Bradley Digital Vs Little Cheif. Tastes different.....

[ISmokedIt]

Ok here's my situation. I owned a little chief for years now and I love it very much. Apple wood for everything was perfecto! The smoke would come out just right and taste great.
So I upgraded to the 4 rack digital and I love all the features BUT:

The taste is different.. I can't tell if i'm using too much smoke, too little smoke.. And I don't like the taste that the bradley produces as much as what the little chief did for me.  I am using the apple wood from bradley as well. In my little cheif I would do about 3 pans full of wood chips would be great and have a great flavor. The bradley I smoke for about 2-3 hours on average. The bradley itself is well flavored as i've smoked quite a bit of stuff in it.

Basically the smell and taste of all the jerky I prepare tastes a bit too smokey and the smell of the cooked items isnt the most pleasant as such as the little chief produced.

So i'm wondering here.. Compared to the little chief, do I smoke it longer, shorter... I need some tips and tricks to this! I loved my little chief, but it wouldnt reach the right temp on cold days and I had to watch it's every move to make sure it's smoking right.. Bradley digital is awesome.. Just need to figure out whats going on..  Any help from you pro's is greatly appreciated :)

[coyote]

Welcome aboard Ismokedit , Give things a little time for trial and error and smoke in small batches til
you get a handle on your new DBS. Enjoy the learning experience and let the smoke fly.
                                                                                             Coyote

[Habanero Smoker]

ISmokedIt
Welcome to the forum.

Taste is an individual and subjective experience, so what taste good to some will not for others. The intensity of the smoke flavor depends on what you are smoking and how much smoke is applied. Two to three hours is not long enough for most products. For butts and brisket you should apply 4 hours of smoke; for poultry and ribs I generally use 3 hour. There is a big difference in the taste between too much smoke or too little, so it should be easy to distinguish the two. Too much smoke, and you will get a ashy/bitter taste.

The best thing to start with the above guidelines, post inquiries on specific topics, and search this forum to see what others have done.

If you haven't seen the recipe site; here is a link to it. It is full of information on specific recipes that include smoke times.
http://www.susanminor.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=180

I never used a little chief so I can't compare them.

[LilSmoker]

Personaly i think flavour of any kind including smoke can be an absolute minefield!, we all know the difference a small ammount of salt and pepper can make to the overall flavour of a recipe.
Smoke flavour is much the same i guess, say for example you were used to smoking a certain recipe with maple, then you did that same recipe next time exactly the same but with hickory, there would be a very noticeable difference in the smoke flavour. How long you actually smoke for, cabinet temp, and how far open the vent is will also make a difference.

I agree with Habs and coyote, a little experimenting and personal preference are key factors with the BS.
I'm sure in no time at all you'll get used to your BS

Regards..........LilSmoker

[Mr Walleye]

Welcome ISmokedIt

Just to throw in my 2 cents, I do a fair bit of jerky. If I'm understanding your post correctly you are applying smoke to your jerky for 2 to 3 hours. Although you don't indicate if you are doing whole muscle or ground jerky IMHO this is probably to much smoke jerky. I usually use 4 pucks (1hr 20 min) on my jerky. I like hickory on my jerky. For me, in most cases if I'm not sure about amount of smoke I tend to go on the light side and see how it goes. I also have a book I write the details of every batch down in. That way you can fine tune it over time.

Mike

[ISmokedIt]

Thanks for the comments everyone.
Yea I am using whole muscle meat. It does give a bit of an ashy type taste and so the next batches I am going to tone down the smoke. I like the idea of 1 hr 20 minutes. I will give that a try.

So let me ask this question, why would I smoke items less in the bradley then in the little chief? Possibly because it creates so much more smoke I suppose..


I think I will be spending a lot more time on these forums and I will help out when I can as well.
Thanks and I look forward to learning more about my bradley!

[Mr Walleye]

IMO the Bradley smoke generator & pucks produce a more efficient smoke opposed to using wood chunks in a pan. I would think that would be the reason.

