Novice Introduction

[mikemaupin]

Hi fellows, I doubt you need another newbe but I ended up here after a coupla months research on smokers. My name is Mike Maupin and I live in East Tn, I am 65 and retired. The Bradley I was interested in was the 4 rack black one, I wanted the digital but it was quite a bit more. When I called Cabellas I found that they had the 4 rack stainless on sale untill the end of this month and it pluss a 48 pack of assorted pucks was only 34 bucks more than the black non digital.
  Total for this stainless smoker was 334 and the black one was 300 with no extras. My question is how much ease of operation did I lose by not going digital which would have been about 200 more that I would have had to wait to get? I am diabetec and dont get around very well plus I am lazy. Any way I have ordered it before I found this forum.
I guess what I am asking is did I do the right thing. I have had a coupla of bullet smokers years ago but nothing like this. I liked the idea of stainless, since it will sit on my porch which is covered and I probably wont need a cover another 25 dollar savings, and I like the smoker generator that I hope I wont have to fool with. Also will this smoker get hot enough to hot smoke? Thanks fellows, I am sure I will have a lot more questions in the future, Mike

[West Coast Kansan]

From reading on the forum you did not lose a thing with the SS OBS.  Those who use them report it takes very few smokes to be able to dial in the temp on the OBS with the slider. 

I think you will want a cover even if your porch is covered. Just a good idea / weather / insects / etc. The SS will require a little attention to keep it looking new but those with SS can better speak to that...

It will definitely hot smoke for you as well.

Welcome - enjoy the smoker and share your experiences. 

Other welcomes and tips coming I am sure...

[HCT]

Hi Mike,
   Welcome to the forum, newbies are always welcome to the forum, that's how they get to be oldies. ;D Good luck with your SS, I have one also and love it. Yup, it will hot smoke for you. You're going to find the temp slider on the bottom is very user friendly, after a couple of smokes you'll learn just where to set it to to get the results your looking for. I haven't invested in any PID's or other add-ons, no need to as of yet. Great box, wise choice.

[Habanero Smoker]

Mike;
Welcome to the forum. I also started on bullet (water) smokers.

To make things a little easier you may want to invest in a temperature probe so that you can monitor the meat temperature. Many of us have the Maverick ET-73 which is a remote thermometer that can monitor both the cabinet and meat temperatures. The remote make it easier to monitor the smoker temperatures, without having to keep going to the smoker to check on things. The Maverick ET-7 can also be utilized in this manner.

I got mine from this source:
http://www.thegadgetsource.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Store_Code=tgs&Screen=PROD&Product_Code=011502013733

You may want to look around the Internet to see if you can find it for less. There are also other types digital probes you can purchase.

Good luck with your purchase. I'm sure you will enjoy it and if you have any questions this is the place to come and get them answered.

Also you may want to check out the recipe site:
http://www.susanminor.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=180

[Carter]

Hi Mike,

You're going to love this site.  People are really helpful and friendly.  One of the best advantages is you can ask questions while you're cooking something and get answers before you go to the next step.

I don't have a digital smoker or one of those Maverick's (Yet).  I've just been using an instant read thermometer to check my internal meat temperatures and the machine's temperature guage to tell me the box temp.  I'm sure it's not ideal and I'm pretty sure my guages aren't totally acurate, but I'm starting to learn that's it's pretty hard to really mess something up with the Bradley.  I think the only thing you can really do is oversmoke something (although I'm sure some would disagree).  I did that with my first Chicken, and we still ate every scrap.

I feel like a novice here, but the people I put food in front of think I'm a pro.

Enjoy you're new purchase.

Carter

[Wildcat]

The SS was my choice.  I keep mine indoors when not in use and just wipe the exterior down with a damp rag when I finish smoking.  Great little machine.

[mikemaupin]

Thanks a bunch fellows, the Bradley is supposed to be here july 25. Hab, Home Depot has a remote thermometer for about 5 bucks more and it is close by, I dont know the difference in them but the features are the same, I may go look at it. Thanks agian fellows, Mike M.

[hillbillysmoker]

Welcome to the forum.  I hope you enjoy sharing your adventures with the friendly folks here.  Habs is right on with his advice to you as he usually is with his advice.  It has provided me assistance many times in the past.

[Consiglieri]

Mike:  If you don't need the thermometer right away, I'd look into getting the Maverick ET-73 rather than another one.  This Maverick model is very handy for a number of reasons:

1.  It is wireless, so you don't necessarily need to be within eyesight of the smoker.
2.  It monitors both cabinet temperature and meat internal temperatures.  The Maverick's cabinet temp reading will be much better than the door therm.  I have a digital Bradley and the temp sensor is located right about the level of the lowest rack, meaning that the reading is taken very close to the heat source and away from the other racks (which when loaded with meat will drop the temp substantially).  The maverick probe can be moved around the box for so that you can get a better idea of temp differences around the smoker interior. 
3.  It has alarm settings so that not only do you get a message when your meat hits the target, but also an alarm if the cabinet rises above or sinks below the thresholds that you set.  Very handy for overnight smokes.

And also, welcome! Looking forward to reading about your projects

[mikemaupin]

Thanks Con,   I dont know how to send a link on this forum but if you go to the home depot
home page and type in  remote thermometer 2 of them will come up. It looks as if the specs are identical. I dont know what the probe cable length is on the Mavrick but the one at home depot is 36 and 24 inches.
Its not important though, I was just thinking if it gave a problem I could have it replaced in less than an hour.However if you get a chance to look at it let me know what you think, Mike m.

[Mr Walleye]

Hi Mike... Welcome!

I went and looked at Home Depot (USA) and they do sell the ET-73, here is the link.

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100396720

Mike

[mikemaupin]

Yep thats the one I was talking about. I guess when Consigner said Maveric I got sidetracked, they must be one and the same Maveric and Redi-chek. Mike M

[Gizmo]

Mike, you nailed.  They are one in the same.

One caution, the on off switch is very delicate and breaks easily.  The range is not as long as advertised but there are posts here that show how to extend the range by adding a little wire for an antenna.
This will be one of the most used tools you will purchase as a Bradley "Add-On".

Welcome and enjoy.

[Consiglieri]

Yeah, the on/off switch is very much a weak point.  Mine gave out two or three smokes ago (have to get something sharp in at the base of the switch and move it that way now).  Still, strengths offset weaknesses with this gadget.

[iceman]

Welcome Mike. The add on wire antenna got my range from 50 feet to well over 150 feet and through three walls. Great little gadget when doing the overnighters on butts and briskets. Kick back and have some fun around here. Ask questions and smoke away! ;D