G'day from Australia

[Smoker Shane]

Hey guys I was given a Bradley Digital 4 rack for Christmas and gotta say best present ever. I'm always looking for new and different things to smoke. I'm basically just hoping to broaden my smoker knowledge to treat my family and friends to a whole new feasting experience.

[NorthShoreMN]

Welcome from N E Minnesota

[TMB]

Welcome from Alabama!

[Smokin Sparky]

  Welcome from Southwest Idaho.  You have come to the Right Place!  You will fine that the members of this forum are more than happy to pass along their experiences as well as recipes.  The only thing you need to do is ask.  Remember there is no such thing as a Dumb Question! Also we like pictures. Lots of Pictures!  That being said, welcome to the best addiction one can have and Happy Smoking!    ;D    ;D    ;D

Blake

[beefmann]

welcome aboard from California

[tailfeathers]

Welcome from South Dakota! Whatever you do, DON"T make canadian bacon in your Bradley! ;)There is no return once you cross that line.

[River Rat]

Welcome from Maryland!

[Dano]

Welcome aboard!  Loved Aus when I was there, great country!  ( and I still have some kanga jerky kicking around here somewhere... :)

[tskeeter]

Shane, for more ideas than a guy ought to have, check out the attached link to Our Time Tested and Proven Recipes  http://www.susanminor.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?180-Our-Time-Tested-and-Proven-Recipes&s=976d0b816a836c3efb3e1bb5cbca5a98.

I bet you'll find some things that gets you thinking.

Welcome to the forums and here's to smoke in your eyes!

[Saber 4]

Howdy from Texas.

[waycoolcat]

Welcome from Pennsylvania!

[ragweed]

Welcome to the forum from Nebraska.

[fishhaggis]

Welcome from Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, in Canada's arctic.

[Smoker Shane]

Thanks for the warm welcome. It sure is good to find a bunch of people addicted to smoking as I am.
Quick question..... I'm currently smoking some chicken wings as I type but as we are heading into the cooler months my smoker seems to struggle to maintain anything over 180f at night ( we are in autumn here). I have seen some pics of people building a cupboard to house the smoker to insulate it from the weather and I have also been reading about adding an extra 500w element or replacing it with a 900w element.
Some advice on which road to take would be much appreciated...
As soon as my wings are done I'll upload some pics...
Cheers

[tskeeter]

Shane, unfortunately, no one choice is the answer.  It depends on climate, how patient you are, and how much money you are willing to invest.

If you are patient enough, what you are smoking will eventually get cooked.  Despite cold over night temperatures.  Or, if you are impatient, like me, you can upgrade the heating capacity of your smoker, or you can smoke in your smoker, then move the smoked meat to you home oven to finish cooking the meat.  Note that upgrading the heating capacity of your Bradley will void your warranty.  So, some folks wait until their warranty has expired before upgrading.  Others are willing to forgo the warranty and have done mods right out of the box.

And, if you do an upgrade, you'll need to consider something such as a PID to control the heating elements.  (Generally, Bradley smokers are not designed handle the electrical load of modified heating elements.  Don't know what your Aussie electric system is like in respect to voltage, but this is a consideration you'll want to investigate.  The weak link, here in the US, is a 10 amp fuse, which will allow continuous operation at about 8 amps of load (recommended operating capacity here is 80% of the rated capacity of the circuit).  The dual element mod, here, creates a load of about 9.4 amps.  So the load is more than the recommended safe operating load of 8 amps.)  By using a separate temperature controller rated for your upgraded heating system, you can accommodate the increase in the electrical load. 

Some folks use a cupboard, or a smoker house of some kind, to help shelter the smoker from wind and cold weather.  (I've noticed that my smoker is affected by cold overnight winter temperatures, too, here on the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada Mountains at 5,000 feet.)  But, my smoker house was strictly for convenience.  Now my smoker is set up and ready to use at all times, rather than having to be moved out of the garage and set up before each use.  At a comfortable height.  With all of my accessories close at hand.  And not taking up space in my garage.   Any additional shelter that the smoker house provides is an added benefit.

A side note in regard to a cupboard to shelter your smoker.  You may need to provide for some additional makeup air supply if you operate your smoker with the cupboard door closed.  I usually leave the door to my smoker house open while smoking.  But, while smoking some nuts recently, I closed the doors.  When the smoke was done, I found that the lowest of the four trays of nuts showed very heavy smoke, while the top tray showed almost no indications of smoke.  (Note that I do not rotate the trays of nuts during the smoke.)  I read the variation in the amount of smoke that each tray got as an indication that the smoker did not get enough air supply to draw smoke through the smoker very well.  Guess that I'll be adding some vent holes to my smoker house and screening them to keep the critters and insects out.