave a Bradley to my Mom for her 70th birthday...she loves it!!!    We chicks are the smokers in our family!! My Dad and my husband just eat and drink!!!

[kinyo]

Welcome to the forum!!

Congrats on your purchase, you'll love her new smoker!  :D

[watchdog56]

Welcome and enjoy your new toy. As far as a thermometer I have a Maverick ET 73. I can have one probe in the meat and the other monitors the chamber. Some people have had issues getting a signal in their house but I use my smoker outside on the deck and in the winter have it in the garage. I can take my thermometer anywhere in the house and get a signal so have not done the mod for the antenna.

As far as salmon goes you want to go to the fish area of this board and click on Kummoks recipe-it is great.

Only other thing you might want to get if you plan on doing fish and sausage is a PID from Auber industries. The temps in the Bradley can swing +/- 10 degrees and that is to big to control temps. The PID will allow you to control temps +/- 2 degrees. Especially when making sausage you do not want to get the temp over 180 or your meat will fat out and make your sausage dry.You can go to Auberin.com to get your PID. I have the plug and play unit that goes for about $150. Great tool for smoking.

[smoker pete]

Welcome to the forum Mark.  Don't be afraid to ask any questions.  We all love to share and will work to help you out.

You might want to check out the following site which has a ton of info and many time tested and proven recipes from our members.  There is also a lot of info there for Bradley Smoker FAQ, Curing, Recipes, Brining, Rubs, Salmon, Chicken, Pork, Beef, Fish, etc.  Makes for great reading!!!  We also love pictures ... "No pics, didn't happen" ;D ;D

http://www.susanminor.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?180-Our-Time-Tested-and-Proven-Recipes

Sunnyvale ... would that be Sunnyvale, CA?  If so there are a number of members from the Bay area.  I for one am about 70 miles East of SF.

[schneep]

Welcome Mark,
I am a somewhat newer member and let me tell ya, these people will help and guide you through anything. I do salmon quite regular and the Kummok recipe is super, also as all ready stated, get your self a pid, some frog mats for your racks and you're in super business.

One word of warning, your life as you know it will never be the same!!   It will smell like smoked food and you will be enjoying some of the finest eats around.

[TestRocket]

Welcome Mark (and your wife) and I and many others think you got your wife a great birthday present. Happy Birthday too!

I have both the ET73 and the dual probe PID and I am very happy. I also added the second element and switch and I'm happy with that also. But I suggest learning and asking questions before you go to deep because everyone has different needs and expectations and all the help you could ever need is but only a question away!

Glad to have the both of you aboard!  ;D

[mhoy]

Yep, Sunnyvale, CA (I should have added the CA).   Thanks for all the tips and the warm welcome.  I need to turn on notifications via email.

I also roast my own coffee beans and tonight there was an espresso bean bbq rub on TV that looked very yummy....

Mark

[Smokin Soon]

Hey Mark, welcome to a fun place. I'm just across the bridge in Union city. Roasting your own coffee beans... Way cool! Cruise around here a bit, and the recipe site so you won't be surprised about cooking times and the like. My wife thought she would use our Bradley, but when she found out low and slow cooking cannot deliver an exact promise time, she gave up. Happy Smoke!  ;D

[SouthernSmoked]

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

http://www.susanminor.org

Remember we like pic's!!

[mhoy]

Whoo hoo, it's arrived!!!  Just finished assembling it, (not that there is much to putting it together). Darn there are a couple of small cracks around a mounting screw in the plastic on the bottom piece, nothing critical looks broken though.   Pity there wasn't a sample of bisquettes with it as the box of 60 are going to arrive TOMORROW!!!! (ordered at the same time too.... and I had today off).

Guess I'll have to figure out how to upload pix soon!

Mark

[mhoy]

It did happen!! Picture evidence of our smoker!


Finished seasoning it for 5 pucks worth, now to get down to business...

First smoke is a rather small beef brisket (1.5 lbs) with a dry rub at 225 F.

5 smoke bisquettes
1 mesquite
3 apple
1 mesquite
2 pushers

Forgot to take a picture as I loaded it up, but here it is smoking away.  System seems pretty easy so far. Looking forward to getting my Maverick ET-732 to be able to monitor this from in front of the TV/Computer screen.  :D




Mark

[Bradley (Head Office)]

Hi Mark

Darn there are a couple of small cracks around a mounting screw in the plastic on the bottom piece, nothing critical looks broken though

Give the Customer service department a call at 1-866-508-7514 they can arrange to send you a new Face Plate.


PS Welcome to the Forum.

Brian.

[Keymaster]

Aweome Mark, thanks for posting the pictures!!!

[mhoy]

 For the rub I started with a recipe on the net and changed it up with some coriander, cinnamon, cumin and cayenne.

Coffee Rub
2 tablespoons freshly ground coffee
2 tablespoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons paprika
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon coriander
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Tiny 1.5 lb beef brisket (with not enough fat, but nice marbling), 1 3/4 hours at 225 F, end temp 170 F (couldn't wait for 190 F as everyone was getting rather hungry). Rested for 15 minutes in some beef broth.

Yummy, my wife and the kids (7 & 9) and I loved the smokey goodness.



Looks pink, but it didn't stay this way for long.


All that was left...


Thank you all for the great posts that led me to a Original Bradley Smoker!

Mark and family.