Mike

[nodak]

I would agree you ended up with too much smoke, try less than build up from there.  Not much meat to penetrate when lookin at jerky.

[West Coast Kansan]

Just to add to the pile - I am thinking the consistent smoke output of the Bradley allows you to reduce the amount of smoke time. 

By comparison chunk wood smokers get hot and smoke reduces OR smoke boxes dry out or start to empty and smoke reduces between fills.

Dont know really but it is easy to make stuff up... in anycase...

I have noticed cutting back smoke time = better taste. Seems odd in comparison to old smokers.

[Wildcat]

Welcome to the forum ISokedIt.  Can't say any more that the others have at this point.  Keep experimenting and post results including temps (internal and box), time smoked, type wood, volume, thickness of cuts, type, etc.

[NePaSmoKer]

I agree with mr walleye, I only put smoke to me jerky for an hour in my BS and my walkin and my offset and my CS and my.....stop  ;D

somebody slap me  :o

nepas

[ISmokedIt]

Thanks for all the warm welcomes too!

Here is roughly what I smoked with my last batch.

Had 4 BS racks and 4 little chief racks full of jerky (beef and Elk).
Cuts were roughly 4-5 inches long about 1/2 inch wide.
Smoked with Apple wood for I believe around 2 hrs 40 minutes. (this is where my problem is I'm thinking)
Cooked from start to finish with the BS set to 150 degrees.
Started pulling out cooked jerky after about 7 hours, finished it up around 13 hours.
I did rotate the racks about every 3 hours.

I have cooked up whole chickens, a pork shoulder roast, and my one buddy shot an elk and I cut an awfully large chunk of the ribs right off and put them in the smoker. All those turned out really good. (the elk ribs actually reminded me of the flintstones :) ) Those I smoked for around 3 hours as well and they all turned out really good.

[Mr Walleye]

ISmokedIt

I think ya got her figured out. Some of my jerky I tried as much as 2 hour but I prefered it lighter and that's why I've settled into using 1 hour or 1 hour 20 min. The smoke flavor kinda took over I thought anytime a tries more smoke. I've been doing my jerky at 170 degrees. I usally do about an 8lb batch with 2 sets of jerky racks (8 racks). I load 4 racks as you normally would then load the other 4 upside down. It basicaly doubles your rack space. It does slow down the process, just because you have so much in there but I have found at 170 degrees it takes about 8 to 9 hours with a couple rack rotations. Times are always dependant on the thickness of the meat, ground or whole muscle and volume of meat.

Mike

[Gizmo]

Has anyone tried 200 deg F BS temp?  High Mountain cure and spice directions suggested a 200 deg F temp.  A dehydrator uses 155 deg F.   I like the idea of lower temperatures.  The process for beef jerky should be to dry not cook the meat.  Alton Brown did a series on jerky and he used several heating and air conditioning filters with the meat sandwitched between them and strapped to the fan.  No heat involved.  Cool dry air was ticket.

[nodak]

Here is where I go for jerky and sausage answers and a whole lot more: www.askthemeatman.com/how_to_make_beef_jerky_art_updated_9300.htm
This is a great website somone here turned me unto.  I have never ordered from them, but need to as I feel guilty always using them for info and not giving them any business.  They also have a great step by step snack recipe for times and temps.

"7.   I then lay the jerky strips on stainless steel screens in my smokehouse for 6 to 6 1/2  hours at 150 to 165 degrees. Place the slices close together, but not touching or overlapping.
8.   Dry until a piece of jerky cracks but does not break when it is bent. This is when the jerky is done.  Properly dried jerky is chewy and leathery. It will be as brittle as a green stick, but won't snap like a dry stick.
To test for the jerky for the proper dryness, remove a strip from the oven or dehydrator. Let it cool slightly, then bend the jerky; it should crack, but not break.

9.   For best results, to increase shelf life and maintain best flavor and quality,  freeze the jerky, vacuum package it or place in air-tight bags (not zip-loc bags) and place a packet of oxygen absorbers in the bag.  (We use oxygen absorbers.)  Label and date the jerky packages. " 

Taken from askthemeatman.com