New guy with question

[russ austin]

Hello, just got the 4 rack black Bradley smoker.
I was using the Charbroiler with side fore box with great results.  I got the Bradley for ease and convenience of the temp control.

What I have a question on was, can I not use the pucks after 4 hours?  Will te burner be damaged?  I did find in here folks using a puck saver.

Second question is; does it take longer to cook with the Bradley?  I first did a beer can chicken, and it took 6 hours to finish.  The temp was at 250.   The vent was closed, and I did read in here that a closed vent will extend the cook time?

My only complaint is that I have to cut my ribs in half.  They should have made it wider.

[Wildcat]

Bradley pucks smolder instead of burning and produce a lot of clean smoke. You will never need over 4 hours. Less sometimes. It will smoke pucks for the entire period but it would just be a waste of money. Also meat will only absorb just so much smoke.

The Bradley is designed to cook low and slow. The longer cook time get better results except on the skin of birds.

[Habanero Smoker]

Hi Russ;

Welcome to the forum.

What I have a question on was, can I not use the pucks after 4 hours?
Do you mean the puck burner, or apply smoke for longer than 4 hours. Most that haven't modified their units to put out additional heat will leave the bisquette burner on the full cook, in order to provide more heat. If you mean to add additional smoke over 4 hours, it is a personal decision. Many state using more than 4 hours is a waste of bisquette. My point of view is that smoke will stop penetrating the meat when the exterior temperature goes above 140°F, but as long as the meat is moist, smoke will continue to adhere to the surface, and you have the possibility of over smoking your food. There are some members that use 5 or 6 hours of smoke on their butts.

Will the burner be damaged?  I did find in here folks using a puck saver.
The puck savers are used to push the last bisquette off the burner, when you load the chute with a certain hours of smoke. Using the puck savers and leaving the bisquette burner on has not damaged my burner.

Second question is; does it take longer to cook with the Bradley?
Generally it does because of the slow recovery time, after loading meat into the cabinet, or opening the door to check on things. Allow the meat to sit at room temperature an hour or two before loading the cabinet.

The temp was at 250.   The vent was closed, and I did read in here that a closed vent will extend the cook time?
You should never cook with the vent closed. Moisture, smoke and grease particles can backup into the generator. If you temp was at 250°F, then that is pretty good. But the 250°F temperature would depend on how long it took the Bradley to reach that temperature. Chicken with skin, produces a lot of moisture. So I generally will start with a vent opening of 3/4 open. Then may close it to half opening later in the cook. Many will say keep the vent open at all times. But I use the vent, and here is why; when the moisture is first evaporated from the meat, that heat energy is expended, whether the vent is almost closed or fully opened. The problem of maintaining heat happens when the steam (evaporated moisture) inside the cabinet hits the dew point and turns to condensation. At that point, more heat is required to again turn the water into a gaseous state, and that will bring your temperature down. As long as your vent is open wide enough to you prevent condensation from forming inside the cabinet, you don't have to fully open your vent. Fully opening the vent, can also lower your temperature, because you are allowing more heat to escape. Also condensation can cause what is referred to as "black rain". Which is dissolved particles from the cabinet seasoning that will drip on the food, causing a bitter taste, and unappetizing look.

My only complaint is that I have to cut my ribs in half.  They should have made it wider.
When I cook spare ribs in the Bradley I will trim maybe the last 2 or 3 ribs off the small end, and cook them on a separate rack.

[russ austin]

Just finished eating the ribs that I smoked.   The temp was at 240, and smoked for 2 hours. The wrapped the ribs in foil, with my fav BBQ sauce.  I make my own rub, and that was on there.  Smoked them for 2 more hours.  They came out great.

I think next time I will foil the ribs for 1 1/2 hour, as the sauce was burning inside the foil.

Thanks for the reply guys. 

[beefmann]

hi  Russ and  welcome aboard....

you can  use any  amount of pucks as you  wish,, general rule of thumb is start with  1 hour and build from there... most meats stop accepting  smoke flavor at around  140 F which is in the  3 to 4 hour range... with a box temp of 225 F... each puck smolders for  approx  20  minutes...

hope this  helps