New member (Total novice)

[kaf69]

Total novice here
Have always wanted a Bradley  smoke as long as I can remember.
Wife bought me one for my birthday, but buggered if I can get it right, everything that I smoke has a bitter after taste.
Nothing I smoke tastes like the smoked meats that you would buy in the shops.
I have tried salmon, chicken, beef, lamb and nothing smokes properly.
I have read that the secret is air flow, but there is no way to increase the air flow on the smoker.

Help would be greatly appreciated.

[Wildcat]

Hmmmm. Is the top vent wide open? If it is closed moisture can build up and rain nasty tasting stuff down on your meats. How long are you actually applying smoke? It may take up to 24 hours to cook some things, but you will never need any more than 4 hours of smoke. It is possible you may be applying too much smoke for your taste. It also could be the type of wood you are using. Some woods are harsher in flavor than others. Try apple - it is relatively mild. Too truly help you out you will need to describe exactly what you did.

[KyNola]

Like my friend WC, I'm betting it is the amount of smoke and the type of wood you are using.

Knowing more about your procedure would help us to debug your issue.

[seb bot]

Welcome from BC, hope you get you issues sorted out. If you post some more detail I am sure someone will be able to point you in the right direction.

Good luck :)

[dman4505]

Welcome aboard
Wildcat has given you some great tips
Please post more info on your process (time and temps, etc.) and we'll gladly help you get them corrected so you can enjoy some absolutely great food.

Don

[beefmann]

welcome aboard and  enjoy

[kaf69]

For example, on Friday night I had a practice run, I did a mixture of things.
Chicken breast, strips of thinly slice beef, salmon fillet
I used the Hickory Bradley flavor Briquettes.( Which are damn expensive over here in Australia)
Smoker on for 4 hours at full temp for the briquettes (as you cannot set the temp for the briquette)   and oven on 280F 4 hours.
Top vent fully open
Every thing tasted like #$#$ , with a bitter after taste.
I just don't know what is going wrong, as I have used the old mentholated sprites smokes with wood chips for years and never had this problem.

[TedEbear]

Well, hickory is one of the stronger flavors and 4 hours smoke for chicken breast is quite a lot.  Plus, poultry absorbs smoke like a sponge.  You might try less smoke time (maybe try 2 hours) and maybe a milder flavor such as cherry or apple.

Let us know how the next round goes.

[KyNola]

I use hickory almost exclusively and agree with TedEbear.  4 hours of smoke on chicken or thin beef slices is more than likely going to give you a bitter taste.  You need to forget pretty much everything you learned with mentholated sprites smoke, whatever that is, as the Bradley briquette delivers a much more pure concentrated smoke.  One other thing I noticed in your example.  If you delivered 4 hours of smoke that means you also cooked the chicken, salmon and beef slices set at 280 for 4 hours.  It strikes me you are also overcooking your food.  That too can contribute to a bad taste.

As TedEbear has already advised, try using less smoke and go to a milder wood such as apple, cherry or maple.

[dman4505]

There you go kaf, I knew some of our more esteemed members would be around to lend their knowledge to your issue.

Don

[Wildcat]

I use hickory almost exclusively and agree with TedEbear.  4 hours of smoke on chicken or thin beef slices is more than likely going to give you a bitter taste.  You need to forget pretty much everything you learned with mentholated sprites smoke, whatever that is, as the Bradley briquette delivers a much more pure concentrated smoke.  One other thing I noticed in your example.  If you delivered 4 hours of smoke that means you also cooked the chicken, salmon and beef slices set at 280 for 4 hours.  It strikes me you are also overcooking your food.  That too can contribute to a bad taste.

As TedEbear has already advised, try using less smoke and go to a milder wood such as apple, cherry or maple.

Ditto. WAAAAAY to much smoke on what you prepared in the Bradley. I also concur on the overcook.

[tskeeter]

Guys, the methylated spirits that kaf69 has used in the past is denatured alcohol.  I expect that it is kind of like those gel alcohol canisters that caterers use to keep food warm.  This makes me wonder what temperatures kaf69 is used to smoking at.  It could be possible that kaf69 could be experiencing different temperatures than he is used to, in addition to duration of smoke application and duration of cook period issues?

[kaf69]

How about you guys teach me.
Lets start with chicken breast, and I will give it ago on weekend.
What Bradley briquettes Apple?
How long do I smoke for-2 Hours? Do I then remove the old Bradley briquettes or let the oven carry on cooking and not open the door.
What temp and how long do I leave it cooking in the oven?
Do you I run the oven and smoker at the same time? or smoke first and then oven.
Do I use dry rub or marinade the breasts first.

Feed back will follow, good or bad.

[KyNola]

I'll take a stab at it and try to answer your questions in order.  Since you are learning about your Bradley and starting with chicken, apple would be a good choice.  I would smoke no longer than 2 hours because poultry absorbs smoke just about more than any other protein I know.  Don't open the door to remove the briquettes.  Allow the unit to continue to cook.  Every time you open the door you lose a ton of heat.  I would think about preheating the unit as high as you can get it prior to opening the door to put the meat in because you are going to lose a ton of heat and the cold poultry will also contribute in knocking the heat down.  As the temp in the tower begins to recover, reset your smoke/cooking temp to 250F.  I honestly can't answer the question about time because you need to be cooking by internal temperature of the meat rather than time.  Run the smoker and oven at the same time.  By running both you have an additional heat source.  Using a dry rub or marinade is a personal preference.  My personal preference is to use a dry rub.  One final note, if your chicken breast has skin on it the skin will be rubbery so don't sweat it.  If it is a boneless skinless breast, I would cook it until the internal temp of the breast reaches 152-155F and take it out of the smoker.  Tent with foil and allow to rest.  The internal temp will cruise right on up to around 160F and you will be good to go.

I have a couple of recommendations for you if you are so inclined. Purchase a thermometer with probes to measure both the temp in the oven and the internal temp of what you are cooking.  There are units available that have both a transmitter and wireless receiver.  You place the probes inside the unit, run the wires out of the door or through the vent and plug into the transmitter.  The transmitter will then send the info to the wireless receiver so you can monitor exactly what is going on in the oven without opening the door and losing heat.  The digital Bradley is notorious for giving inaccurate temp readings due to the placement of the heat sensor.  Many here use the Maverick ET-732 but there are many units on the market.   Also, purchase briquettes savers, commonly called puck savers or bubba pucks.  If you purchase 3 of them and place them in the feeder tube on top of your wood pucks they will advance and kick your last smoldering puck off of the burner plate.  A spent puck left to smolder on the burner plate may contribute to that bitter taste.

I hope this helps you. 

[Wildcat]

KyNola explained it perfectly. The only thing I can add is if you get an appropriate thermometer, take due care in cleaning the probe. Do NOT get water in the area where the probe meets the wire unless money is no object and you do not mind buying a lot of probes.