Opinion on Bradley

mlebwill · November 28, 2005, 04:47:02 AM

Hello,

I'm finally giving in and I'm about to abandon my charcoal smoker. Don't get me wrong - I love my Weber Smokey Mountain, it puts out a 1st rate product. The problem that I have is the amount of work involved, constantly monitoring the temp (very difficult in snow) and I'm getting too old to stay up all night watching smoke.

So, after quite a bit of research - I think the Bradley is up my alley. The biggest reservation, besides going electric, is the capacity; the dimensions seem small and the pictures I have found don't really help.

I would love to be able smoke four (8 -10 lb) pork butts or 4 - 6 (3-4 lb) salmon filets at once. Is this possible, I have seen some mention of max weight etc...

Also cold smoking is very intriguing to me and I would like to try that if I am converting to electric - can it be done in the Bradley?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Mike

SMOKEHOUSE ROB · November 28, 2005, 02:01:56 PM

mike welcome to the forum, no problem, i have done 4 8lb pork butts at one time took about 20 hours, salmon filets not a problem . the bradley will hold 4 racks plus 4 more inverted, click on the thing below and will see a load of bacon i did 40lbs one shot, yo will be very happy,

iceman · November 28, 2005, 10:08:52 PM

Smokehouse Rob is right. The Bradley can handle the load you mentioned. I think once you've played with these things a little you'll wonder what took you so long. Many of us have taken the generator and put it on a custom cabinet to get the size we wanted. A few of us have had problems with the smoke generator but we are well into the fix on them. Bradley has a one year replacement if you have a problem so I would say go for it. Cold smoking is a neat thing to get into also. Enjoy.

charlie · November 28, 2005, 11:53:57 PM

The Bradley is great....good taste, simple to use. It does take some work to keep the temperature down though when cold smoking. I put ice cubes in a bowl on the bottom rack, that seems to cool down the smoke enough.

Chez Bubba · November 29, 2005, 01:26:53 AM

Mike,

The ease of use is the reason we became dealers for the Bradley. I've owned a lot of different smokers during the past 20 years and all of them required constant attention. I don't have that kind of time anymore. After using it a few times, I feel free to mow the grass, watch a game or go to the store without worrying that my meal will be ruined.

Anymore, I smoke my butts (4 at a time if they're 8+, or 8 at a time if they're small 5#) overnight so I sleep through the majority of the cook. You have to time things right, but it can be done.

Don't worry about the quality of the food electric-vs-charcoal. The convenience factor had me ready to accept 90% as good and in my experience, it's 99% as good.

Kirk

http://www.chezbubba.com
Ya think next time I check into a hotel & they ask "Smoking or Non?" they would mind?

mlebwill · November 29, 2005, 03:12:23 AM

Thanks everyone - your comments are very helpful. I'm sold - but does anyone have any advice how to tell my wife that I'm about to buy my 3rd smoker and spend quite a bit of money?

I'm thinking I need to buy myself a Christmas present - but that was last years excuse.

Thanks again.

Mike

tsquared · November 29, 2005, 03:33:02 AM

Mike-Have you used up your birthdays yet?[:D]
T2

Oldman · November 29, 2005, 11:00:25 AM

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><font size="2"> but does anyone have any advice how to tell my wife that I'm about to buy my 3rd smoker and spend quite a bit of money?
</font id="size2"><hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">Yes I do. Explain to the Mrs. that smokin' is an evolution of learning. That the Bradley is nearing the end of your travels. That for the monies spent the return is on par with a commercial model.

Olds

iceman · November 29, 2005, 04:41:32 PM

The taste of your prize winning food coming out of the smoker then straight to your table was enough for me to get the bosses blessing to buy my bradley. After the first pulled pork and brisket dinner the comment from her was "what took you so long?". Then came the ribs, boy howdy was I the man! She brags about me now instead of me being a no good #!%%%## lazy boy. Ha! Ya gotta love it. Just set her down and tell her that it's just the way it's going to be! Then after you pick your self up off the floor make your way down to the nearest dealer and get yourself one. Enjoy.

JJC · November 30, 2005, 03:15:43 AM

Agree with all of the above . . . I would like to add that you would be quite remiss if you didn't STRONGLY CONSIDER getting your BS from Chez Bubba. The price is very competitive, the service can't be beat before during, and after the sale, and you get a lifetime 10% discount on pucks. If $$ is really the prime issue, get a scratch + dent unit from Chez--they're just as functional as the non-S+D units and the price can't be beat!

John
Newton MA