Got a new Bradley smoker for Christmas

Hello, Mike! Welcome to the SMF Family!!!

I did a little of footwork for you in advance, with your mention of the Bradley, just so you can search for general info on your smoker right out of the gate:

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/ne...&order=descending&Search=SEARCH&Search=SEARCH

If you need to find something in specific, the ADVANCED SEARCH tool is your friend...not always super-accurate, but a good place to start.

Enjoy your time on the forum!

Eric

Hey Mike, welcome from another Mike.  You found the right place for getting answers to your questions!  Like Eric said, the search tool is awesome.  The folks here are also awesome as Eric has already shown by providing a link to your smoker.  I gotta learn how to do that.  Glad you joined us!

Mike

Welcome to the site Mike and to the smoking hobby.

Congratulations on your excellent Christmas present.

Go Green.

Hey, Mike -

I just thought of another tid-bit here for a better understanding of how to produce safe foods from your smoker, being you're new to the craft (read the heading written by Chef Jimmy J...there are also threads that follow on various food safety questions/possible issues): FOOD SAFETY Forum

The low temp issue you had today is an unfortunate problem with some electric smokers...many are under-powered for cold weather. There are some modifications that can help to overcome that problem with the addition of a separately wired and controlled heater element, among other things. You may find some useful ideas in the Electric Smoker Forum (look for heater mods) or by doing an Advanced Search for adding more heat to electric smokers. With an engineering mind-set (I know, writing code for software is a lot different than making a smoker operate better...it's the analytical thought processes that will serve you well) you may find these fixes to be rather simple to bring online. It's very early in your ownership and use of the Bradley, but there may soon come a time when you find it would be nice to run at a more acceptable chamber temp in cooler weather...and maybe run a little more towards the hot & fast side of smoke chamber temp ranges. Just food for thought...

Enjoy the reading and learning!!!

Eric

  Good morning and welcome to the forum, from a nice chilly, windy day in East Texas, and the best site on the web. Lots of great people with tons of information on just about  everything.

Gary