Hi From Mississauga Ontario!

Rob_K · May 22, 2006, 04:45:33 PM

Hi Everyone,

Got my smoker from Bass Pro last week and am pretty pleased. The only thing is the expense of those wood disks. I guess
in the long run it works out the same as those 2 lb bags of chips which burn up in 15 minutes on charcoal. Time will tell.

I have done ribs already and have a couple of observations,

1. electric is slow and takes a long time to come up to temp
2. it is hotter on the back wall which dried out the back of the ribs
3. putting smoke pucks for the full cook (5 hours) is not only expensive but very overpowering
4. the inside is blacker than coal after a smoke
5. smoking ABT's for 5 hours on top rack makes the Jalapenos hotter. The wife an I couldn't bear them and we like hot!

I may have a problem with the generator as it doesnt seem to dump (advance) the pucks consistently. It seems to work for a couple then wont advance for (2) 40 minutes causing the 2nd and 3rd puck waiting to start burning. The wife and I watched it the whole 5 hour smoke, drinking some cold one of course. When done, I was pressing the advance button and it took a bunch
of presses but it did miss. Push the button, hear click, no advance.

I'll give it another try but I hate going through a return process on new items. I still have a 3 weeks to bring it back to bass pro.

I must say this board is great. Lots of support and great recipes.

So once again, a smokey hello!

Oldman · May 22, 2006, 06:00:50 PM

Rob_K

Quote1. electric is slow and takes a long time to come up to temp
2. it is hotter on the back wall which dried out the back of the ribs
3. putting smoke pucks for the full cook (5 hours) is not only expensive but very overpowering
4. the inside is blacker than coal after a smoke
5. smoking ABT's for 5 hours on top rack makes the Jalapenos hotter. The wife an I couldn't bear them and we like hot!

1. No matter what I smoke I always pre-heat my smoker on high from 30 mins to one hour. Every electric smoker I've owned takes time to come up to speed.
2. Most rotate the item at the four hour mark. (Some like myself have install a circulation fan) How hot did you have your box. Other than when I'm doing bacon wrapped chicken the max temp. I use is 205 F. Many items @ 180-190 F.
3. Most never go longer than 4 hours of smoke. Some woods are much stronger than others. Adler is very mild. Mesquite by many here is called the Devil's wood. The Bradley puts out an even, but full smoke. Many items I only do a couple of hours of smoke and it is more than enough.
4. All units get black. However, if this was your first time and it is really black then you must not have had the unit vent open.
5. Don't know quite what to say, but when I have done peppers it takes longer than that as I slow smoke/ cook them.

Quotemay have a problem with the generator as it doesnt seem to dump (advance) the pucks consistently. It seems to work for a couple then wont advance for (2) 40 minutes causing the 2nd and 3rd puck waiting to start burning. The wife and I watched it the whole 5 hour smoke, drinking some cold one of course. When done, I was pressing the advance button and it took a bunch
of presses but it did miss. Push the button, hear click, no advance.

Your unit is broke. Call: (800) 665-4188, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. PST Monday through Friday. Tell them of your problem. Generally they second day air the new unit to you. Bradley's service under warranty is second to none. A year back or better there seem to be a bunch of folks that had your problem. I have not heard of it lately. Not knowing the production age of your unit I can only guess it was part of that batch. Plus there are several members here who have units for years and never had a problem.

QuoteI must say this board is great. Lots of support and great recipes.

We thank you. Have you been to our recipe site? If not Click Here.

Oh ya never close the vent to the point where smoke is coming back out of the generator. Plus this type of smokin' is much different than charcoal/ wood chips. Once you get the hang of it you will join many of us here when we say that the Bradley is a refined unit.

BTW Welcome to the forums.
Olds

BigSmoker · May 22, 2006, 07:31:11 PM

What Olds said ;)

jaeger · May 22, 2006, 09:17:17 PM

Rob_K,
Welcome to the forum!
Keep your broken smoke generator for whatever spare parts you may be able to salvage for use after your warranty expires.

Habanero Smoker · May 23, 2006, 04:18:35 AM

Welcome to the forum. Olds is right on.

I just want to add, you should check you bisquettes. If they are the slightest bit swollen this could effect the ability of the generator to advance them smoothly. This recently happened to me.

Placing the ABT's on the top rack would not increase the heat of the jalapenos. Not all jalapenos, or for that matter any hot pepper, are not created equal. The heat will vary greatly within the same variety. You just got a batch, that were hotter then you usually get.

whitetailfan · May 23, 2006, 07:56:31 AM

Welcome Rob,
Always love to see another Canuck around here. Olds reply was on the money.

Regarding cost of pucks, there is a 20% window of variance I have found. Spend a few hours (I know this will kill you) in various sporting goods shops. A small guy might cut you a deal on volume. I asked my little guy to price me out a case, I assumed it would be cheaper - he says just take 3x48's and I'll price it the same. Also as a fail safe, Canuck Tire retails Bradley now, and mws posted us last week, that they were on sale. We try and look out for each other around here.

Welcome again, catch you around.

oguard · May 23, 2006, 09:19:15 AM

Welcome Rob K Good to see another Canuck.As Whitetail said Canadian Tire has the pucks but variety seems to be a problem at my store.They carry only apple,alderand cherry :(.I go to a place called Wellscan.

Mike

Rob_K · May 23, 2006, 01:43:26 PM

Thanks for the warm hello!

I'll give the generator another go watching the pucks. I'm not too worried if you say Bradley's customer service is as good as it is.

As for the peppers, it just could have been an extremly hot batch. Have to try again. Dang, sun, beers, the smell of smoke. Talk about torture...haha

I did catch the CT sale last week but variety was poor, the display was hidden in the camping section rather than the BBQ and quantity was low. I ended picking up
1 variety pack, 1 apple and 1 hickory. After that, there was only 1 more variety pack left.

They didnt even have smokers. Just a few boxes of pucks. Probably last years stock.

I don't know if all CT stores are like that but the one at Dixie & Dundas is. The CT store at Mavis and Dundas has nothing. No smoker, no pucks and I looked everywhere. Why they advertised
in the flyer is beyond me.

smokin stu · May 28, 2006, 06:03:25 AM

I see the Canadian Tire flyers as well, and have not seen any BS products in Niagara stores. Slow on the uptake I guess. I normally only use one of the packages of pucks for any length of smoking, four hours worth, and then its basically a slow cooker from there. I strongly recomend getting Bubba Pucks. I use them and they are great.

Lets see if the picture shows up. Ribs, with fresh asparagus wrapped in Proscuito and drizzled with tomota viagraite, and a local wine of course.

Happy smoking Rob.

Smokin Joe · June 29, 2006, 10:55:22 AM

Hey Rob and welcome.

I have been keeping an eye out for pucks at my local CT's...but no luck. Seems like a luck of the draw whether they will be available in my area or not. ::)