Newbie to this forum

[Macman]

I was looking for something for my birthday and stumbled across this site when looking for sausage spices.  You folks look like you have a ton of fun on here.  I am looking for a birthday present for myself (the big 40) and I am very interested in this smoker.  I have a couple of questions for you though if you don't mind.

1.  Do you recommend the digital or original and why?  I am thinking the digital makes life easier but am not sure.  The original is now available at Canadian Tire stores nationally in Canada but haven't seen the Digital one.

2.  I grew up on a farm here in Nova Scotia and we had our own smokehouse. It looked like an outhouse with buried pipe to an underground firebox about 20 feet away, needless to say we cold smoked and the recipes were passed down from generation to generation.  The question is, can i do the same thing with this? We used to cold smoke ham and bacon from our own pigs.  I can remember it used to hang a week or more in the smokehouse. We also used to smoke Kayak (Gaspereau) as well.  These used to be eaten like candy. smoked hard as a rock.  Dad has since passed away and my brother doesn't use it anymore, in fact, i think it is not usable now.  We used maple and birch sawdust collected from cutting firewood as the smoke generator. We used to build a hardwood fire and then throw damp sawdust in the pit to generate smoke. 

3.  I really miss the smoked meat and really am interested in making some sausages, jerky etc.  Am in in the right area, is the Bradley the ticket?

4. Is there anyone else from the east coast on the forums?

Thanks for putting up with a Bradley wannabe and I just want assurance that I will use it. I already have a Vermont Castings BBQ which we live on every weekend, I just wanted a little variety.  And some of the techniques for cooking ribs etc just make me want to run out and buy one today...LOL

Thanks in advance.

MacMan.

[NePaSmoKer]

Hi Macman and welcome to the Bradley forum.

Whichever Bradley smoker you get you will not be dissapointed. You want to do hams and sausage I would go with a 6 rack. Cold smoking works great in the BS.

nepas

[winemakers]

I've got the original bs with circulation fan and temperature controller mods.  Works great for me.  Cold smoking is easy by emulating your childhood setup.  The smoke generator is removable, so..... you set it up adjacent to the box and pipe smoke through hose of your choice (most use dryer piping) into the box.

I am in lust with mine, and none of the family seems to mind dinner time much either.

mld

ps: welcome.

[manxman]

Welcome to the forum, I have an original SS BS, no modifications, and I love it. Does everything I want and more and IMHO the original is better suited to cold smoking than the digital.

See:

http://www.johnwatkins.biz/personalpages/coldsmoking.htm

Whichever one you go for the Bradley will be "the ticket", have a trawl round the forum to get different views regarding the OBS and DBS. The biggest and best decision appears to have already been made by buying a Bradley..... the rest is fine tuning!!  ;)

And yes, both will do sausage and jerky.

[MRH]

Welcom Macman,

I have the original model too, only use the PID mod on it.  It is great , I have done a few canadian bacons in it and they turned out excellent.  One thing about it is if you have any questions, just come here.  It is full with a bunch of helpful and knowledgable people.

Mark

[Macman]

Wow, thanks for the warm welcome.  The only problem is that my birthday isn't till July  :(  I am chomping at the bit.... I need patience..... ;D

I discovered some wonderful ideas and learned a lot from these forums.  It is so nice to see everyone sharing their recipes and experiments.

Thanks again and I will keep reading, preparing for my birthday.

Maybe I can say I need it earlier just to practice for the party..  ;D

Think it would work...?

[Tiny Tim]

If I had it to do over again, I'd still buy the Original and add a PID to it, even though I haven't even gotten my PID assembled yet (still waiting for my controller and SSR...should be here today or Monday).

Welcome, Macman.

[coyote]

Welcome aboard Macman, There are plenty of good folks here at the forum to not only help you be
more successful smoking , but also make it even more enjoyable. I know they have for me.
                                                                        Good to have you with us,
                                                                                                Coyote :)


p.s. Don't rush your birthday...these days I'm
tryin' to slow mine down. ::)

[Mr Walleye]

Hi Macman

I just wanted to welcome a fellow Canuck!

I have the DBS and I'm more than happy with it. I have done the circulation fan mod, built a PID for exact temp control and built mine into my heated garage because of our cold and windy winters here in Sask. You won't go wrong with either one. As far as mods go it's just personal preference, some of us just have to play! Anyway you go there is absolutely a ton of information here and if it's not, everybody is more than happy to help. I've only had mine a year or so and I can honestly say that the forum and the people on it plays just as big a part as the BS itself.

Good luck
Mike

[West Coast Kansan]

Welcome,  Waiting is tough! I have a digital, i like it greatly.  You are really wanting to cold smoke it sounds like so i would say the origional is a bit easier for that purpose.  The digital requires a longer cord for the temperature sense connection allowing the Generator to be disconnected from the tower for cold smoke use.  Not a big deal but as above members say, you will like whatever you get. 

[Gizmo]

Either one is great choice.  Welcome to the forum.  If you like to tinker just a little, the Original will save you some cash and you will have better temperature control with the PID modification.  Lots of help here on the board for you no matter what you choose.

[Wildcat]

Welcome to the forum Macman.  I would not wait to get it.  Get in NOW and buy smoking gadgets for your birthday.  The wife should not mind the purchase now since she will be eating much better food and probably for less money. ;D

[LilSmoker]

Hi Macman and welcome here, i wouldn't wait until July, life's too short, so go ahead and treat yourself to the smoker, you know it makes sense!  ;D

Think of all that lovely food you can start enjoying, go for it i say, whatever model you choose you'll be happy with, i have the original in black, very pleased with it.

Regards........LilSmoker

[Habanero Smoker]

Macman;
Welcome to the forum, and happy birthday. Nova Scotia is a beautiful area. I'm from New York.

I have the original, so I can't compare it to digital. I've cold smoked several items, but never tried to use the cold smokehouse method, which requires smoking/hanging for several weeks. I generally only apply smoke for 3-4 hours. Right now I've just begun to experiment with smoking the meat in the BS for 3-4 hours, then hanging the meat in a small refrigerator for several days to several weeks. That may accomplish the same thing as hanging the meat in a smoker for several weeks. My only problem so far is that I can't adjust the refrigerator that I am using no higher then 43°F, when I need to get the temp. up to 60°F-70°F.

For smoked sausage and/or jerky, I don't think you can go wrong with either model.

[Macman]

 :) Thanks for all the suggestions, I think that I may look at the original then since it is available via my local Canadian Tire.  I even touched one today while I was in the store....DROOL!!!!!  They even carry the most common pucks for the same price as buying them online.

It is still cold here but I think this would be an excellent compantion for my VC BBQ.  It took me a while to figure out what a PID was, but I think I can handle that one as well and if I get the same result from the original with PID as the digital one, then I think that I will persue that first.  Now all I have to do is wait for Salmon season to open in a month ;-)

I still haven't convinced my DW that I should have it before my birthday, but I am working on it. 

Thanks again for the warm welcome and I will keep you posted.

BTW, are there any absolute essentials that I should be looking at as far as accessories go?