Wear and Tear on the Bradley Smoker

classicrockgriller · October 06, 2011, 05:44:13 PM

It doesn't have to be stored inside, but I would at least take the smoke generator in

and cover the smoker with a Bradley cover.

mikecorn.1 · October 06, 2011, 06:10:54 PM

Mine stays outside covered but the generator stays in garage ways from the humidity down here by the
Gulf of Mexico.

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mrphilips · October 06, 2011, 06:31:21 PM

cover it up same as the barbeque, eh?
sounds good.
trying to talk myself out of buying one. sorta. sorta not... :)
have to think about the half-year it'll be in snow.

not that the texans don't know what they're talking about when it comes to smoking, but any northerners out there with OBS vs snow stories?
it gets 2' deep and minus 15 here in toronto (C... not sure what that is at F, lol)

Quarlow · October 06, 2011, 06:39:46 PM

No sweat Mr.phil, we gots guys on here that leave theirs out all year with as much or more snow as you get in your neck of the woods. You should be fine. But we do need to be careful when we cold smoke cheese in december. It tends to get real hard after a few hours.v ;D ;D ;D

mrphilips · October 06, 2011, 06:42:10 PM

aw, man!
now i'm gonna have to buy one... ;)

(and leave the BPS at the cottage, criminy, it's a lot of work)

Quarlow · October 06, 2011, 07:04:28 PM

Congrats on your new smoker Mr.phil ;D ;D You are going to love it. LOL

Habanero Smoker · October 07, 2011, 02:14:43 AM

If it is the OBS you can store it outside with the generator 24/7 with only the cover. As far as snow, after each snow storm, I brush the snow off. You don't want snow to build up at the base of the smoker. If you don't clear the snow away from the base it tends to work it's way under the cover, and on a sunny day will begin to melt, and there is a possibility of water working it's way inside the temperature controller. Also in the winter you don't want to place the smoker where it will be under hanging ice.

One thing that I do in the winter that I don't during warming months; before turning on the smoker I make sure that the generator is off. I allow the cabinet warm up, thus warming up the generator a bit before I turn the generator on.

classicrockgriller · October 07, 2011, 03:39:35 AM

If it were mine, I'd bring the generator inside.

Habanero Smoker · October 08, 2011, 01:44:48 AM

Quote from: classicrockgriller on October 07, 2011, 03:39:35 AM
If it were mine, I'd bring the generator inside.

I find there is no reason to, but either way gives the actual user more information so that s/he can determine which way s/he want to choose. I have stored my OBS with the generator outdoors for 7 years on my deck with just the cover and only had minor issues with the generator that had to do with regular maintenance.

mrphilips · October 08, 2011, 08:31:56 AM

well guys, all i can add is by repeating what brian told me himself. yes - THE brian.
a quotes from a seperate email thread from him:

"most covers including ours are NOT WATER PROOF. they do a pretty good job of keeping the rain and snow off the smoker but I would still try and store it out of direct contact with the weather.

It is a good idea to bring the smoke generator inside during the winter the grease in the motor does not like to be frozen."

so add that to the posts, and i see that even those of you who don't baby your unit get at least seven good years, perhaps with a bit more maintenance. i can't say my barbeque fairs much better than that... out all year and maintenance on the internals every year - still having to replace the burner in there every 3 or so.

so it's a rugged thing. bringing the generator inside (which is small enough to be hidden some where inb a closet, i'm sure) is just even more effective.

i'll get a properly fit cover and use it... prop it up on a milk crate to keep it off the ground (or build a frame of wood to go aorund the bottom to stop that buildup of ice which will get undeneath)... maybe utilize garbage bags and duct tape under the cover, or some sort of weather seal for the depth of the season... gonna get home-depot on it's ass. i'll probably play rock music while i do it and wear cool jeans.

then im gonna take all that stuff off and fricken smoke something. it IS saturday.

Habanero Smoker · October 09, 2011, 01:52:28 AM

I'm on my third cover, all were waterproof, and the last cover I purchased, which was in the fall of 2010; the material seemed thicker and better made. When hurricane Irene came through and dumped 6" of rain in less then 24 hours, my smoker remained dry.

Unless they have changed the material the cover is made of, there may be some small leaks at the seams. But with any cover that has sewed seams, you need to seal the seams with with a sealer that you can purchase for any camping supply store. But even if you don't seal the seams, the leaks are minor. Though I do remember my first cover developing small pinholes in various areas.

The reason I'm on my third is that one winter I place the cover over the smoker while it was still warm. That caused condensation to form under the cover. The next time I tried to remove the cover it was frozen to the smoker. Rather then wait and let the smoker warm up a bit, I tried to get the cover off and ripped it. The second, I had the Bradley too close to the house and over hanging ice crashed into the smoker ripping the cover, and some minor damage to the vent.

When you use garbage bags, you need the construction size bags, which are around 33 to 35 gallons, or plastic leaf bags.