My First Smoke

[West Coast Kansan]

Like Lil S says, most competitions are traditional smokers only.   :( I have heard it said some will use a bradley in addition to thier rigs but I have not witnessed this. ;)

As above the more meat the more time.  You can put an shocking amount of food into the BS. With ribs if you have a large gathering I would suggest using rib racks to stand the ribs on side. These will multiply the amount of ribs that will fit the Bradley.

Over time I have stopped thinking about the amount of food I can smoke at once.  The Bradley is not like a wood smoker where you spend an entire weekend chained to the smoker.  They are so easy to use it becomes very comfortable smoking small (in comparison) loads.

You dont feel like you have to do 100 pounds to justify the time spent.

Pretty nice!  :)

[boxertrio]

I have used my Bradley in preparation for comps to smoke cheese, peppers, onions and such for recipes, but KCBS and MIM comps both clearly state wood products only.  Part of the competition is your mastery of the flame, lots of people compete that have no idea how to keep a fire for smokin, ie...thin blue smoke, and end up havin lots of fun but ,alas, not placing in the competition.

The set and forget ease of the Bradley eliminates the learning curve of a stick burner and would pretty much put every one on the same plane as far as being able to maintain the "perfect" amount of smoke versus heat over time.

I love my Bradley and use it often, but as far as a competition, I think it would only be a recipe competition as there is not much expertise needed to maintain the temps.

Hope this makes sence as I have partaken of many a whiskey drink this fine evening ;D ;D

[West Coast Kansan]

KCBS i hear eliminated thier amature sauce competition at the royal venue.  Have not had it confirmed  :(  but is what my son passed along. This was always a great way for beginners to get started.

[boxertrio]

Sauce Contest
More information on the Commercial Sauce Contest will be announced at a later date. There will not be an Amateur Sauce Contest in 2007.

Took this from the Royal web site....what you hear is true Kansan.

[Consiglieri]

Welcome Grif, and gotta ask you about your photo to learn what it is (pretty odd question from a guy using a picture of the SF Giants' 70s mascot, huh)?

As for photos, sign up for a complimentary account at www.photobucket.com ; it has instructions regarding posting photos at a website, etc.

Good luck with the Bradley "majic box" experience.

[West Coast Kansan]

Boxertrio, yep, i looked right after I posted.  Too bad, a lot of great smokers started out with amature sauce. Gave them the opportunity to participate and learn from others before they had the money to enter on the BBQ side of things.  I hope this is not going to be a trend...will hurt exposure to BBQ.   ???  >:(

[Habanero Smoker]

Griffy;
Thanks.

Fortunately I live about 23 miles from the Culinary Institute of America (CIA). I sometimes take what they call Food Enthusiast courses. These are usually a one day weekend courses. The first one I took was Grilling and Smoke Roasting. They spent a great deal of time explaining the science behind the recipes, after that I was hooked. So when I have time I look up information on the science of food. My main referenced book is "On Food and Cooking", by Harold McGee. The CIA now has a one week boot camp on Barbecuing; I'm trying to free up some time and money to attend one of their sessions.

[Griffy]

Again thanks to all who replied. I am very interested in competition BBQ. Does anyone have any recommendations for smokers that are not set and forget like the BS? My buddy has a cheap smoker that he got at Fleet Farm or something like that. It looks like a drum with separate firebox on the side. He gets pretty good results with that. Any other resources (books, websites etc) that might talk about how to get involved with competition BBQ?

To answer Consiglieri -- my Avitar is the character Chode (some pretty nasty meanings if you look it up on the web) but he's the main character in Tripping the Rift. http://www.scifi.com/tripping/. -- NOTE: THIS IS NOT WORK SAFE.

If you haven't seen this series the first season is worth renting or getting on DVD. Its worth watching stricktly for the character Six http://www.scifi.com/tripping/index.html?room=3.