Greetings from Anchorage!

bigjimak · January 14, 2013, 11:39:47 PM

Howdy, all...

I received my BDS for Fathers Day and have had a couple dozen or so chances to use it to date. I've fixed turkey, a few prime rib roasts, a brisket, several (8-10#) batches of beef jerky, baby back ribs and a few others. In case you can't tell by now, I'm part polar bear. <g>

I've been eyeing the forums for a while now, planning an Auber, dual 500w heater and 2 fans mod. Yea.. planning. Living here in Alaska the extra heat seems particularly wise. Recovery time at +20F (or -20F) is mighty slow; it's a good thing I like low and slow cooking!! You have probably seen a few of my questions in the forum and will see more!!

Well, for Christmas eve at the in-laws I did a long, slow smoke/cook on a full New York strip, putting it in about 10pm for a 5pm dinner the next evening. About 3 hours of alder / maple / hickory blend, slowly bringing it to 140 and holding it there. The outer 1/4" was brown and the inner 3-4" was all a cooked but very reddish pink.. it was the hit of the party.

For Christmas it was a rib eye roast.. again, all good. For New Years I went to smoke another rib eye roast but the heating element wouldn't work, so it was cold smoke and then oven.

The other day I decided to start my diagnostics traced it down to zero continuity between the ends of the heating element. That gave me the excuse I needed. <g>

My Auber WSD-1503CPH (the 1800 watt model) arrived today, a pair of fan motors and 4 fans are coming from Grainger. Tomorrow I get off of my b*tt and get the heating elements, high temp sensors and a few more parts (my lower hinge and the plastic door bottom, plastic frame base are broken) on order and I should be pretty well set.

There's an old-fashioned butcher I've been going to for about 20 years who is fixing to get a lot more busy!!

Jim in Alaska

Ketch22 · January 15, 2013, 03:30:51 AM

Welcome to the forums :)

cackler69 · January 15, 2013, 05:13:26 AM

Wow.....as if I didn't already feel completely illiterate... :o .....I'll pay close attention and try to learn all this....I want to maxamize the potential ;D and master MY beast 8)

As I was welcomed so nicely, I also welcome you.

Mrs. C :-*

Keymaster · January 15, 2013, 06:46:58 AM

Welcome aboard :)

Tenpoint5 · January 15, 2013, 08:00:53 AM

Welcome Aboard! (Translated into Polar Bear = Welcome to the nuthouse!)

beefmann · January 15, 2013, 08:02:38 AM

Greetings and welcome aboard

bigjimak · January 17, 2013, 06:47:41 PM

Quote from: Tenpoint5 on January 15, 2013, 08:00:53 AM
Welcome Aboard! (Translated into Polar Bear = Welcome to the nuthouse!)

Nut house, or Seal house??

And no, I'm not going to smoke seal meat...

KyNola · January 17, 2013, 08:37:05 PM

Welcome Jim! Your blown out heating element would be covered by your warranty. As soon as you do any of the mods to your Bradley, your warranty is no longer valid. I would wait until your warranty period expires before adding an element, or fans or anything to your Bradley unless you are willing to risk the initial cost of your Bradley should it meet an untimely demise during the warranty period.

I'm obviously in the minority here lately but that's ok with me. You do what you feel like you need to do.

mikecorn.1 · January 18, 2013, 05:21:08 AM

Welcome to the forum!

Sent from my iPhone 5 using Tapatalk

bigjimak · January 18, 2013, 09:36:52 AM

Quote from: KyNola on January 17, 2013, 08:37:05 PM
Welcome Jim! Your blown out heating element would be covered by your warranty. As soon as you do any of the mods to your Bradley, your warranty is no longer valid. I would wait until your warranty period expires before adding an element, or fans or anything to your Bradley unless you are willing to risk the initial cost of your Bradley should it meet an untimely demise during the warranty period.

Thank you for the heads-up, KyNola, :) but I'm not too worried about it. I've had it for going on a year so the "New breakdown" cycle is past. I'd just like to be *able* to get it up over 160 in the unit, in the winter, outside, here in Anchorage.

Jim

OldHickory · January 18, 2013, 11:04:43 AM

Welcome to the forum. A lot of knowledgeable people here and willing to help if you need it.

ghost9mm · January 18, 2013, 03:57:00 PM

Hello and welcome to a really great forum...

KyNola · January 18, 2013, 08:47:14 PM

Quote from: bigjimak on January 18, 2013, 09:36:52 AM
Quote from: KyNola on January 17, 2013, 08:37:05 PM
Welcome Jim! Your blown out heating element would be covered by your warranty. As soon as you do any of the mods to your Bradley, your warranty is no longer valid. I would wait until your warranty period expires before adding an element, or fans or anything to your Bradley unless you are willing to risk the initial cost of your Bradley should it meet an untimely demise during the warranty period.

Thank you for the heads-up, KyNola, :) but I'm not too worried about it. I've had it for going on a year so the "New breakdown" cycle is past. I'd just like to be *able* to get it up over 160 in the unit, in the winter, outside, here in Anchorage.

Jim

I'm not exactly sure what the "New Breakdown" cycle is but by all means Jim, carry on in the manner you see fit.

Greetings from Anchorage!

beefmann