smoker element

[Handyman]

Suppose I have the oven set for 6 hours and the smoker set for 2 hours.
At the end of the smoking time, will the smoker element remain on?
I ask because like others, my smoker has trouble maintaining a desired temp. If the smoker element doesn't remain on, then I could set it for the 6 hours but only load enough brisquettes for the 2 hour smoke.

[tskeeter]

Yes, the heating element will continue to operate even though the bisquette burner has shut off.

Given the limited heating capacity of a Bradley, large loads of meat can take a long time to heat up.  As a result, the cold meat may keep the cabinet temperature below the set point for quite some time. When I do 15 pounds of pork shoulder at a time, my cabinet temp stays below the temp set point for several hours.  In some cases, the cabinet temp never reaches the set point

I usually keep my bisquette burner operating after the smoking period is done.  The bisquette burner increases the heating capacity of a stock Bradley by 25%.  Doing this doesn't seem to affect the life or operation of the bisquette burner.

[Habanero Smoker]

Suppose I have the oven set for 6 hours and the smoker set for 2 hours.
At the end of the smoking time, will the smoker element remain on?
I ask because like others, my smoker has trouble maintaining a desired temp. If the smoker element doesn't remain on, then I could set it for the 6 hours but only load enough brisquettes for the 2 hour smoke.

Yes! You can do it that way to keep the bisquette burner on, during your cook. Just keep in mind that if you want 2 hours of smoke, you will need to load 8 bisquettes. Six for producing smoke, and the last two are just "pusher" to advance the sixth bisquette to the burner. To save on unnecessary damage to unused bisquette, most of us purchase "Bubba Pucks", also known as bisquette pusher/advancers; and use those to advance the last bisquette to the burner.

[Handyman]

Thanks. I also have trouble getting up to the set temp so I'll just leave the brisquette burner own, load the calculated number of brisquettes and then use to dummys which I have.

[TedEbear]

Be sure to not leave a smoldering bisquette on the burner to smoke down to ashes.  It will leave a bitter taste on the food.

[SlickRickDFW]

Be sure to not leave a smoldering bisquette on the burner to smoke down to ashes.  It will leave a bitter taste on the food.

I'm a little confused, need clarity. TedEbear, are you suggesting loading a third bubba ring to push the last smoldering bisquette off the burner shelf into the water? Or do you load 2 bubbas and manually push the last smoldering bisquette off the burner for the remaining heating session?

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[TedEbear]

To keep things automated so that you do not have to manually move the last bisquette off the hotplate load 3 pusher pucks on top of however many bisquettes.  If you're going to leave the hotplate on during the entire cooking process you don't want a bisquette sitting there the whole time, turning to ashes.

[Handyman]

To keep things automated so that you do not have to manually move the last bisquette off the hotplate load 3 pusher pucks on top of however many bisquettes.  If you're going to leave the hotplate on during the entire cooking process you don't want a bisquette sitting there the whole time, turning to ashes.

Thanks. Had not thought about that.

[Habanero Smoker]

If you only have two Bubba pucks/pusher pucks, you can also just place a bisquette on top of the two pushers.

[smokinmac]

I've had my Bradley for 8 years and didn't think about not leaving a puck on the burner. That's good info, as occasionally I do get an off flavor on some items I've cooked. Guess I'll quit being a tight wad and get me a couple of pusher pucks.