Getting started with Original Smoker and Cold Smoker Attachment

[pwabrahams]

I have just gotten and assembled a Bradley Original Smoker (611) and the Cold Smoker Attachment.  Following the instructions, I tried to season it.  I put two briquettes in the stack followed by three of those metal rings, purchased separately.  I set the heat dial to the middle (though I got the impression that it shouldn't matter).  I turned on the switch and the light came on.  I then pressed the feed button.

An hour or so later I looked at what had happened.  There were two briquettes in the water bowl.  Both were pretty much whole, but charred on the bottom.  I didn't see much sign of smoke.

My impression is that the whole assembly was not doing what it was supposed to, but I'm not sure of that nor do I know what I was doing wrong.  Can someone enlighten me?

[Habanero Smoker]

The bisquettes generally remain intact. They should be smaller in size, and mostly charred, if not completely black. Try preheating the bisquette burner for a longer period of time before loading and advancing the bisquettes. The preheat time should be at least 20 minutes. If you have an infrared thermometer you can check the temperature of the burner, is should register about 550°F.

If both bisquettes are charred, another possible problem could be the timer can be cycling the bisquettes too soon. You can test the timing by loading the three saver (metal) bisquettes, hit the advance button. Set a kitchen timer for about 18 minute. In 18 minutes return and observe to see if the next one advances in the next couple of minutes. If it does then the timing is alright. If the second one has advanced before you returned, then add a real bisquette on top, and hit the advance button, and time how long it takes the bisquette to advance. This time you will need to stay in the area. If it is advancing too soon, call Bradley Customer Service.

[pwabrahams]

I'll try the things you suggested in a while, but in the meantime I have a simple question: for cold smoking, does the setting of the heat dial matter at all?

[pwabrahams]

I did the timing test and the briquette advancement is working correctly.  Again the bottoms of the test briquettes were charred but most of each briquette was intact.  I would have expected the briquettes to break up into small charred particles.  I was getting smoke, but not a large volume of it.

Does the outside temperature make a difference?  It's near freezing here.

[TedEbear]

I think what he was saying is that you should let it feed on its own while the cooking chamber heats up the pucks.  Then, when they get onto the burner plate they will start smoking more quickly because they are already at 200+ degrees.  The quote below indicates that you just turned on the smoker and immediately advanced the first puck onto the burner.

I set the heat dial to the middle (though I got the impression that it shouldn't matter).  I turned on the switch and the light came on.  I then pressed the feed button.

[Habanero Smoker]

Ambient temperature, and using the cold smoke setup does have an effect; many also add the amount of humidity. The hotter the smoking cabinet is, the better the bisquettes will burn. When you use the cold smoke setup, you will notice that the bisquettes do not burn as efficient.

Either let the bisquettes feed on their own after you load them, or let the bisquette burner heat up for awhile before loading and advancing the bisquettes.

The only time I've seen my bisquette fully break down is when the last bisquette was sitting on the burner plate too long. This is only a guess; the wood chips are held together with collagen or gelatin, that's probably why the maintain most of their shape.

[pwabrahams]

The first time I tried to test the smoker I advanced the pucks after a short heating time.    The second time I turned on the generator, waited half an hour, and then advanced the pucks.  Still they were charred only on the bottom, and equally.  The fact that they looked the same seems to indicate that I had waited long enough.

Habanero Smoker pointed out that the pucks won't burn as well in the cold.  In fact, the water in the pan can freeze, I've noticed.   (I'm in New England and we're having a cold spell.)  Should I hold off on cold smoking until the weather warms up?

And another question: Since the pucks are almost intact, can I turn them over and reuse them?  Is there likely to be a problem in feeding them through since they are about 3/4 as thick as the originals?


.

[RedJada]

 Also, make sure you keep your briquettes in an air tight container. They are like sponges when in comes to moisture in the air. I'm in NE Ohio and even in a cold winter I have noticed the difference if not sealed tight.

[Habanero Smoker]

Don't try to recycle your bisquettes. After being used once, and dropped into the water bowl the bisquettes will most likely begin to fall apart in the chute, jam while feeding, and you will have to take the generator apart to clean it.

I'm a New Yorker, and I'm going through the same cold spell, and it will get colder this weekend. One thing you can do when it is this cold is to leave the generator hooked up to the cabinet. Unplug the power cord that connects the cabinet to the generator, so the heating element doesn't produce any heat. Leaving the top vent wide open, the amount of heat from the generator only may still take you over temperatures for cold smoking, but you can prop the door open with a pencil to allow heat to escape, but still monitor the cabinet temperatures. There will still be plenty of smoke inside the cabinet. Some members will place ice inside the cabinet to help keep the temperature down, but I don't feel it will be necessary during this cold period.

If you find that with the generator attached to the cabinet, and the temperature is below the temperature you want to cold smoke at, you may have to periodically use some heat from the heat element.

I forgot to mention when you use the cold smoke adapter in cold weather, the smoke does not flow that well. It is best not to fully extend the hose, and keep the generator close and below the level of the cabinet.