New Smoker from Canada

yul · January 21, 2008, 06:05:49 PM

Hi everyone, I am now the proud owner of a Bradley Smoker. A friend got one last summer and I was really impressed. I have been waiting ever since for them to come on sale ( Canadian Tire , $299 this week ) This is a great board, I have learned more in a couple of hours browsing here than all my searches on Google. Unfortunately, I will have to wait for the weather to warm up before I can get to use the smoker but in the mean time I can pick up lots of tips from here. I first tried my hand at smoking using my BBQ to smoke salmon fillets with a tray filled with wood chips directly on the gas burner. Messed around all day trying to keep the temperature down and the smoke in the box. Six hours later I just knew there had to be a better way and then found the Bradley web site. When my friend saw the Bradley unit he went straight out and bought one. After I saw how easy it was I was hooked and the rest is history.
Glad to see some users from the Isle of Man, ah those smoked herrings. Has anyone tried smoking Cod?

Mr Walleye · January 21, 2008, 06:35:12 PM

Hi Yul and welcome to the forum.

Great to have another fellow Canuck aboard. I here ya on the weather, it's -30 with the wind chill here in Sask.
Hopefully the weather smartens up and you can get that puppy fired up.

Mike

tsquared · January 21, 2008, 07:35:20 PM

Welcome Yul, nice to have another canucklehead on board. Smoked cod--I've never actually tried to do it. I've done tuna, which turned out nice.
T2

La Quinta · January 21, 2008, 07:41:50 PM

My hubby told me to post..."cod is for fish and chips"...and that's it!!! :) Well...at least I asked him!!! (Normally I wouldn't!!) :)

EnglishGuy · January 22, 2008, 12:34:14 AM

Welcome! At least I'm no longer the new boy in the forum ;D

JDM · January 22, 2008, 07:32:13 AM

I GOT ONE TOO!! :D

The price was good and I have been one for awhile. Good luck.
This site has some great info, thanks.

Dave

Mr Walleye · January 22, 2008, 08:12:29 AM

Hi Dave & welcome to the forum.

You will have to keep us posted on your smokin' projects. ;)

Mike

bigredsmoker · January 22, 2008, 12:21:01 PM

Welcome Yul and Dave! You guys will learn a lot about what your Bradley is capable of on this site. Don't be afraid to try anything with the help of the people here.

Dave, I visited your Blog site. Nice job, enjoyed listening to your latest Pod cast. Will check in from time to time to see what's going on at Your Hunt Camp!

Terry

yul · January 22, 2008, 05:06:12 PM

Hi guys thanks for the warm welcome. Unfortunately I do not have anywhere to set up the OBS untill the weather gets a tad better. It would be nice to have somewhere to get out of the wind and white stuff and start seasoning it. Till then lot's of browsing.
I did try my hand at smoking some salmon on my BBQ

but it was a very labour intensive operation.
When I had finally finished the result looked like this.

Does any one know why the white stuff appeared. The fish tasted OK but I was a bit worried about the white stuff

Gizmo · January 22, 2008, 09:35:38 PM

I have't done a lot of Salmon but from what I have done and what I have read, it appears the white stuff seems to be a product of the fat content of the salmon and the amount of heat it receives. More fat and a higher heat seems to cause the appearance of the buggers. The buggers are more of an appearance issue than a taste issue as you have found out. The salmon experienced will be along shortly to clarify.

hillbillysmoker · January 23, 2008, 12:26:23 PM

Welcome to the forum guys. Nice to have you with us.

yul · February 01, 2008, 09:48:23 AM

I have been looking through all the post on the board and was starting to get a little worried about if the BS would be OK when I eventually get to use it in anger. All those references to puck advance mechanisms not working or the red light for the heating element not coming on, so I connected it up in the basement and checked it out. Everything seemed to work so back to waiting for the better weather.Looks like Bradley have got there QA department working properly.
I keep seeing all those references to using a PID. I finally found the excellent article on how to make one from the various components but was wondering if the majority of BS owners actually use them or are they only for hard core users.

more smoke · February 01, 2008, 10:17:35 AM

I installed one two weeks ago and it is a must it held within +/- 1 deg after the autotune takes the work out of it. GET ONE ;)

Keith

3rensho · February 01, 2008, 10:30:10 AM

I second that. A PID is worth its weight in gold (well, maybe not at today's Au prices ;D) but I wouldn't smoke without one now. An OBS and a PID is all one could ask for IMHO. Once I auto tune mine it stays locked on to what ever temperature I pick after that. Welcome to the forum.

Tom

aces-n-eights · February 01, 2008, 12:20:27 PM

Welcome aboard, Yul!

You can still use your BS in the winter time for cold smoking. I just smoked up some cheese and it was awesome! The outside temps were in the 20° range... So scoop out a place outside and give 'er a try!