Digital or Original?

[Rob in WA]

I was all set to buy a digital until I ran across this forum and read about the problems w/keeping the temperature even in the digital.  Is this a problem w/the original?  Should I save my money and buy an original or go for the digital?

[iceman]

Welcome to the forum Rob. Do what ever you want. Your going to have to fiddle with either one a bit to get things going right. It's no big deal. Just depends on how much of a "I gotta have the new gadgets" syndrome you have. There is naturally more input on the old style units because of the exposure. Things are way to new IMO to be judging the latest models. Have fun. :)

[Rob in WA]

I've read your posts in the other thread Rat, that's why I'm thinking maybe I should just buy the original.

I'm not really into having new gadgets, I'm just wondering if the extra $100 is worth it for the digital.

[Arcs_n_Sparks]

Rob in WA,

The original BS has a rheostat control; constant power input. This means you may have to tweak it (over time) to reflect the food loading and the fact that the food starts increasing in temperature from when you put it in. Door opening and closing, changing water, etc... also affect the heat balance. Most users get use to these affects and become quite adept at adjusting the slider a few times to settle in.

A number of users have built their own temperature controllers to do this; usually PID controllers. Some have used off-the-shelf components (most), and a few have built them from scratch (me, since I am a glutton for punishment).

Bradley incorporated a closed-loop controller in their new digital smokers. What is not clear (at least to me) is the various control parameters of the new controller, and how well it maintains temperature. The control loops usually get tuned to a particular set of circumstances. Thus, if you run the unit with no food (a heat sink), you will get different performance than a fully loaded smoker (a large heat sink). Opening and closing the vent also will affect the heat balance quite a bit, and thus the control loop performance. An aggressive control loop will have overshoot and settling time evidence. A conservative loop will have an underdamped response and longer time to reach setpoint. In addition, there appears to be a time-out issue (which I would consign to the law of unintended consequences: a well intended safety feature that collided with real-world smoking).

What you see is anecdotal evidence from a few users on their experience (which is either good, bad, or ugly). Of course, us anal-retentive engineers would want to know a lot more about the circumstances of their experience, and how it relates to the design (especially me, since I am prototyping a PID controller for the original BS, and would actually like to give a few to my friends without it blowing up in my face).

So I will follow iceman's comments and welcome you to forum. This is a great place to learn a lot and exchange ideas with fellow smokers. It's a great crowd....

Arcs_n_Sparks

[Rob in WA]

Wow guys, great info and thanks for the welcome.  It sounds like there's still a few bugs to work out on the digital.  They had an original in town for a good price and I've got 40 lbs of Black Cod (Sable Fish) right off the boat from Alaska that I can't wait to smoke, so I went ahead and bought it.  I'm a professional chef so I'm not too intimidated by the learning curve.  If there is a reliable temperature controller out there as an add-on I'd be very interested in it though.

[manxman]

Welcome to the forum Rob in WA, to me arcs n sparks and iceman summed things up very well and I think you have made the best decision at this moment in time.

I am sure forum members would be very interested in your views and comments on the quality of the food you get from your BS, you being a professional chef and all that. :)

[iceman]

Rob, let me know how and what you do to the Black Cod. Myself (and probably Kummok) end up with tons of it each season up here in Alaska. I've never tried smoking it (always thought it would be to oily ).

[Oldman]

Rob, let me know how and what you do to the Black Cod. Myself (and probably Kummok) end up with tons of it each season up here in Alaska. I've never tried smoking it (always thought it would be to oily ).

Strange, but about the only fish I ever smoke is mullet or once in a while a mackeral and they are oily. 

Seeing how I have never seen a cod...let alone one that is called black I googled this image:

Now is this a regular cod, or is this different? Other than coloring it looks almost like a gag grouper to me. Which is a darker meat fish. In the Gulf we have serveral types of grouper.

Gag Grouper


Black Grouper


Nassau Grouper


Red Grouper


Now there are several more types of Groupers here... However, the best Grouper is the one between the slices of a bun~~~~


Now the cod we get here in the stores is a white fish. Not oiley.  So someone post a picture of what is a cod in your area.

