Need Help With Bradley Smoker

ShadyGrove · September 18, 2008, 04:22:42 PM

I just bought a Bradley Smoker from a friend of mine. Very new to it, but I have cooked on it 3-4 times. Man I love it. I am smoking sausage and 2 Boston Butts right now. I am having trouble getting the temp to go up. I have it all the way on high and it will not go above 175 degrees. It has been at 175 for the past 30-45 minutes. My wife put the meat on for me while at was work so it could have been at this temp for much longer. This is just when I noticed it. Is the element going out or is there something I have missed? Thanks for any help.

westexasmoker · September 18, 2008, 04:25:37 PM

When you have a pretty good size load it takes quite awhile for the temp to recover, I'm guessing thats the problem!

C

westexasmoker · September 18, 2008, 04:26:52 PM

And my bad, where are my manners....Welcome to the forum ShadyGrove!

C

FLBentRider · September 18, 2008, 05:04:57 PM

W E L C O M E to the Forum ShadyGrove!

I assume that all the electrical connections are snug. If the temp control slider is all the way to the right, back it off just a hair. Look at the heating element in the smoker, is it glowing red ?

ShadyGrove · September 18, 2008, 05:09:57 PM

All lights are on. Element is glowing red. Have you heard of the temp guage going out or malfunctioning?

westexasmoker · September 18, 2008, 05:24:34 PM

The door temp gauge is notorious for being off, hence the need for a maverick or other thermometer. When I do briskets it takes quite a few hours to recover to 220. Sounds like your heat element is working fine.

C

FLBentRider · September 18, 2008, 05:26:01 PM

The built in temp gauge on the bradley is notoriously inacurate, although I have never seen it off by more than 10F or so.

Most of us use a Maverick ET-73 remote probe thermometer. This unit allows you to remotely monitor the smoker temp and the internal meat temp.

ShadyGrove · September 18, 2008, 05:53:01 PM

Thanks for the welcome. We tailgate for football games and guess who has the main course now. Just started getting a little worried. Well it finally jump up to 200-205. Can't get it passed that but the meat was at 145 internally. So something is happening. Thanks for the help. If you can think of anything else for me to check, let me know.

Arcs_n_Sparks · September 18, 2008, 06:09:33 PM

ShadyGrove,

Welcome to the forum. Remember, you are basically heating the Bradley with six 100 watt light bulbs. Going to take awhile to recover after the door is open or a significant load is put in. The vent also has a bearing.

Arcs_n_Sparks

Gizmo · September 18, 2008, 09:12:13 PM

Quote from: ShadyGrove on September 18, 2008, 05:53:01 PM
Thanks for the welcome. We tailgate for football games and guess who has the main course now. Just started getting a little worried. Well it finally jump up to 200-205. Can't get it passed that but the meat was at 145 internally. So something is happening. Thanks for the help. If you can think of anything else for me to check, let me know.

Welcome Shady,
I usually find the temp of the box will rise more quickly once the meat reaches 145 or so. You are progressing as expected.

Oldman · September 18, 2008, 11:50:12 PM

Welcome to the forums....

QuoteThe door temp gauge is notorious for being off, hence the need for a maverick or other thermometer.

Believe it or not my door temp gauge is right on spot. HOWEVER, it takes it a long time to get to the true reading.

beefmann · September 19, 2008, 01:11:40 PM

welcome shadygrove,

with the tempture reading 175 and a larger laod of food .. over 6 lbs it will drop and take a while to recover to 220 .. dont worry about it and trust the bradley ... once your meat starts getting close to being done it the gage will be at or near 220 ..

on another note one item that a lot of newbies are not use to is that the outside of the meat turns black...this is just the nature of smoking.. im not talking that the meat is burnt from the fire or heat... just from the smoking process

beefmann

Curious Aardvark · October 28, 2008, 08:32:07 AM

from my experience this is normal - my bradley will just not cook at anything over 200.
I think it's down to the liquid always being present. As the temp rises the water evaporates and cools it down again.

With another smoker you could simply remove the water - with the bradley I don't know what the result would be if the bisquettes did not have a water bowl.
But as I let it go dry on the last smoke and the temp finally went up right at the end, and it all tasted fine and all I had left in the water bowl was a fine ash. I suspect you don't need the water in the bowl. The hot bisquettes would then add to the heat in the machine rather than sending up a spray of cooling steam every 20 minutes when they drop in the bowl.

Next 'play' smoke I'll try running it dry. As with the cooking temps as low as they are, it's totally useless for ribs.

I will add that the only thing it hasn't cooked well are racks of ribs - and it just wouldn't go hot enough to get decent pullback. With the result that after 6 hours I had racks of ribs that were both underdone and overcooked. Wasn't impressed lol

Gizmo · October 28, 2008, 10:31:48 PM

I would suggest not running the Bradley without water in the bowl. Not only does the water extinguish the pucks, it keeps the grease dripping down from the meat from catching on fire. I have not had a problem getting the box up higher than 200 degrees under most normal conditions. I can get 260 degrees in the box if needed but you must realize that larger loads will absorb more heat and until the meat gets up in temperature, the overall box temperature will be lower.
On the digital units, you need to set the temperature set point higher than the temperature you wan the box to be at. As the meat increases in temperature, the box temperature will rise, and then you can start lowering the set point. I typicaly have mine set at 260 for probably the first 2 hours before adjusting it down. Again, the numbers here are relative to what I have loaded and how much. Also the outside air temperature will have some affect as will opening the door and the vent setting. Time and experience will get you dialed in. The great thing is the process in the Bradley is very forgiving and external adjustments to the finished product can salvage most errors in patience. 8)

LilSmoker · October 29, 2008, 01:09:43 AM

Yeah that's sound advice from Giz, never run the Bradley without water in the bowl :o

In fact if yours is struggling to climb in temp, try hot water in the bowl, this will kickstart a climb in temparature. I always use hot water in the bowl, and so do lots of members here with good results ;)

LilSmoker