Intro.RVA

[RVA]

Good morning to every one. I just joined the club and I'm looking forward to learning a lot in this forum. I just got a 4 rack digital for my 64th B-day 2 weeks ago. After an exhaustive search for pucks I was able to season the smoker last night. I  noticed that after the one hour I had  a half burned puck on the burner and a partial in the water. Is this usual for the 1st time and is there a temperature reading for the plate temp?

[Saber 4]

Welcome to the party from Texas. Many of us use some form of metal puck usually called a Bubba Puck to push the last wood puck into the bowl without wasting other wood pucks I believe you can get them from yardandpool.com they are good folks and friends of the forum.

[Habanero Smoker]

Hi RVA;

Welcome to the forum.

If you didn't preheat the bisquettes burner, it is not unusual for the first bisquettes not to burn completely, but there could be several reasons why the others will only burn partially. More often then not, it is the type of wood flavor, and how much pressure was used during manufacturing to compress the bisquettes. It could be the power source, or a loose connection. Some say it is related to the moisture content of the bisquettes caused by current air humidity.

Below is a link to some helpful tips, and trouble shooting:
Bradley FAQ's

[beefmann]

welcome aboard

[Smoker John]

Welcome

[River Rat]

Welcome from Maryland!  There's some good chow in your future.

[RVA]

Thanks for the link Habanero. I realize now that the puck did burn completely. I guess that I was expecting ashes, but I broke it up and it was done. Thanks again its great to have a trouble shooting link. I got it bookmarked now.

[BoxcarBetts]

Hi RVA, from the suburbs of Vancouver.  I had my bisquette burner die on me over the weekend. Basically, you'll know pretty quick if your pucks aren't burning right. I'm relatively new to this too, but my advice would be to watch your smoker closely for a while and use a stopwatch to ensure the smoke generator advances a puck every 20 minutes (ish). You should have a fairly constant smoke coming from your vent for the duration and if something isn't right, it'll be quite apparent. I went to check on mine at 1:20 of a 2 hour smoke and just a whisper was winding down from my vent. I checked inside and the cabinet had no smoke (should be full as long as wood is burning) and I watched a puck that was 1/2 black and 1/2 wood coloured dump into the bowl.  The bisquettes are designed to smoulder for 20 minutes, so as long as your SG is advancing every 20 minutes and is hot, you should be burning just right.  Also, preheat your SG for 15-20 minutes before you put a puck on it.

[Habanero Smoker]

Thanks for the link Habanero. I realize now that the puck did burn completely. I guess that I was expecting ashes, but I broke it up and it was done. Thanks again its great to have a trouble shooting link. I got it bookmarked now.

Ideally the bisquettes should be completely charred all the way through; shrinking in size and maintaining their shape. But it is not always the case, sometimes they will only burn on the bottom half, and other times they will char on the outside and a small portion in the middle will be unburned.

[NorthShoreMN]

Welcome from N E Minnesota

[tailfeathers]

Hi from South Dakota, welcome and have fun. Ask any questions you may have and take lots of pictures. We love pictures!

[kayes]

Welcome to the board!