I guess i cant reply here.  :'(  RIGHT OLDMAN

You could have answer the question. You could have stated facts about the 6 rack that you have or had, and you could have started facts about the 4 rack that you posted about yesterday.  Instead it seems you want to start a flame war... I suggest you don't.
Olds

[Oldman]

Your wrong olds and this is going to end right now.No flamming no bashing no na da just a nice smoke .Be well my old friend and stay cool .

Fair enough.

[Rob in WA]

Black Cod is very different then "normal" cod, it is very oily.  It's not really even in the cod family, it's also known as sablefish.

Here's what it looks like after it's been caught:



and here's how it looks in the smoker:




I'm just just trying one fish today to see how it goes, I'll report back tonight or tomorrow as to how it turns out.  This is my first time smoking anything in the BS.  I brined it in salt, soy, molasses, brown sugar, lemon pepper, garlic and ginger for about four hours.  I'm using hickory to smoke it with and trying to keep the temperature around 135.  I'll increase the temp. in a few hours to 170.  I don't know how long I should smoke it for, I'm think 5 or 6 hours?

[IKnowWood]

wow!!  Looking at that fish, the fins, the profile of the back fins and form,  that looks like a fun fish to bring in.  Power and Flight. 

now Rob, one thing that concerns me in your picture of the fish in the smoker is the vent.  it looks closed and you have some flow-back in the Generator.   That is not good.  It can cause major issues in the smoke generator.  I do not know how open the vent needs to be, but I do know you do not want smoke coming out from the seal of the Generator and the Smoke Box.

Otherwise,   how was the Sablefish..

[Oldman]

Thanks for the image. I google this:

Sablefish
 

a.k.a.: Alaska cod, black cod, butterfish, coalfish, sable, skilfish

Waters:Pacific Northwest coast

Description (in water): Though it's often referred to as Alaska or black cod or butterfish, the sablefish is actually related to neither. Most of these long, slender black fish range from 1 to 25 lbs. (they can grow up to 100 lbs.).

Description (in market): The white meat of the sablefish is fine-textured, oily, and succulent. The flavor is rich and distinctive; the fat content is high. The skin is edible.

Sold as: Whole, fillets, steaks; smoked

Best cooking: Sablefish can be baked, poached, broiled, grilled (use a grill basket), or pan-fried. Whole fish (or large fillets) can be roasted with the skin left on.

Buying tips: Whole specimens should look alive, be well iced and smell of seawater. Fillets and steaks should have pure white skin that glistens and is free of browning and signs of drying.

Unlike most oily fish, sablefish freezes well; in fact, it is standardly shipped frozen from Alaska to markets across the continental U.S.

Substitutes: Salmon, blackfish, grouper, mackerel, monkfish, sturgeon

Notes: Smoked sablefish, usually marketed as just "sable" has been an American Jewish-deli favorite for decades.

I knew it looked like a grouper, now it seems it can be a substitute as well. Interesting. One day I will have to get me some and smoke it.

Thanks again,
Olds

[Rob in WA]

Inknow: Thanks for the tips, I'll keep an eye on that.

Olds:  Nice site you have there, good info. I took your advise and threw a chicken on last night, easy and tasty.

The Black Cod didn't turn out so good, 5 hours wasn't enough.  I just put it back in, I'm thinking it may need another 3-5 hours.  What little we tried was also very salty.  I did 1 cup salt to 7 cups water, plus soy and the other spices I added.  I will have to play w/the cure next time.

[IKnowWood]

Rob, you have now realized what it means to be a Food Smoker and experimentation that evolves in the Bradley world of cooking. Knowledge + Experiences = Good Eats   (note I say Experiences [ with 'es'] instead of experience, you learn by doing how to work with what you got)

when you get hooked its fun to learn.   just need to balance the rest of your life to not go to intense. 

[Oldman]

Rob glad they turned out ok. Next given that the fish you are smoking to be somewhat oiley  I might suggest you check out some of the recipes for salmon. There are 10 of them listed. All tested and proven by the members.
Olds