question about bradleys

son471

Newbie

Original poster

Dec 23, 2007

14

10

minnysoota

• Feb 24, 2008

• #1

question for bradley owners how do you like them, there ease of use, how much smoke they produce , do they put out any heat, ect. i am making a smoker and was thinking about hanging a bradley smoke generator on an old fridge i am ripping apart also thinking of putting on a heat chamber so i can cold and hot smoke any input would be greatly appricated




scott

 

ajthepoolman

Smoking Fanatic

OTBS Member

Jan 1, 2006

811

11

Topeka

• Feb 25, 2008

• #2

I am not a bradley owner, but my VP is. He smokes up terrific stuff with his for company gatherings and such. He has mentioned that when he is smoking for a long time, he will use his bradley since a puckload will last well throughout the night without him babysitting it. He has also smoked cheese using a true cold smoke by not putting any heat into the main chamber.

 

kookie

Master of the Pit

OTBS Member

Mar 27, 2007

2,850

10

Mandan North Dakota

• Feb 25, 2008

• #3

From what I have heard from Bradly owners is that they are great....The only two down sides I can see of them is they aren't cheap and that you can only get the pucks from bradly. I have never seen anyone else that produces the puck at least in my area.....I have looked at the units and they seem damn nicely built..... I have seen the smoke generator that your talking about... I am not sure how much heat it produces though............

 

payson

Meat Mopper

Nov 17, 2006

261

10

Columbia SC

• Feb 25, 2008

• #4

I have a Bradley and absolutely love it. It produces some fine Q and couldn't be easier. I've got nothing but good to say about it. I bought it because I wanted the cold-smoking versatility as well as the ability to basically load it and walk away. As far as my wife knows it still requires constant monitoring so whenever I smoke something it's necessary for me to remain by its side drinking and "checking on it". :-) The heat ranges from ambient to about 275. The smoke generator alone will produce pretty minimal heat. Just enough to get the puck to smoulder. They produce what I would consider the perfect amount of smoke. Thin-blue non-stop. As far as operating expense, well worth it in my opinion. You can always find a deal on the pucks.

 

moselle

Newbie

SMF Premier Member

Feb 6, 2008

13

10

• Feb 25, 2008

• #5

I am brand new to smoking, but I do catering and some recipe and menu testing part time. I was given a Bradley and I am LOVING it!
For my use I am already pumping out super high quality food.

It is not practical for me professionally to babysit a wood or coal smoker for hours.
With the Bradley I can rub a couple butts, pop them in the smoker and set it on medium and 10 hours later I have fantastic pulled pork.
I like the idea that I can put in 3 or 4 hours of pucks and have enough smoke for flavor and then just leave the food to finish cooking.
I have smoked several fatty's, ribs, chicken, turkeys, cheese, veggies and, knock on wood, I have yet to have a disaster. Everything I have smoked has come out super high quality and was super simple to make!

The ability to cold smoke simply has added a invaluable dimension to my biz.
As for cost I think Bradley claims it cost about a dollar an hour to operate. I find the pucks burn slower than that. But even a dollar an hour seems cheap to me. I don't have to pay for charcoal, and I have no idea where I would get wood. Also for cold smoking it only takes an hour or so to smoke cheese or veggies and the cost saving of buying smoked cheese or veg opposed to making my own more than justifies the puck cost IMO. (I sound like a commercial)

For me and my uses the Bradley seems to be perfect.

 

mrh

Meat Mopper

Dec 24, 2006

219

12

Iowa

• Feb 25, 2008

• #6

I have the Original Bradley with a PID that i put together and really like it. Just load it with pucks, set my temp, then wait for the meat thermometer to tell me it's done. The puck burner only heats enough to burn the pucks and make smoke and not alot more heat from it. But if you used another heat source for heat you could use it just like the Bradley does, it has a infrared lamp for heat, along with the puck burner.

 

son471

Newbie

Original poster

Thread starter

Dec 23, 2007

14

10

minnysoota

• Feb 25, 2008

• #7

infared lamp very interesting now you got me thinking