Bradley Smoker

[mother hen again]

Has anyone bought the Bradley Smoker that is being advertised on this website for �349? I like the look of the silver one (would go with my kitchen!) I wondered if anyone could provide feedback to me before I buy on 'do's/dont's..... I would appreciate some feedback.. I'm not creative enough to build my own...
Thankyou

[jenny_haddow]

I've got the black Bradley smoker. It certainly does the job well. You say the stainless steel one would match your kitchen, the biggest 'don't' I can think of is DON'T put it in your kitchen! I keep mine in a small dedicated shed in the garden on a 'non party' boundary.

If you get one you will never buy smoked salmon again.

Jen

[Bad Flynch]

I have had a black one for about two years now. I have cooked corned/salt beef, brisket, chickens, pork butt, and so on. It is easy to use and does a nice job. It will easily cook more than I can eat in a reasonable amount of time.

You will want to buy one of the programmable thermostatic controls for the thing. I don't remember the name of the control, but it is discussed on the Bradley website. It has a temperature probe for the meat and one for the cooker oven. It will regulate the cooking temperature, cook the meat to your desired temperature, and hold the temperature of the meat there. Of course, the smoker end of the thing is independent of the cooking so that one can control the amount and duration of the smoking process independently.

Because the smoke generator is independent, you can rig the smoke generator on a separate box and pipe the smoke to the main cooker. That cools the smoke and allows one to "cold" smoke small quantites of sausage, etc. I have an after-market smoking rack that makes it easier to hang foods for smoking.

There is a thing called a "Bubba Puck." I allows one to properly feed the last smoke puck into the smoker and cuts waste. They work as advertised, too.

[welsh wizard]

The Bradley is a simple yet effective way of both hot and cold (with a slight mod) smoking food.

It is ideal for the beginner as well as the more experienced as it provides a continious flow of smoke over a set period of time to a preset temprature if required.

The main down side of the Bradley is you have to use the pucks that come with the smoker as they do not adapt (unles anyone knows different) to burning wood shavings. However the pucks do deliver a constant and timed flow of smoke as I said previously.

Jenny is 100% correct, you would not want to use the smoker in your house unless you want eau de smoked interior. In so saying, they do not deliver copious amounts of smoke so smoking in a built up area should not annoy the neighbours.

For those of you who have a Bradley, I have just been advised by my supplier that Bradley are soon to be bringing out a purpose built cold smoke box, so cardboard boxes may become redundant depending on the price!

With regards to Stainless Steel or Black - both do exactly the same job so it is mainly down to the looks. However if cold smoking on a sunny day outside I would expect the SS version to not get as hot as a black one, but with the addition of a few ice blocks in the bottom of the smoker things shoud equal out. I personally have a black one and have had it for over 5 years.

Cheers WW

[mother hen again]

Wow, interesting and informative replies- food for thought! (ha, ha) I've got a little time before I buy it so will keep my eye on the forum for guidance throughout.. slightly disappointed I shouldn't keep it in the kitchen, might as well save money and go for the black coloured one then!
Thankyou

[Richierich]

Wow, interesting and informative replies- food for thought! (ha, ha) I've got a little time before I buy it so will keep my eye on the forum for guidance throughout.. slightly disappointed I shouldn't keep it in the kitchen, might as well save money and go for the black coloured one then!
Thankyou

There is nothing stopping you from keeping it in the kitchen if you really want to, I guess its just not advisable.

I have stored my smoker when not in use in the garage, you can smell the smoke when you just get near the garage, nevermind opening the door.

[this41uk]

Hi

I've been looking at the bradley smoker for sometime. I've got something that would make Heath Robinson wince but it does the job most of the time.



The prob is sometimes I get cooked smoked.

Will the Bradley cold smoke and at 20 mins a bisquette are the expensive to run.

Tim

[welsh wizard]

Hi Tim

Yep the Bradley will cold smoke with a slight mod, no problem.

With regard to the pucks they are availiable from c31p per puck giving you a 3 hour smoke for �2.80 which because of the size of the unit is ample enough time to smoke 4 sides of salmon, plus some other bits.

Therefore a side of salmon in the Bradley comes out around 70p a side to smoke - not that bad really.

Cheers WW

[this41uk]

Hi Tim

Yep the Bradley will cold smoke with a slight mod, no problem.

Whats the "slight mod"


Tim

[jenny_haddow]

Hi Tim

If you look in the thread I started called 'smoking at last' you will see a picture of my Bradley with the mod. Generally the smoke cooling chamber is a cardboard box, but we made a sturdier one from the casings of some old microwaves. I works a treat, and I am going to experiment with other sources of smoke other than the pucks. I have some recipes that require some interesting combustible material.

If you look on the Bradley website there is a section on modding the smoker for cold smoking.

Cheers

Jen

[this41uk]

Found the thread 'smoking at last'

Looks good Jenny but where did you put the "privy"

Tim

[jenny_haddow]

Some things have to be sacrificed Tim in the pursuit of home produced food!

[mother hen again]

Is the Bradley smoker digitally controlled?

[saucisson]

There is a digital controlled version:

http://www.bradleysmoker.co.uk/products ... igital.htm

Dave

[welsh wizard]

Hi, the digitally controlled version has not been out in the UK for long and when I tried to get one some time ago I was told it was not availiable in the UK although it is on the web site. However in so saying I now believe they are availiable but you may have to wait a short period.


Cheers WW