Greetings from Gloucestershire (UK)

[JuliaBalbilla]

Hi
I have just taken delivery of the BCS and am dying to use it.  However, typical British weather abounds and it doesn't look as if I can use it until Saturday when it should have stopped raining.  Unfortunately I have no garage or well ventilated area apart from the great outdoors.  I am looking forward to participating on this forum, as well as picking up hints and tips as I am new to this smoking lark.

Best wishes
JB

[Yancey]

Welcome from Florida!  At least the delay will give you plenty of time to check out these great forums.

[tskeeter]

Hi, Julia.  Welcome to the forum.

To help you with some of the challenges of dealing with British weather, you might find some of the posts in the Accessories forum interesting.  This forum is where members have posted pictures of their outdoor smoker shelters.  You will also find posts about a variety of wheeled carts that members use to store their smoker and move the smoker in and out of storage for use.

When I got to where I was using my smoker pretty regularly, moving it in and out of the garage became rather inconvenient.  So I broke down and set up an outdoor smoker house.  In the process of equipping the smoker house, I copied a lot of ideas that I saw in pictures of other member's smoker shelters.   

[Saber 4]

Welcome to your new addiction from Texas, Happy smoking to you, do lot's of reading here, ask any questions you have, Keep your vent open, and have fun. By the way if I didn't mention it before Keep Your Vent Open :)

[pikeman_95]

Welcome from  Montana. Where in the UK do you live??
KC

[pz]

Welcome from Idaho!

[Skishy]

Welcome from Eastern Washington!

[ragweed]

Welcome to the forum from Nebraska.

[beefmann]

welcome aboard

[JuliaBalbilla]

Thank you all for your welcome!  I live in Winchcombe in Gloucestershire.  It is a small town in the Cotswolds, very generally very wet and windy :-(  I used my BCS today and was initially pleased but now in tears.  The rear removal pod is naff - instructions say turn 90 degrees to pull out so that I can clean out the ashes, but it will not pull out.  It is on a screw thread and does absolutely nothing but unscrew or screw tighter and doesn't pull out.  I now have to wait numerous hours for the embers to be extinguished, although it is pitch black in the garden.  Food was brilliant, but I have no idea how I am going to be able to clean out the ashes into the rear deposit bin.  This cannot be normal and could be a fire risk if it builds up and it is now nearly 8:00pm hear and dark outside.  Not happy ...

[Saber 4]

Thank you all for your welcome!  I live in Winchcombe in Gloucestershire.  It is a small town in the Cotswolds, very generally very wet and windy :-(  I used my BCS today and was initially pleased but now in tears.  The rear removal pod is naff - instructions say turn 90 degrees to pull out so that I can clean out the ashes, but it will not pull out.  It is on a screw thread and does absolutely nothing but unscrew or screw tighter and doesn't pull out.  I now have to wait numerous hours for the embers to be extinguished, although it is pitch black in the garden.  Food was brilliant, but I have no idea how I am going to be able to clean out the ashes into the rear deposit bin.  This cannot be normal and could be a fire risk if it builds up and it is now nearly 8:00pm hear and dark outside.  Not happy ...

The rod is spring loaded, make sure you have the knob screwed back in and then give it a light push in and then you can turn it 90 degrees left or right (don't know which way yours happens to be facing) then you can gently pull the last puck into the water reservoir. After everything cools down I use a can of computer cleaning air to blow out any ashes left by sticking the straw down in the gap where the pucks stack and blow it out the back. I also modified a putty knife that I use to scrape the smoke generator off with every so often. You can see it in this post I did when I was having smoke issues in mine. http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=33159.0

[JuliaBalbilla]

Thank you, the puck goez in OK, but the black handle of the rod comes off the spring loaded rod when I try to pull it out to clean where the pucks (I assume you mean the brisquettes?) have been burnt.  In other words, I cannot pull the rod out because the handle comes off in my hand and the spring loaded rod does not pull out so that I can clean the ashes.  I am almost on the verge of sending the thing back as I can envisage piles of ash accumulating ad infinitum

JB

[ragweed]

That G*d D**M little knob came off in my hand after the few uses.  I just used a pliers to twist it and pull out the burned bisquettes.  Figure out which way it should be aligned, then glue it.

[Saber 4]

Thank you, the puck goez in OK, but the black handle of the rod comes off the spring loaded rod when I try to pull it out to clean where the pucks (I assume you mean the brisquettes?) have been burnt.  In other words, I cannot pull the rod out because the handle comes off in my hand and the spring loaded rod does not pull out so that I can clean the ashes.  I am almost on the verge of sending the thing back as I can envisage piles of ash accumulating ad infinitum

JB

The rod doesn't come all the way out it has a little L-hook shape at the end that grabs the pucks/bisquettes and dumps them in the container. Then you can remove the container after it cools and use the canned air or an air compressor to blow out any ashes by blowing from the bisquette tube towards the back of the unit. I'd shoot you a video but I'm doing ribs in mine at the moment, it won't hurt anything to let everything cool overnight and you can mess with it in daylight, it really is easy once you get the hang of it.

[JuliaBalbilla]

Thanks again for your replies - still no luck though.  It seems as if the L-shaped hook is caught up against something inside and won't pull out the ashes.  Tried turning with pliers - is does turn, but again feels as if something is preventing the rod from dragging them out.  I have telephoned the Bradley people and am waiting for them to get back to me.  I'll let you know what they say, but in meantime I will try and get them out using some sort of air.  There is nearly a whole bisquette in there at the moment, but I presume that won't make any difference.

Best wishes
JB