Adding water and heater questions

[SmokeRules]

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I'm new to the Bradley and to smoking. Reading the Bradley instruction manual left me scratching my head. Hope to get some of these questions answered here.

What's the lowest temp at which the the pucks can create smoke? Or maybe I should ask, how long after starting the BS until it can generate smoke?  

How does the heater element work? Can you make the BS preheat faster by red-lining the slider all the way to the right and then backing it down after you get to the desired temp?

Can the internal meat temperature ever get hotter than the smoker temp? In other words, if the BS is set to 180, can the meat being smoked go over 180 or does it hit 180 and just stay there?

Opening the door really increases cook time but most of you recommend rotating the meat and refilling the water bowl after around 4 hours. What's the downside of just leaving everything be and not touching it until the food is cooked?

[Oldman]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">What's the lowest temp at which the the pucks can create smoke?<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

The box temp has no bearing on the smoke generator. The smoke generator "burns" the pucks. While it does add some heat to the box it is not the source for the heat.

 <blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Or maybe I should ask, how long after starting the BS until it can generate smoke?
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If you turn on the generator and wait ten minutes or so. Then hit your puck advance 3 times. The burner for the puck will be hot and smoke will start quickly.

 <blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">How does the heater element work?<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
The more you slide the control bar at the bottom to the right the hotter the element will get. It does not cycle on/ off. The power to the element is constant.

 <blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Can you make the BS preheat faster by red-lining the slider all the way to the right and then backing it down after you get to the desired temp?
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Correct.

 <blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Can the internal meat temperature ever get hotter than the smoker temp? In other words, if the BS is set to 180, can the meat being smoked go over 180 or does it hit 180 and just stay there?
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No it is not possible for meat to get hotter than the cooking chamber. Think of the calories of energy in the same text as water. Eqalibruim--in other words it finds its own level. For the meat to get hotter then the chamber would have less calories; again, the eqalibruim within the chamber will not allow this to happen. Please note. You could cook a Prime rib to a temp of 150 degrees. Hold it at that temp for several hours and while it never got hotter than 150 degrees it will be very well-done.

 <blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Opening the door really increases cook time but most of you recommend rotating the meat and refilling the water bowl after around 4 hours. What's the downside of just leaving everything be and not touching it until the food is cooked?
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The answer is variable. If you are smoking meat for 4 hours, but continue to cook it then the water is not an issue. Over 4 hours the water needs to be added. If not then the near burnt pucks will still burn, and any drippings will find there way to those pucks will flair up. Thus a new source of smoke and gasses will be released upon your food. The Bradley is a refinded smoker, and all aspects of it are well balanced to get you great results everytime, not just once in a while.

I smoke my meats normally in a T-shirt and I flip mine over for coloring more than anything else. Someone who smokes for the bark will have to address flipping the meat over.

[SmokeRules]

Hey thanks for the great info DoW-Oldman! That will really help the next time I use the Bradley, probably next weekend.

Smoked my first pork butt yesterday and it came out pretty good, now with your help, I'm really looking forward to the next try.

I'll post details of what I learned doing the pb later in a new thread under Meats.