First week using P10

[RockyMtnGuy]

So far so good after first 4 days

1. Setup and Seasoning easy and went well!
2. First cook: Smoked two 15-16" rainbow trout, whole bodies, no head. I have been smoking these trout I personally catch for several years and quite a bit of experience with old master-built smoker,. First time using Bradley.  A great success, used BS smoking recipe I found on this forum, 110 one hour, 140 one hour, 170 almost two hours to get internal temp to 140F, and used the same brine I've been using this year.  Used P10 temp probe plus an additional ThermoWorks ThermaQ thermometer in fish and an air temp probe on rack with fish. Outside temp about 60F, Alder pucks for 3 hours.  P10 internal temp about 10 degrees high at 110, 5-10 degrees high at 140, but stayed pretty close at 170.  Internal fish temps stayed pretty close on both P10 probe and ThermaQ probe. P10 held temps well.  None of this was using scientific methods but just my personal interest and learning curve.  Fish had a beautiful brown smoky color (lacking with my many previous cooks on MB).  Taste was excellent but a little dry to my tastes, but very much like deli bought smoked fish from local deli. I typically stop the cook at 120-125F internal temp. The fish I have are very fresh, usually cleaned, vacuum sealed within an hour from catch. Smoke flavor was much stronger and than I'm used to, the taste was excellent. I will try stopping cook at 120-130 next time, plenty more trout in freezer and river/lakes where I regularly fish.
3. Did some smoked stuffed apples for dessert, delicious
4. Tried a whole chicken on Spanek roaster last night, started at 225F, took a little longer and side dishes were ready so finished in oven, no fault of Bradley, just my impatient family wanted to eat when I predicted it would be ready. Taste of chicken was excellent, looked beautiful, but skin was rubbery
5.  Currently 4 lbs of homegrown eggplant in P10 for a big batch of Babaganoush. Have always grilled eggplant in past so will see how tastes coming out of smoker.

6. Still struggling with firmware update, (someone hijacked my firmware update thread) I maybe doing something wrong but I cannot get current firmware to display, despite holding selector dial multiple times and multiple lengths of time while turning unit on and off. I must still be doing something incorrectly. Thanks for any further advice finding current firmware version.

Overall very pleased so far with Bradley P10, a very well designed and functional easy to use home smoking system, but I still have a lot to learn!

[Habanero Smoker]

Glad to see you are satisfied with your P10.

Smoke taste is subjective. I have both the Old Original (OBS) and the P10, and I find that the P10 produces a stronger smoke flavor than my OBS. I feel that this is because the bisquettes in the P10 burn at a much higher temperature. What I do is reduce the amount of smoke that I have applied using the OBS. I generally start by reducing by at least one bisquette per hour then adjust from there. For example, for chicken I would use 6 bisquettes using the OBS, with the P10 I use 4. Butts and brisket use to be 12 bisquettes with the OBS, with the P10 I use 9. Fish; I use 6 with the OBS, with the P10 I would probably use 4 unless it is a strong flavored fish like Bluefish. Sometimes after the first trial I find myself reducing the smoke even more.

The higher the temperature you can smoke/cook your poultry the better the skin will be. With the P10 you should smoke/cook at 250°F to 275°F. It will not crisp the skin, but it should make the skin bite through.

The stuffed apples sound nice, I may try that. I just saw a recipe with the apples stuffed with a pork sausage stuffing.

It seems like you are using the proper procedure to check the firmware. Below is the link for the instructions of upgrading your P10. You probably have the latest upgrade, since they haven't releases an update since I've had mine. If the display shows "b002" you have the latest version.

P10 Firmware Instructions

[RockyMtnGuy]

Finally figured out the current firmware (b021) for my new P10, and I'm up date. FYI I was having a user error issue determining the firmware, following the directions from Bradley website, holding control button down while turning on the power to the smoker, I saw four digits and thought the first character was a 6 (6021) but it was actually meant to be a b (lowercase B), b021,  So I guess I'm at firmware revision 21 which is current according to BS website.

[RockyMtnGuy]

I did have one puck get stuck during eggplant smoking. I'm sure it had nothing to do with the eggplant which came out great but took a little longer to finish cooking so I could easily (relative) peel the skin. It was the third puck in the stack which is strange because they were all lined up straight in loader tube and the first two loaded fine. The leading edge did not clear, but once I figured out what was going on freed it up and it dropped down no problems and the next 5 dropped and burned perfectly.  Since I'm new to Bradley, is this a common problem?. Will I need to watch for this problem in future? These were brand new pucks so I don't think they were swollen from humidity, and we are very dry here in Denver. Although the puck were shipped from Midwest where there is high humidity. Never the less I bought several boxes of bisquettes and am storing them in waterproof plastic storage boxes, they should all be quite dry after sitting in their boxes and packaging in my house for a week.
Any thoughts on why one would load at an angle to cause the jam?

[Habanero Smoker]

I have firmware version b002, and I still receive the message that I have the most current firmware. I may send Bradley an email to see if there is any difference between the two versions.

