Another FNG, impatiently waiting for his new BDS

[rscearcy]

Yesterday, I was surfing for a new grill to replace my Holland (indirect heat) and Char-Broil (I know, but it's really served me well).  I had my eyes on a Jenn-Air knockoff sold by Lowes.  It would replace both grills and look really cool, besides.  Somehow, in my surfing, I ran across Bradley's digital smokers.  I've got a couple US Stove water smokers that work well, but require a lot of tending, as well as a 50 gallon drum custom job that also does a pretty good job.  But, when I saw the BDS, I was stoked!  So, I proceeded to surf.

When visiting the Bradley web site, I ran across this forum and spent a couple of hours getting to know you all.  You (not the company's web site, although I also spent a lot of time there reviewing recipes, etc.) convinced me that my old grills would continue to be just fine.  After all, I've grilled prime rib roasts, tenderloins, turkeys, ribs, fish and all kinds of things on them and nobody's complained yet.  So, instead of paying $1,300 on a Jenn-Air grill (down from over $1,700), I spent a whole lot less on my soon-to-be Bradley smoker. 

I even learned where to buy my smoker, the accessories I needed and which bisquettes to buy.  The only thing I haven't ordered yet is my Bubba Pucks, but I've e-mailed Chez Bubba to get the necessary info.  I can't adequately express my thanks to all the posters, including the other FNGs who asked questions I didn't even know should be asked, for all the help you've been to me and I don't even have my smoker yet. 

I should get my smoker next week.  I'll immediately assemble it and get ready to season it.  But, first, I'll call my friend the Fire Chief and prepare him to see a lot of smoke coming from my neighborhood pretty often.  And, if they happen to roll on my smoke, I'll offer them a taste of whatever we're smoking at the time.

We live in central California (it was 104 today) and we grill year round.  So, I expect we'll get mucho use out of our Bradley.  Now, if I happen to ask what seems to you to be a stupid question, please be gentle.  Thanks for all the help.

rscearcy

[Mr Walleye]

Hi rscearcy and welcome to the forum!

You'll love your Bradley! Keep us posted how you make out once you receive it. As far as questions go... there aren't any dumb ones so fire away. You'll find everybody around here very helpful... I know I have.

Good luck
Mike

[NePaSmoKer]

Welcome rscearcy

Here is the link to Bryans site, he can give you the skinny on ordering bubba pucks.
http://www.yardandpool.com

nepas

[Wildcat]

Welcome and congradulations on the purchase.  You will be glad you did.  One thing though, the BS will not put that much smoke in the air so the fire department will never know except by the wonderful odors if the wind is blowing towards them.

[La Quinta]

Welcome!! You will find out things that you couldn't possibly imagine on this site!! The amount of knowledge amassed here is amazing to me!! I have owned more smokers then I care to comment on but...the BS is really cool! Easy to use and the support from this web forum is great!! Again, welcome!!

[Consiglieri]

Fresh New Guy? or something else?  When's the initiation dinner?  Just kidding, of course and looking forward to reading about your experiences.  Welcome!

[LilSmoker]

Hi and welcome rscearcy, congratulations on the Bradley purchase  ;) you can look forward to great food and have a lot of fun smoking/cooking it!

LilSmoker

[rscearcy]

OK, my Bubba Pucks are on the way, as well as my remote thermometer, both of which I learned about on this forum.  Now, I have to sit around and wait (or work when anyone's paying attention) for the shipping confirmation on my smoker, bisquettes, cover and, of course, my Bradley baseball cap.  I also ordered the jerky racks before I saw a post this morning recommending the tray liners instead.  Oh, well, I'll use them until they deteriorate and then order the tray liners.  Hopefully, I get my shipping confirmation sometime today. 

So, what do I try first?  Has anyone tried cold smoking ahi tuna filets and then tossing them on the grill for a quick sear?  We have tuna 2-3 times a month, salmon (cedar plank, naturally) just about every week, lots of chicken thighs and ribeye steaks weekly.  I don't know if I want to do a pork roast until we have a large enough crowd to be able to eat it.  I know I'm going to try the smoked deep-fried turkey this Thanksgiving.  What about smoking a ham?  The possibilities are endless.

