Bradley Forum Farewell Post

Bradley (Head Office) · December 12, 2024, 06:19:17 PM

Bradley Forum Farewell Post
Greetings, fellow smokers,
For over 20 years, our Bradley Smoker Forum has been a hub for sharing tips, recipes, and camaraderie. We've loved being a part of your smoking journey and connecting with such a passionate community.
As societal circumstances evolve, our priorities must also adapt. After thorough deliberation, we have reached the challenging decision to discontinue the forum at the beginning of 2025.
Embrace the journey! We invite you to join our vibrant private Bradley Smoker Facebook Group, where you can share your smoking experiences, ask questions, and connect with fellow enthusiasts.
Click here to join the group and keep the smoking conversation going.
We appreciate you as an essential member of the Bradley Smoker family.
Thank you for your support!
Keep on smokin'!

cathouse willy · December 12, 2024, 07:27:05 PM

What a shame! Sorry Mr Bradley facebook just doesn't cut it for me. See y'all down the road.

KyNola · December 12, 2024, 07:39:32 PM

Will the forum disappear entirely from the website? It would be a shame to lose all of the recipes that have been contributed and accumulated over the years. If the forum is to be eliminated entirely, would you consider establishing a section for the contributed recipes on the website?

ExpatCanadian · December 12, 2024, 09:36:06 PM

What terrible news! Completely agree with KyNola. Although I rarely post much anymore, I'm still a regular visitor and literally rely on the vast experience of all the members here. I still look up recipes, and revisit old posts... including my own to remind myself how I did a certain thing that I did once 10 years ago and forgot what I did.

I hope you (Bradley support... is it still you Brian?) reconsider or perhaps make arrangements for this to be archived somewhere even if only read-only.

Personally, not a mainstream social media person and definitely not a Facebook user.

manxman · December 13, 2024, 01:41:01 AM

Not particularly surprised by this announcement because the halcyon days of the forum have long gone of which I have many happy memories.

Conversely the forum contains a mass of information that is relevant and useful to current and future customers covering a myriad of subjects including recipes, recipe advise, technical issues and fixes for all things Bradley.

Presumably Bradley are not looking to discard this gold mine of information because in my view this would be totally unacceptable and something of an insult to those members that contributed so much including those no longer with us.

Perhaps make it a read only archive as others have suggested to preserve the massive efforts of those committed Bradley customers?

I don't do Facebook and would rather have root canal dentistry and neither do I want to lose access to all the information and PM's I have access to on the current forum.

Perhaps something of a compromise is in order here?

watchdog56 · December 13, 2024, 06:38:08 AM

I would hate for this to shut down because as others have said there is so much great information here.

I do have a link for susan minor site that has recipes in it just not sure if this is going to work but hopefully :

web.archive.org/web/20150915111431/http://www.susanminor.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?180-Our-Time-Tested-and-Proven-Recipes

Well I have tried a couple different things to get this to post but it does not work. Sorry.

ExpatCanadian · December 13, 2024, 08:28:03 AM

Quote from: manxman on December 13, 2024, 01:41:01 AMNot particularly surprised by this announcement because the halcyon days of the forum have long gone of which I have many happy memories.

As do I... I was just fondly recalling that box full of Bradley smoked kippers you sent me when I still lived in London! I've been 10 years back in Canada now, but checking in and seeing so many familiar names still active has been nice. Also noting with sadness the loss of other long term familiar voices, I only just saw the news about Hab... we had a lot of conversations over the years.

manxman · December 14, 2024, 01:37:36 AM

Quote from: ExpatCanadian on December 13, 2024, 08:28:03 AM
Quote from: manxman on December 13, 2024, 01:41:01 AMNot particularly surprised by this announcement because the halcyon days of the forum have long gone of which I have many happy memories.

As do I... I was just fondly recalling that box full of Bradley smoked kippers you sent me when I still lived in London! I've been 10 years back in Canada now, but checking in and seeing so many familiar names still active has been nice. Also noting with sadness the loss of other long term familiar voices, I only just saw the news about Hab... we had a lot of conversations over the years.

10 years!? Blimey how time flies this is one of many happy memories of the camaraderie on the forum back in the day so to speak. I am still using some of the original metal spacer pucks and a wire rack holder that were despatched across the pond from this era.

Still use Oldman's recipe site from time to time, this link appears to work or at least it did... seems a bit intermittent!?

https://web.archive.org/web/20150915111431/http://www.susanminor.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?180-Our-Time-Tested-and-Proven-Recipes

Nice to hear from you EC.

It would also be nice if Bradley Head Office acknowledged and offered some feedback on the comments made by a couple of the old timers, I appreciate the Bradley Facebook page has been around for a good few years too and is nothing new, I am just not a fan.

Edward176 · December 14, 2024, 12:06:05 PM

Sorry to see this forum go. Like most of you here, I too visit often and read the comments. I have learned a great deal from all my brothers here and will be sad to see it end.
Thank You all who shared your knowledge and "Trade Secrets" that made my experiences smoking such a joy and love.

mybad · December 14, 2024, 02:28:36 PM

Sorry to see you guys go, understandable, and without Hab's, it will never be the same!

Edward176 · December 14, 2024, 06:45:37 PM

yeah, I was thinking the same thing. It seems kind of empty without Hab

manxman · December 15, 2024, 01:38:32 AM

There have been many iconic characters here and I wouldn't even attempt to list them as I would probably do someone a disservice and miss them out!

Most go back many years to the days when the forum was a lot more active than it has been in recent years, a constant throughout all the good times and not so good was Habs and it is him who supported and was the backbone of this forum in recent years.. a remarkable character and no it will never be the same without him.

However that is also perhaps the main reasons why the information on this forum should live on in archived form as a testament to the likes of Mike and others who gave so much time and effort to help others such as myself.

Bradley owe them a lot, they should be naming a smoker after Habs! :-)

Edward176 · December 15, 2024, 11:53:46 AM

Here, here, I agree manxman

TedEbear · December 15, 2024, 07:04:14 PM

I am sorry to see this place go. Although I do not post nearly as much as I used to I still reference this place for some things to smoke and I browse the forum several times each week to see what anyone has to share.

A now retired co-worker got me interested in Bradley smokers back in 2010 and shortly after I received mine I discovered this forum and I learned a lot. It has been a great asset to me.

TedEbear (actually, my real name is Jeff)

watchdog56 · December 16, 2024, 06:41:14 AM

manmax, I am glad you were able to get the recipe site to work. It is a great help at times.