HELP - Newbie to smoking foods with a Bradley

HELP - Newbie to smoking foods with a Bradley

Postby trotters independant » Tue Dec 09, 2014 4:05 pm

Hi all

I have purchased a Bradley Smoker, I have a big box of their mixed wood chip briquettes. My question is (I am in UK) I have some friends coming over for food and drinks just before Christmas and I wanted to smoke/cook a big piece of beef or turkey to serve on the night to be different. My question is what is the best way for me to do this as a newbie? do I cold smoke then cook in my oven on the day or do I hot smoke for several hours and time it to take out of the Bradley on the day? what are cooking/smoking times for either of your suggestions? any do's or don'ts?

I am sure this has been asked loads of times but I don;t have a lot of time to spend in front of the computer searching, I'm hoping to grab some of your experiences as want it to be nice :)

I know this smoker is capable of hot or cold but unsure what I should do, hoping to get lot's of practices this next year but doesn't help me for a couple of weeks time.....

Thanks for any help or suggestions in advance.

:drool:
Luvvaly Jubbaly!!!
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Re: HELP - Newbie to smoking foods with a Bradley

Postby ComradeQ » Wed Dec 10, 2014 4:50 pm

My opinion ... don't cold smoke the meat if it hasn't been cured with a nitrite cure. You are opening up all kinds of possibilities for nasties to form. I suggest you brine the turkey using whatever brine recipe you like (sugar, salt, water is basic or you can find flavoured ones like Smokin Okies Holiday Brine - google search is your friend), inject with some butter after brining (flavoured butter works well too, simmered with herbs/spices and some chicken stock), then cover the bird with some olive oil and salt and pepper (remember the brine will have salted the bird so don't go too heavy on the salt) and smoke at 325°-350° until done. Catch the drippings in an aluminum roasting tray below the bird and let the bird rest covered in a cooler with towels for at least 45mins to an hour. Then collect the juice that comes out of the turkey and use it with your drippings to make a killer gravy. Carve and feast! It will be the juiciest bird you have ever cooked!

Smoking beef can be good too if you do prime rib but remember to keep your marinade simple, no brining with the beef, and don't over cook (you want at most medium, I prefer medium rare) Follow similar process with drippings so you can make a gravy. I like using a marinade of garlic, pepper, fresh rosemary, olive oil, and some worchestershire sauce. Slice the garlic thin and make small knife incisions to studd the roast with slivers of garlic. Then apply all the other seasonings and marinade in a large ziplock or vacuum bag for 12-24 hours. After this point salt liberally and you can either sear the outside before you smoke or place right on the smoker. I suggest temps as high as you can at first (400-450° if you can go that high) then after 15-20 mins drop the temp to 300° and finish cooking to desired temp. *note: temps are in fahrenheit adjust for celcius as you likely will use that in the U.K.

Hope this helps with a good starting point!

I should add, with turkey especially, follow my temp guidelines. You don't want to slow smoke at 220-250° as that can be a danger zone with non cured poultry. Treat it like you would an oven cooked bird with the addition of smoke. Trust me, the smoke level will be spot on!
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Re: HELP - Newbie to smoking foods with a Bradley

Postby ComradeQ » Wed Dec 10, 2014 5:12 pm

One more addition, after some reading on Bradley Smokers (I have never used one) it seems the max temp is around 280. I'm sure that should be safe for the meat but you may find the skin doesn't crisp up. If that is the case, cook to maybe 20° shy of your chosen temp, pull and put in the oven at a high heat to crisp the skin, then pull 10° or so shy of your done temp, wrap and place in the cooler with towels covering, it will come up to a safe temp while resting and will ensure it is not overdone. In fact do that always for any meat, save you the headache of going through all that trouble to cook a dry overcooked piece of meat. :)
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Re: HELP - Newbie to smoking foods with a Bradley

Postby trotters independant » Thu Dec 11, 2014 6:35 pm

Thanks very much for your comments and advice, much appreciated.

I am surprised that only yourself has been able to help so far, let's hope several others reading will benefit from your tips too.

Many thanks :D
Luvvaly Jubbaly!!!
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Re: HELP - Newbie to smoking foods with a Bradley

Postby wheels » Thu Dec 11, 2014 7:25 pm

There's not that many members use the Bradley. That, and the fact that ComradeQ's reply is so comprehensive, probably accounts for the lack of other replies.
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Re: HELP - Newbie to smoking foods with a Bradley

Postby ComradeQ » Sat Dec 13, 2014 12:02 am

And just in case here is the Smokin Okies link http://www.cookshack.com/store/Smokin-O ... Turkey-101.

Has some good advice for smoking a turkey too. I'm doing one on my Weber Smokey Mountain for Christmas and can't wait, the last time I did one it was probably the best turkey I ever had!

Now I just need to start my Christmas pork pies to go with my selection of pickled products I have been doing. Tried a naturally fermented pickled onion recipe that I devised, drained a little of the brine after it reached a safe PH and replaced with malt vinegar for the flavour ... best pickled onions ever!
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