The bottom line is that, if I don't know when to expect my new baby, at least I can begin planning our first meal when it does arrive.  BTW, how good is the recipe booklet that comes with the smoker?  Are there other smoking recipe books I should have?  I must have at least a dozen grilling books and I think most of those recipes can be adapted to smoking, whether it's a pre-grill cold smoking or hot smoking.  I hope I don't ruin too much choice meat (or lose too much face) finding out which recipes don't work.

Sitting and waiting...
rscearcy

[Mr Walleye]

rscearcy

Click on the Bradley Smoker in the bottom of my post. It will take you to the recipe site. Everything is all tried and true recipes from everyone on the forum. Some great stuff!  8)

Don't be scared to try a pork butt. You can freeze leftovers in meal size portions.  ;)

Mike

[Mr Walleye]

Here is a current recipe for salmon posted by Stickbowcrafter that looks great.

http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=5848.0

And of course there is Kummok's recipe that everybody raves about.

http://susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?p=121#post121

Mike

[rscearcy]

Thanks for the links, Mike.  They both look so good that I might just have to try both of them out.  I've smoked salmon before in my water smokers and it came out pretty good.  I didn't cut the filets into strips as the recipes call for and I didn't air dry to form the pellicle.  (In fact, I'd never heard of it before, so I just keep on learning on this forum.)  We don't have much salmon fishing here in California's central valley, but we do have supermarkets with "fresh" salmon, most farmed.  So, that'll have to remain my main supply.

Now, I really like the other smoked salmon, like you put on a bagle with cream cheese.  I guess that would just be a cold smoke?  Has anyone tried that?

Man, the waiting is becoming unbearable.  I feel like I did when I was a kid waiting for Christmas morning to finally arrive. 

Is my clock stopped?  I wonder why I haven't gotten my shipping confirmations yet?  Will next week never arrive?

rscearcy

[Habanero Smoker]

For cold smoked salmon Spyguy's recipe for lox is one of the best, I also used this for ahi tuna, and it came out great.
http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?t=103&highlight=spyguy
http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=128.msg1255#msg1255

[rscearcy]

After I posted my last, I did some more reading on cold smoking.  It looks like that's not in my cards for a few more months.  Today hit 105, so I guess August is not the month for cold smoking in the San Joaquin Valley.  It might even be hard to smoke at 200 degrees in this heat, right?

But, then, the thought struck me that I could modify some of my beer making equipment for summer cold smoking.  I kept my soda kegs in a chest freezer with an external thermostat to keep my beer around 40 degrees or so while it was lagering and to store.  I also had a smaller version of a chest freezer with an external thermostat to store my cigars back when I kept as many as 700 cigars on storage at the proper temps.  I don't know why I couldn't adapt one of them to serve as a smoker box.  That seems like a better answer than ice in the smoker. As long as I didn't cut a hole in any of the refrigerant coils, the external thermostat should keep the smoking temp down where I want it.  I already have holes in the top of my former cigar humidor (it was used to hold kegs being dispensed behind my bar) that I used for hoses to the tap and to the CO2 bottle.  Those could probably be adapted to serve as smoke vents. 

If my wife knew I was thinking about this, she would probably refuse delivery of the smoker and send it back.  She always says that when I take on a new hobby, I can't just be a casual hobbyist.  I have to throw myself headlong into it.  I guess that's why we have three grills and two smokers now, not counting my new one.  And, why I had 700 cigars at one time.  And, why I had the beer making setup I have.  And, why we had three motorcycles once.  And, on and on.  That's not what they call obsessive-compulsive, is it?

Has anyone tried something like this?  I know smokers use cardboard boxes and dryer hoses between the smoke generator and the smoking box and even smoke houses.  My small freezer almost sounds ideal, except it would be awkward handling the contents, because that's the way chest freezers are. 

Or...I could just wait until October or November when it cools down a little.  In the meantime, I'm still waiting for my shipping confirmation.

Smoke easy,
rscearcy

[Consiglieri]

Hey! Another brewer/bradley owner in the Valley.   I'm in Stanislaus County (Turlock).

[Habanero Smoker]

Sounds like a good idea, just keep in mind that once you go below 70°F, the ability of the smoke to penetrate starts to diminish. Olds started a post on using a refrigerator unit to convert for cold smoking. I tried a search but couldn't locate it.