Hello everyone, from the "great state of Illinois"

[Jfuka78]

Bought a 4 rack digital off craigslist this week, but then in my eyes appears a 6 rack while at cabelas in the bargain basement with a damaged box not even making though packing $200
To think I went there to pick up a maverick redi and leave with both

Today I seasoned and cooked. The food came out great
Main course honey sriracha pork tenderloin and appetizers were Steven raichlen project smoke shrimp

I am having an issue that the smoker dig temp is not matching the mav at all was 40 off, so I went with the temps from the mav
Called Bradley they are sending me a new probe and tech is going to call me Monday

Also noticed with food it take a while to get that heat up to 225-250

Is there a way to put a bigger heater or add a heater?

Look forward to reading, learning, and chatting with you all

[cherrybergher]

Congratulations, and welcome to the forum.  There are numerous mods, that you can preform and a serious wealth of user knowledge that can help you through almost anything.  You're right it does take a while to heat up, I've only done the standard fare thus far; chicken and pork.  I've found that my success with the bradley comes from the "low and slow" cooking technique

[TedEbear]

Welcome aboard.  What area of Illinois are you in?  I'm just across the river in St. Louis.

That sounds like a great deal for $200 on a new 6 rack Bradley.  Yes, you can modify the smoker with a larger heating element or add a second element.  The one that comes with it is 500W and some people have replaced that with a 750W or 900W finned element.  If you add a second 500W element (that's how I did mine) then you'll have 1000W worth of heat available. 

Keep in mind that if you do any mods, you will void the warranty.  Also, if you increase the heating capacity you should also get a PID controller to regulate the temp.  The Bradley was designed and tested for the original 500W.  You can get a plug-n-play PID for $140-$190 or so or you can a PID that you can install in a project box or the smoke generator.  I'm not sure how much room you'd have in the SG for that with a digital Bradley but I've heard it has been done.

Here's a link to the Bradley user recipe site, including the Bradley Accessories - User Modifications section, where you'll find the "how-to" on adding a second element. 

Bradley User Recipes

That site doesn't have any pics but if you want them you can visit the message below and d/l the two files Recipe_v5 and GSReader v2.8.  Once you install them they have the same information as what you'll find on the recipe site, except pics are included.

Recipe Site Download

If you just want to install a 750W or 900W finned element you can find various threads on here about those by doing a search for "750W" or "900W".  Again, keep in mind that any mods will void the warranty.

Here's my 1000W setup:

[tskeeter]

Bought a 4 rack digital off craigslist this week, but then in my eyes appears a 6 rack while at cabelas in the bargain basement with a damaged box not even making though packing $200
To think I went there to pick up a maverick redi and leave with both

Today I seasoned and cooked. The food came out great
Main course honey sriracha pork tenderloin and appetizers were Steven raichlen project smoke shrimp

I am having an issue that the smoker dig temp is not matching the mav at all was 40 off, so I went with the temps from the mav
Called Bradley they are sending me a new probe and tech is going to call me Monday

Also noticed with food it take a while to get that heat up to 225-250

Is there a way to put a bigger heater or add a heater?

Look forward to reading, learning, and chatting with you all

Like many electric oven type devices, a Bradley experiences a fair amount of temperature over-run and under-run during a heating cycle.  A swing of more than 10 degrees from your set point is normal and I have seen folks talk about over-run in the range of 20 degrees.

These temp swings aren't a problem for most of the things you will smoke.  However, sausages, some cheeses, and fish do benefit from the tighter (+|- 2 degrees) temp control that a PID can deliver.

[Edward176]

Welcome to the Forum  Jfuka78. Sounds like an excellent deal on your 6 rack Bradley Digital Smoker. You'll have to preheat your smoker to a higher temperature than you are planning to cook at. Also let your meat warm up an hour at room temperature before placing in the Bradley, less temperature drop. Some have a brick wrapped in foil that they heat up in the oven and place in the bottom of the smoker to help keep the heat loss down as well as used HOT water in your drip bowl vs cold water. I've found that the wind is your biggest enemy and seems to SUCK the heat out your top vent like a vacuum, so shield from the wind also helps. I smoked yesterday and the temperature was around 0'c/32'f. had my temperature set at 200'f with no problems, but once the wind picked up I had to pull my smoker into the garage to get the temperature above 150'f.