Newbie to this forum

Mr Walleye · March 17, 2007, 04:53:01 PM

Macman

If you keep an eye on Canadian Tire they frequently have both the OBS and the pucks on sale. I think they're sale price on the pucks is about $13 to $15. I usually stock up on them when they have a sale which usually is several times a year.

Mike

Wildcat · March 17, 2007, 05:37:50 PM

A Maverick dual probe.

West Coast Kansan · March 17, 2007, 05:41:26 PM

The origional with a PID will give you better temperature control than the digital.

Accessory?
Adult beverage cooler ::)
Jerky Racks - smaller grid work :)

Have fun...

LilSmoker · March 17, 2007, 11:50:05 PM

Macman: as for essentials:

Top of the list IMO = 3 Bubba Pucks you could get away with 2 + a regular bisquette, but 3 is better, the quickest way i can explain is whenever you do a smoke, at the end of the smoke time there will always be 3 bisquettes left in the system, 2 will be on the delivery ramp, and one one the burner plate.
Now the bisquette on the burner plate will get over burnt as it's not getting pushed off, and will scorch the the one behind it. So with 3 Bubba Pucks, that's all that will be left in the system, no wasted bisquettes, and not so much mess on the burner plate. Anybody that uses Bubba Pucks will tell you they are a must have with the BS.
You can get them here:

http://www.chezbubba.com/

Kirk and Anne are really nice people who will help you out with all things Bradley ;)

Other essentials as already mentioned by the guys.

All the best........LilSmoker

Macman · March 18, 2007, 04:12:24 AM

This is good, I was wondering what a bubba puck was...LOL I made a rule to limit my dumb questions so you guys won't get tired of me ;D

I bookmarked their site. The light just went on. These are just fake metal pucks to trick the system into thinking there are more pucks than there really are so the last one gets pushed off after 20 minutes and you don't wast other pucks. Are these still required if I go with the digital?

Thanks again

PigOut · March 18, 2007, 04:35:29 AM

yes-- they are very helpful.( not really required but helpful) And welcome to the forum !!

Arcs_n_Sparks · March 18, 2007, 05:47:52 AM

Quote from: Macman on March 17, 2007, 04:40:29 PM
BTW, are there any absolute essentials that I should be looking at as far as accessories go?

Macman,

Welcome to the forum. I believe an adult beverage refrigerator in the garage close to the BS is an essential accessory.

Many on the forum like to use a remote digital thermometer to monitor the box and meat temperature. It would be one of the first things to consider.

Arcs_n_Sparks

coyote · March 18, 2007, 06:06:01 AM

Ditto on that Arcs , We should all be prepared for a long and enjoyable smoke. Making the Adult
beverage fridge a very important piece of equipment. ;D :D 8)

Coyote

West Coast Kansan · March 18, 2007, 09:02:23 AM

Greetings, yes you will want the bubba pucks with either unit. It will save you on real wood pucks. Also the bubba pucks get hot on the puck burner and tends to help burn off the residue from the wood pucks - keeping the puck burner a little cleaner and more efficient.

Please dont limit any questions ;D That is why the old timers invented this place. Excellent resource only as long as people ask questions. 8)

icerat4 · March 18, 2007, 09:45:42 AM

Well said WCK.Tons of help here from all the good folks across the globe. ;D

theboatguy · April 01, 2007, 01:13:42 PM

Another newbie, I don't know how fast the smoker is supposed to heat up. Just fot it yesterday. I have set mine to 210F and it has only gotten to 149 by the digital indicator in over six hours. I have a thermometer in a pork loin and it is only at 115. I have the damper closed. The smoke generator is working fine. Is this normal? Also, what are the indicators for in the middle of the display? The manual doesn't tell me much. Thanks

Habanero Smoker · April 01, 2007, 02:11:40 PM

Quote from: theboatguy on April 01, 2007, 01:13:42 PM
Another newbie, I don't know how fast the smoker is supposed to heat up. Just fot it yesterday. I have set mine to 210F and it has only gotten to 149 by the digital indicator in over six hours. I have a thermometer in a pork loin and it is only at 115. I have the damper closed. The smoke generator is working fine. Is this normal? Also, what are the indicators for in the middle of the display? The manual doesn't tell me much. Thanks

Welcome to the forum!

I would not keep the damper fully closed. Smoke and moisture will backup into the generator components. Even if you have stopped applying smoke, you still need to worry about moisture. I have the OBS, so I can't answer your other questions.

Is the pork loin the only food you have in the smoker. If you have a large load, especially chicken with skin, that will slow your recovery rate. I do admit, it should have gotten much higher then 149°F, after 6 hours. If it was around 190°F, I've had smokes that it took about that long to get to 190°F.

theboatguy · April 01, 2007, 03:00:17 PM

Thanks. I have a whole chicken and some pork ribs in addition to the loin. After I posted the first one, it did get to 162. Guess I will have to work on being patient.

Wildcat · April 01, 2007, 04:27:38 PM

Welcome to the forum theboatguy!

I also have the original BS but in Stainless. Not sure about the digital but with mine, if the meat is cold and I am only useing 1 rack, it takes about 20 - 40 minutes to get the box temp to around 200. The meat temp will always be slow to rise. If you open the door at all it will delay the temp.

Gizmo · April 01, 2007, 04:59:40 PM

theboatguy,
Preheat the bradley first (should take 30 to 45 minutes) without anything in the smoker ad the vent closed. Use the max set temp (320 Deg i think). After the BS gets to about 240 to 250, then load the box and crack open the vent. I take mine over the desired temp before the loading as it cools down fast. I also have the SG on so the burner plate will be hot for the first puck. (Don't load wood pucks until the box is loaded). I leave the max temp setting until the box get up to 210 deg or what ever your desired temp is then bring the set temp down to 260 deg or so and then lower as needed to keep the 210 deg box temp (load will determine how much and how long as the longer the time the lower the set temp as the load's internal temp gets closer to box temp). Don't use the digital readout for the box temp. Use a digital thermometer with a sensor close to the air space around the food. I have measured over 40 degrees of difference between the box reading, a sensor on a rack in 1/4 of the way up the box in the back and a probe directly over the food 3/4 of the way up the tower which is why you don't want to use the box readout.