BS Dependability?

[mavrickone]

     Hi Guys,
  I am smoking a pork loin as I write for a friend of mine and he has a Cookshack smoker that he uses which is a little more than my Stainless BS. We have talked about the BS for some time and as we both are concerned about the lifespan of these smokers?
  I will say with the limited experence I have had with baby backs and a pork roast I am IMPRESSED! I just want to know from you guys how long it will "live" and any care and up keeping I need to know about to get the longest life possible.
  I am currently looking at becoming a dealer for Bradley and I want as much feedback as possible so I will know if this thing will keep working with some normal care?
  I would appreciate any feedback.

Thanks
Mav

[Arcs_n_Sparks]

I am currently looking at becoming a dealer for Bradley and I want as much feedback as possible so I will know if this thing will keep working with some normal care?

Need to ask someone like Chez Bubba....

Sparkler

[mavrickone]

Thanks, Will do

Mav

[iceman]

     Hi Guys,
  I am smoking a pork loin as I write for a friend of mine and he has a Cookshack smoker that he uses which is a little more than my Stainless BS. We have talked about the BS for some time and as we both are concerned about the lifespan of these smokers?
  I will say with the limited experence I have had with baby backs and a pork roast I am IMPRESSED! I just want to know from you guys how long it will "live" and any care and up keeping I need to know about to get the longest life possible.
  I am currently looking at becoming a dealer for Bradley and I want as much feedback as possible so I will know if this thing will keep working with some normal care?
  I would appreciate any feedback.

Thanks
Mav

I have a few of the originals that are over 6 years old and still working fine. I have  8 or 10 generators and all are working fine baring a couple of advance motor failures all my fault for leaving them out at 20 below or more. I use the generators almost every week on my larger smokers that I built. I have to say that I am impressed with the life span. Chez can also vouch for reliability I think. Hope your dealership works out.

[mavrickone]

          Thanks Ice,
  I run an indoor shooting range and pro shop here in Tulsa and I had looked at taking on the line a couple of years ago but since Bass Pro carries them I decided not to,however when I got mine at Christmas I went to get some bisquettes and they did not have any and have not had for some time so after doing some checking they really don't seem to have anyone to "sell" them and really nobody there can even really talk about them so I am rethinking it.
  I do have another question off the subject concerning the smoke generator.I cleaned mine today and all the buildup was about 1/2 way down the shute? Is the burner at the very end?If so my bisquettes seem to be burning at 1/2 way. I am using the special blend and not getting as much smoke as I did the times with the alder ??? Any Thoughts?

Thanks
Mav

[West Coast Kansan]

Big stores (Bass Pro, Cabellas,etc) and internet sales are primary distirbution. I think it would be tough to turn enough units to make it worth doing. I think Chez Bubba is an out side the box situation with some sales lots of contacts and knows smoking so builds loyality by helping people.

[Habanero Smoker]

Mavrickone;

I also wish you good luck in developing your dealership.

Some bisquettes produce more smoke than others. I haven't used special blend in a long time, but I generally use maple, pecan, apple, and hickory. They all smoke differently. If you compare the different bisquettes to each other, especially maple to mesquite you will see a noticeable difference in texture. The maple particles are very fine, and flake off easily, but the mesquite has larger particles and hardly flakes. I generally use a mesquite on top of my two bubba pucks, because they hold up better.

If you are not using bubba pucks, there will be a more noticeable build up of residue at the area where the heating plate connects to the rest of the bisquettes ramp. This is caused by the contact of the bisquettes that is on the heating plate with the next bisquettes. The contact causes some smoldering of the second bisquettes before it is pushed on to the heating plate.

[manxman]

Hi mavrickone,

The commonest problem historically with the BS appeared to be the puck advance motor on the smoke generator which seems more common on the original rather than digital models and is usually evident on delivery or very soon after. However, this issue does not appear on the forum as often as it has in the past.

Other (isolated) issues have crept up from time to time on the forum but there certainly does not seem to be an inherant reliability issue at all and plenty of people have had their smokers for a while now.

One thing that will affect the lifespan of the smoker is lack of some TLC, a bit of appropriate care such as  cleaning the puck heater plate from time to time, cleaning the door seal, blowing bits of unburnt puck dust out of the generator, storing it in dry conditions etc but you have already alluded to that in your post.

In my experience when there is a problem on new units:

a. they appear to manifest themselves very soon after purchase.
b. Bradley Smoker back up and Customer Care seems second to none, with advice and/or replacement parts sent out quickly if and when there is a problem.
c. For units outside the warranty period a reasonably comprehensive spare parts list seems to be available, although not that many dealers seem to carry them. (Chez Bubba in US, Grakka in UK) Would be worth checking availability.   
d. once any initial issues have been resolved the BS's appear to go on and have long and happy smoke fuelled lives. ;)

Good luck. :)

[iceman]

That sums things up nice Manx. Ditto on your quote. ;)

[MallardWacker]

The last time I did my rant on COOKSHACK I found my self with black helicopters and strange people running up and down my road...I think you are doing the right thing by going to the Bradly...there is no way you have the consistency with the COOKSHACK.  But one thing I will add is that they a BIG WINNER with their pellet smoker...if I had the room AND the cash I would get one. 

[NePaSmoKer]

Hey mavrickone

I have a cookshack smokette, It is a good cooker/smoker i wont argue that. However since getting my OBS the cookshack has got but one smoking since. Ths CS has that tiny vent hole which IMO dont do nothing all that great, yeah the CS has the bottom drain too but.

If i were to rate the OBS to the CS.

BS                              CS

9.5                             4.5 Lots of problems keeping the temp correct, 2/4oz of wood dont really give a good smoke IMO

Why 9.5?

I think Bradley could make the smoke generator motor assy better.

nepas

[West Coast Kansan]

Very interesting compare by someone with both.  NePa the smokette is the smaller size unit with about the same price as the bradley? 

I do like the looks of the CS $3k model and sounds like temp control is guru style with the temp hold.  But then I could finish my GTO Project if I had another $3,000. Never seen one in person though.

[MallardWacker]

NPS,

You hit the nail on the head...the vent on the smokette is non-existent...you can check their forum for such things like "Black Goo" syndrome due to the fact of the humidity and the comments about the "Rubbery Chicken"...to me due to the fact of a lack of a good vent.  Anybody that has done chicken, you knows yuze gotta hav a vent...AND the biggest thing the Bradley has going for is the consistency you get with the pucks and smoke generator...ya I know they will bite back..."don't you know those wood pucks cost"...as you found out the little cost involved is well worth it.  Also the comments that they are built like a tank...my thoughts...you don't smoke with a tank.  Another observation is the drip tray...to me the Bradley has it over the cs in this issue also.

[West Coast Kansan]

CS site i visited the other day really slams Bradley in a link. Having a Bradley i must say it is not a realistic write up. Bradley has its share of out of the box issues but customer service stays with you until the issues are resolved.

I was interested in the comments above from owners of both - hard to beat that kind of feedback.

[NePaSmoKer]

Yeah MW

The vent sux on my CS. I made a diverter out of aluminium to the side so it drips down the hole kinda solved the goo prob. I even used a homemade rig with a 3" pc fan flipped over so it draws the smoke out. It works pretty good. I dont use my cs much anymore maybe i will sell it to finance a 6 rack BS.

Its all my wifes fault  ;D , she took me from the calif desert and showed me Amish country where i took up smokin.

nepas