bradley smoker/Any smoker Advice....

[mother hen again]

Well, I haven't managed to get the pennies together yet to buy one but.... one question... does anyone use a seperate temp. gauge with the Original Bradley Smoker?
Actually, with any smoker is a temp gauge necessary or is it guess work? (like most of my cooking if it looks cooked 'it is' cooked LOL )

[Bad Flynch]

Well, I use an electronic control called the BBQ Guru, or something like that. If you go to Bradley's website, you can find references to it there and discusisons about it. Try www.thebbqguru.com for purchasing information.

There is also another attachment that one must buy; it is on the site, too. It is called the Power Raptor and it is basically a switched power supply that allows itself to be regulated by the BBQ Guru. The only difference is that you use it to regulate the heat in the box rather than regulate a fan.

Together they work just great. The Guru monitors the inside temp of the box and regulates the heat to maintan an even temp. It will even set and hold a desired temp with a ramp-up (to a goal) temp feature and then hold the meat there for hours, if desired.

None of this allows one to do cold smoking with the Bradley, but that can be accomplished with an add-on box.

[mother hen again]

Thanks for reply Bad Flynch,

On the Bradley smoker website the members keep referring to this - is it the same as thing - just a different make?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0168911040

Anyone used either?

[Bad Flynch]

That thing on Ebay is a thermometer only; it can only tell you what the temperature is of anything into which one of the probes is inserted.

The BBQ Guru &c., actually can regulate the temperature of the oven according to the temperature of the stuff being monitored.

I really like mine and it is a big help. However, I smoke-cooked for years only knowing the temperature of the oven and regulating it by guess and by golly. That works, it just takes a little bit of learning beyond what the automatic control can do for you.

I use regular, cheap electronic thermometers to monitor most of the stuff and have the temperature sensing probe of the BBQ Guru placed into the center of the center piece of meat. The other, cheap thermometers are good enough after the Guru does its stuff.

[mother hen again]

Thats very interesting, thanks for info..
I will go and look closer..

[saucisson]

I have one of these:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ET-72-Maverick-WIRE ... dZViewItem

Which is basically a single probe version of the one you posted, although I was lucky enough to get mine in the UK from a shop that was closing down. I use mine when conventional cooking in a bbq to check the bbq temperature doesn't get too hot due to a sudden flare up, with a non-wirelss one in the meat to check its temperature. I also use one or other just in the BBQ when cold smoking to keep an eye on things. Have you looked into the digital Bradleys at all MHA to see what additional functionality you get?

Dave

[mother hen again]

Dave,
I have looked at a few postings on the Bradley forum and those that have the digital version do appear to be enjoying using it- although there has been one or two issues about the location of the digi.. with some members suggesting it should of been higher up on the door. They appear to be using the Maverick 73 in addition. I'm not convinced at the moment the digi one warrants the additional expense, but I am more than happy to be convinced otherwise if someone on the forum posts a different perspective.
Therefore, I thought I would buy the Original Bradley however, I am confused with what I need to buy as extras and neither do I really understand the technical stuff they talk about on that website that Bad Flynch has posted it looks interesting - but scared me of. So, I thought I would forget about the temp gauge or whatever it is I need for now but show OH this link for him to decide after the prezzies have been opened on Xmas day.

[Bad Flynch]

MHA--

There is no reason to get put off by all the technical stuff as the technical stuff is not necessary to produce a decent product. All one really needs is one thermometer to monitor the temperature of the oven so that one can regulate it by hand and one needs a probe in the meat to tell when it is done--and that is all. The thermometer in the door of the Bradley works most of the time and is usually close enough.

I use several of the cheap digital Polder thermometer/timers and even more than one at a time. However, I recently acquired two radio transmitting thermometers by Oregon Scientific. The first, acquired last year, is simply that and has no adjustment for temperature that would account for my off-beat preferences. The newer one, acquired just a week ago, has all the bells and whistles: customizable settings and it will talk to you then the temperature of your meat gets close.