I don't know what could have caused your misfeed. If it were due to a bisquette being damaged from moisture, it would not feed under the turntable cover, or it would start to feed then get jammed under the cover. It sounds like it didn't drop down properly when the turn table rotated, or for some reason the turntable did not align properly when it rotated. I wouldn't worry about it too much. Maybe for the next few smokes, occasionally check to make sure the bisquettes are feeding alright.

On two different occasions I have had problems with bisquettes feeding. The first time I knew what caused the problem. I was seasoning the cabinet, and used old mesquite bisquettes. The older bisquettes were not as compressed as today's bisquettes are, so while it was feeding a bisquette got stuck under the turntable cover. The other time I came out to check on the smoker and had an Err3 error. I pushed the feed button and the next bisquette fed without any problem. I don't know what cause the error.

[RockyMtnGuy]

I have been watching the smoker pretty closely just to learn how it works and what works, internal temp, food probe temps, how much smoke, etc.  In my jammed puck there was no error message, I just noticed the smoke stopped so I opened it, lifted the smoke diffuser (found a burned out puck, pushed it into the water tray, then when I checked the feeder tube and removed the existing pucks, I found the jammed one at the bottom.  Loosened it up, it dropped and everything back on track. Hopefully it was a random event.  Cannot rule out user error, since I'm new at this but will continue to keep an eye everything.

The firmware number is interesting, that's specifically why I posted it to see if everyone had the same version.  I recall you answered a post awhile back regarding someone updating their firmware from the European site and you gave them some instructions.  Let  us know what Bradley says about the different numbers and if anyone else has checked their firmware it would be interesting what version they have!

[Habanero Smoker]

The version number is strange. I thought everyone in North America would have the same version. I'm thinking b002 is equivalent to version 2.0, and b021 would be equivalent to version 2.1. There may be something wrong with the site, which is considering b002 as the latest version, and it is not directing me to the latest version. Bradley may provide me a direct link to the latest version. I'll let you know what I find out.

While I'm thinking about it. If you use the the Premium bisquettes, check your burner plate after each use. I find that these bisquettes can leave a residue on the burner which will build up over time. When cool, I just use a piece of paper towel, and isopropyl alcohol to clean the excess off the plate.

[RockyMtnGuy]

Thanks for the heads up on the possible residue on the burner plate with premium bisquettes.  I have not tried any premium yet, just the standard hickory, alder, maple and apple, "flavors" I am familiar with and have used in the past (with a non Bradley smoker) so I have a reference point as I learn how to use the Bradley smoker system. I'm all in with the P10, as I've already purchased 10 different bisquettes flavors.

A question regarding storage of bisquettes, I've decided to place them in water proof storage containers to prevent swelling from humidity absorption over time as I probably have at least a several month supply and for some flavors I suspect they will be around for more than a year. Was planning to store a few boxes outside with the smoker and the rest in my garage. My wife was already concerned about the small flakes of wood that are a bit messy in the kitchen, and strongly suggested they be kept outside ("like you have for years with our old smokers"). I was originally planning to keep them inside the pantry. When I checked locally in Denver metro, the bisquettes are pretty scarce and limited selection, each vendor had a few boxes, nowhere near a full selection. So I ordered a bunch of boxes online. There must not be very many Bradley smokers here in Denver metro.
Any hints smoking at altitude?

I'll be interested to hear what you learn from Bradley regarding the firmware versions. It would also be interesting and possibly helpful if others who are checking this thread to post their firmware versions here. Probably currently not a big deal as everything is working very well but if there are updates in the future, such as Bluetooth or Wi-Fi connectivity options a firmware update will be more important.

[Habanero Smoker]

I keep my bisquettes in waterproof plastic containers and store them in my shed. So far I haven't had any major problems by storing them this way.

Below is a link to the USDA on high altitude cooking that may be helpful.
High-Altitude Cooking

Below is a thread that discusses cooking at higher elevations:
Cooking Temps vs Elevation

I'll definitely let you know what Bradley says.

[RockyMtnGuy]

Thanks for the links, very informative.

[poping112a]

Internal fish temps stayed pretty close on both P10 probe and ThermaQ probe. P10 held temps well.  None of this was using scientific methods but just my personal interest and learning curve.  Fish had a beautiful brown smoky color (lacking with my many previous cooks on MB).  Taste was excellent but a little dry to my tastes, but very much like deli bought smoked fish from local deli. I typically stop the cook at 120-125F internal temp. The fish I have are very fresh, usually cleaned, vacuum sealed within an hour from catch. Smoke flavor was much stronger and than I'm used to, the taste was excellent. I will try stopping cook at 120-130 next time, plenty more trout in freezer and river/lakes where I regularly fish.

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[Habanero Smoker]

Hi poping112a;

Welcome to the forum.

I haven't smoke much fish in my P10, but I will put that on the top of my list. Lately I've had a craving for red snapper. I may give that a try, the next time I come across a red snapper.