Newbie From New Brunswick

[zuluder]

Hey folks! I got an Original Bradley smoker for Dad's day this past year and I've used it a fair bit with some turnouts being decent while others weren't so much. I'm new to the dedicated smoking game and looking forward to some helpful hints and advice on improving my game. Looks like a great forum for that!
The one question I'll throw out here, is will the smoker keep up the proper temp for a longer cook if I stop the smoke after a few hours and just run with the heating element and the bare smoke burner? I've read in places where folks have added an additional heat element so I'm curious. Thanks in advance!  :)     

[dave01]

Hello and welcome to the forum. The element upgrade is nice but many people use theirs without the upgrade and get along just fine. Remember it's low and slow

[seb bot]

Hey zuluder, welcome to the forum from BC!

The stock heat output is adequate, but barely so IMO. I usually will just leave the puck burner going after the smoke period, just for a little extra heat, and many other users do as well.
Most items do not require more than 2-3 hours of smoke, maybe 4 tops, but it's fine to leave the puck burner going the whole cook. It is probably a good idea to scoop the final puck off the burner after it's done smoking though...

I think the stock Bradley is fine for ribs or pulled pork, but if I am trying to do chicken at 250 it struggles a little to keep temp sometimes, especially if it's windy out.
I have thought about doing the 2nd element mod, but that also requires an additional controller (PID) as the stock Bradley controls are apparently not designed to handle the extra wattage. This adds quite a bit to the cost, and involves some wiring and know how, so I've held off so far :(
It is supposed to be low and slow, but I do wish it had just a little more powerful stock element, maybe 650  or 750 would have been nice... :-\

There are a couple of thing you can do to help with temps, such as using hot water in the puck bowl and pre-heating to a higher temp than you are cooking at to compensate for the heat you will lose when you open the door to put the food in...
Also, it may seem counter-intuitive, but keep your vent open, especially for moist items like chicken! This will allow moisture out, which is good for better temps and will also avoid having condensation form on the roof of your smoker, which is apparently pretty nasty... ( Also known as "black rain" :o)

Overall I've been really happy with mine, and there are plenty of long-time users who do not feel the need to mod theirs.

Hope this helps, be sure to ask if you have questions; this is a pretty friendly forum with a lot of experienced members!

[mahto]

Welcome to the Forum