Hello my name is Don Fredrick

chief don

Newbie

Original poster

Jul 23, 2014

1

10

• Aug 7, 2015

• #1

I live in Bolingbrook,Illinois I have just started to begin smoking, I have a Bradley electric smoker it's not fancy to begin with it just has the plug in heater and controller, and uses a small box above water with wood in I have only tried a few things so far with not to much luck. The first was a whole chicken which after the cooking time and temp it didn't look cooked it wasn't brown the meat thermometer said it was done we than placed chicken on gas grill to finish,second item was pork chops they over cooked could use some help kind of not tried anymore.

 

hoity toit

Master of the Pit

OTBS Member

SMF Premier Member

Nov 4, 2011

2,078

636

New Braunfels, TX . in the beautiful Texas Hill Co

• Aug 7, 2015

• #2

Hi Don, welcome to the group. There is a ton of information available here. All the folks on here are here to learn and to share.Take the time to browse around and look at all the posts and feel free to ask questions, I guarantee you will have all you questions answered. All you Bradley Smoker guys and gals out there help this man out. FYI a lot of us use external thermometers on both the cabinet temp and the meat temp because the factory thermometers built in to the smokers seems to always be off 20 degrees or more.

Here is a SMF link to the Bradley discussions here on SMF http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/newsearch?search=bradley

Hope this helps...

HT

 

tumbleweed1

Smoking Fanatic

Jan 29, 2015

491

201

Chicago suburbs

• Aug 7, 2015

• #3

Don't give up- you've come to the right place!

Welcome aboard.

TW

 

joes bbq ribs

Meat Mopper

Jul 28, 2015

157

33

Peoria, AZ

• Aug 14, 2015

• #4

Hello Don, you have come to the right place there is a lot of information on this forum and I'm sure sure there are plenty of smokers on here that can help you and or lead you in the right direction. As far as getting your smoke temps to hold try and do some dry runs just smoking with no food at least you can get a better feel for your smoker. Also try to get and external set of thermometers the Maverick ET-733 is a nice set not to costly. Hang in there and happy smokin :grilling_smilie:

Joe

 

Last edited: Aug 14, 2015

C

cal1956

Master of the Pit

Apr 14, 2015

1,068

319

Colorado

• Aug 14, 2015

• #5

since your new to this the main thing is to stay with cheap meats until you get the hang of it ..no sense wasting good meat until you have gotten a few things to turn out right

 but I you can grill a hamburger , you can smoke meat  

 

trippy

Smoke Blower

Aug 14, 2015

82

15

Northern Idaho

• Aug 14, 2015

• #6

Don't be discouraged. Their is a big difference between cooking pork and chicken. With meat their is no one shoe fit to cooking. Take some time reading temperature required for cut of meat. Try to get as near to it as you can and it will come. Then it's all about making your smoker sing the song "We cooking good tonight!".

 

gary s

Gone but not forgotten. RIP

OTBS Member

Jan 6, 2011

26,255

4,705

• Aug 19, 2015

• #7

  Good afternoon and welcome to the forum, from another hot day here in East Texas, and the best site on the web. Lots of great people with tons of information on just about  everything.

Gary