Hello all

[Swany777]

Hi all,

Just wanted to introduce myself.  Just got the original Bradley smoker this weekend and seasoned her up.  Sadly, the weather here in CT turned on me, so I haven't made any actual food yet.  It's killing me having it sit there just itching to be used.

Thanks for the advice provide so far as I've been lurking on your boards.  And thanks in advance for the info I'm sure I'll need going forward.

So, what will it be for the first run?  My vote is Ribs, the wife wants pulled pork....Both?  [:D]

Swany

[IKnowWood]

If you don't got a PID or controller, which you might not.  Go for he ribs first.  Give you something shorter than gives you some experience using the temperature slide.  If you don't got it, pickup a copy of Smoke & Spice, its great recipe book.

Now I said ribs, but I say that if you have done ribs before.  With ribs and the bradley is you have two things to watch.  How to cook and test and care for the smoking ribs (and knowing then they are done for FTC) as well as knowing how the Bradley works.

If this is to much, the pulled pork or a bacon wrapped chicken breast is better.  If you do a pulled pork, do a smaller one that you do not have to consider overnight cooking.  At least until you understand and have more experience in the Bradley.

[Swany777]

thanks for the quick reply.  I do have a digital meat remote thermometer, but it has only 1 lead for the actual meat.  So I'll probably end up picking up another of some kind to monitor the smoker temp.  When I seasoned the Bradley, I did notice there was some finesse to the slider bar.

Thanks for the tip on the book.  Bacon wrapped chicken- can't go wrong there I suppose.

[IKnowWood]

You will soon find you needs lots more things.  I had a good ET-71 single probe remote that has a good timer and functions real good.  Then later I got an ET-73 Smoker Thermo that had the smoker cab probe as well as another meat probe.  Then I had a Weber Remote probe.  AT imes I used three of them at once.  

I then ended up building a simple Temperature switch to reduce the temp slide movement and "Bradley Slide Stress" disorder. The switch allows me to work on other projects or other things and not have to monitor the smoker every few moments.

Good luck.

[BigSmoker]

Welcome aboard.  I'd go with a whole chicken 1st.  About a 4-5 hour cook @225f-250f and minimal investment money wise[;)].  Happy Smokin'

Jeff



Some say BBQ is in your blood, if thats true my blood must be BBQ sauce.

[SMOKEHOUSE ROB]

Swany777 welcome to the forum, stick to something quick and easy, bacon wraped chicken breast, then with the leftovers make chicken salad sandwhiches for lunch the next day, [;)]

[Arcs_n_Sparks]

Swany777,

Welcome to the forum. As you can see, everyone wants you to have a successful launch.[8D] Lots of threads with feedback on different foods and techniques. Using the slider, watch the temp until it settles. It will take awhile to get the feel of it.

Arcs_n_Sparks

[Swany777]

Thanks for all for the responses.  I'm waiting for a weekend with some half decent weather to get out there- they are talking about snow for CT this Friday.  

This is a great forum and I've got tons of tips already from reading various other posts.  I'll be sure to let you know how it goes when I fire this baby up.

[Oldman]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by SMOKEHOUSE ROB</i>
<br />Swany777 welcome to the forum, stick to something quick and easy, bacon wraped chicken breast, then with the leftovers make chicken salad sandwhiches for lunch the next day, [;)]
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">There are 4 wraps here: http://susan.rminor.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=35



Welcome to the Bradley world... [:D]

Olds

[Habanero Smoker]

Hi Swany777;

I'm about 100 miles NW of you. Did you get hit with that severe thunderstorm last evening?

The Friday snow forecast for this area have been downgraded to flurries with a high around 35 degrees. It's been a strange winter, you've been getting much more snow then we have, which is pretty unusual. This area is predicting windy conditions through the weekend, which presents a different set of problems. If you have the same forecast, you will need to protect the cabinet from the wind, or you will have a difficult time keeping the temperature up. For my area the weekend daytime highs are predicted to be in the mid-thirties.

Because of weather restraints, I would start off with something that does not take long, such as chicken; which has already been suggested. I've never did the bacon wrap chicken breast but they get good reviews. I prefer chicken thighs; cooked to an internal temperature of 165 degrees. They are easy to marinate, smoke relatively quick, and stay moist.

P.S.
I know you will be getting a welcome message for John (JJC); who is from the Boston area. He is trying to organize a North East smoke group.

[MallardWacker]

Dang OLDS you frustrate me, you make me hungry with those pics and right now I can't do anything about it.

Triple7,

WELCOME to the place of some of the nicest folks on the net.

Any of these answers are great.  I would do a butt, cheap, about 10.00 and it's very forgiving and plus it could make you look like king daddy for the day.  Just my .0165 cents worth here.  Bottom line...have fun and make some new friends.


SmokeOn,

mski
Perryville, Arkansas
Wooo-Pig-Soooie

If a man says he knows anything at all, he knows nothing what he aught to know.  But...

[begolf25]

Hey Swany777,

Welcome to the forum.  I am a new Bradley owner myself.  I started off with a pork butt that came out great.  It's pretty hard to mess one of those up.  Then I moved onto the chicken wraps Olds suggested.  Those were a huge hit with my family.  

The hardest thing for me was to not keep looking in at the food cooking.  You want to keep peeking and see how it is doing but leave that door closed.  Also, as stated above a digital meat thermometer is a must.  It makes life a lot easier.  I am waiting on some information from one of the forum members on their PID then I will also be adding one to my Bradley.  You sure are in the right place for great information.  These guys know what they are doing.  Best of luck.

Bryan
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The Yard and Pool Company
Click here for our complete line of BRADLEY SMOKERS & ACCESSORIES
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[Swany777]

Sounds like I'm going for the chicken this weekend.  The snow is downgraded, so looks like we have just sun and wind here in CT.  (the wind will just add an extra challege for my first attempt- but somehow I think I'll manage [:D]

As for a North East group, count me in.  I'm in the lower part of CT right now, but grew up in MA- so I'm usually bouncing around New England most of the time.

I've smoked pork butts in my Weber before- it turned out ok, but i had trouble getting good smoke, which is one of the things that lead me to the Bradley.

As for making new friends, I an almost guarantee the neighbors will be over once they catch a drift of whats coming from my yard.

[iceman]

Welcome and good luck on the first smoke Swany777. Remember, don't peak to much! Block the wind with some type of sheild if you can so you don't get the up and down swings on the temp. Your in for a real treat.[:p]

[Muskwa]

Welcome Swanny!

Muskwa