Smokers

[fishhuntwork]

I received a cabela's premium gas smoker for christmas. I am thinking about returning it for a bradley, where you can set the heat. Does anyone have experience with either of theses smokers or can you suggest a good smoker for a beginner. I will be mostly smoking ribs and briskets.

[reinhard1]

i like the Masterbuilt smoker. a 40 inch verticle smoker like this is all digital with remote control but is electric. it goes for $299 at sams. dont know how much on line. i dont know anything about the other smokers you mentioned. good luck.

[rocstar]

I have seen the Bradley in action. It uses preformed pucks of sawdust that are loaded into a feed silo and then when you turn the smoke on it automatically feeds one puck every 20 minutes onto a small hotplate. When the next puck is added, it pushes the ash off the end of the plate and it falls into an ashtray with water in it. Totally automatic! It also has a supplemental heating element in the bottom back of the smoker so you can set the temperature at whatever you want. It is insulated and seems to work well in colder weather. You will pay more for it and the pucks but for the occasional smoker it works slick.

[delcecchi]

For ribs and brisket I would think something on the order of weber smokey mountain would be excellent.

[KEN W]

I have a Masterbuilt also.Could'nt see having to buy Bradley's pucks all the time.Had trouble getting the temp down on a propane smoker when I wanted to make sausage.couldn't get it under 200 deg.That's to high for sausage.Worked fine for ribs,pulled pork,etc.

My Masterbuilt works great.

[1johntimm]

couldn't get it under 200 deg

Turn the propane valve down to almost off and watch the flames, you can lower the temp by cranking it down.

[10,000 Casts]

I have the Bradley Digital. I got it 2 months ago and prior to getting it I had never smoked anything. I have done, Ribs, prime rib, pulled pork, pork loin, chicken and cheese. Everything has turned out amazing, the ribs, pulled pork and prime rib are better than I could ever get at a restaraunt and it impresses anyone that eats it. We have used the just mesquite pucks but you can get about 20 different flavors.

Anything you would ever want to smoke you can either ask the guys on hear for tips or do a search on the net.

Digital makes it easy but probably not needed but I like it. The only down side to bradley is that you have to use their wood pucks for smoke and they are spendy at $20 a box which gets you quite a bit of smoking time at 20 mins a puck.

Lots of good smokers out there.

[eyeguy 54]

I just use the masterbuilt 30 incher. ribs,turkey,chicken,fish,hb eggs. Bags of Luhr Jensen Smokehouse wood of many flavors at Mills. Or online by the case. :>)

[Leaky]

I'm in the market right now for a smoker and am torn between the Masterbuilt Digital 30 inch and the Bradley. Am leaning towards the Masterbuilt, but had read a lot of reviews about them having heating element issues a year later and then not having the replacement part.

Good comments so far. Any insight I can gather here for a new smoker would be appreicated. I'm hoping to buy one this week.

Also, if anyone has used both a gas & electric - Do you have a preference and why? My fear with propane is that if i want to run something overnight, I'd have to put a full tank on, leaving tanks laying around partial full.

[reinhard1]

i was just looking around for smokers myself to see if any good sale's yet. i've been waiting for the Masterbuilt 40 inch to go on sale besides sams having it for $299. that will be my choice. by looking around i did not see any Bradly for under $300 with the chip feeder [maby there are some]. i seen that Lowe's had a Masterbuilt 30 inch for $149 which was progamable and electric but in limited supply which may be that they are out. this would be a good one for you in my opinion if available, and perhapst one can be ordered. i just want a bigger one in the 40 inch. good luck.

[Leaky]

Thanks RH. That one at Lowes is a really good price. The best I've seen (for what I'm pretty sure is the same model) was at Amazon for $179.99 (no sales tax - free shipping). I like the idea of getting one that has the meat probe built in. Not sure if this one does or not. Cabelas had a Masterbuilt online for $249.00, but it was back ordered. But for that price difference, I can just run a digital, wired probe down the vent.

[reinhard1]

the Masterbuilt for $149 at Lows shows the picture of the programable one. dont even know if it's in stock. but if it is the one in the picture it's a heck of a deal. good luck.

[Leaky]

RH - I'm going to stop at Lowes in Blaine & Maple Grove tomorrow. I'll let you know what I find out. Thanks again for the tip!

[fishhuntwork]

I was at the Big C today and picked up a bradley with my employee discount card. Saved me $80. I will let you know how the first smoke goes

[eyeguy 54]

Just close the door on the cable so you can close the vent. :>)

[bak2MN]

I have the bradley auto matic one and have done ribs, salami, sticks, and a slab of salmon and everything has turned out great. The pucks are a lil spndy but real easy to use for a beginner. I picked mine up at gander for $349, and it is the 6 tray bigger one. Best price I found a couple of months ago.

[Leaky]

OK! Pulled the trigger today. Fleet Farm had the digital 30" Masterbuilt on sale for $159.00, plus a $10.00 gift card. Just what a guy needs, another excuse to go to Fleetdale.(Amazon $179.00 was the best I could find with a store who actually had one in stock)

Can't wait to finally get started doing some smokin. To be sure, I'll be revisiting a number of the topics here. Thanks everyone!

Question - I'm going to do pork butt for about 10 guys the last weekend of Janaury. I want to do dry run with something before that. What should I do? A chicken? Any suggestions?

[eyeguy 54]

never hurts to practice, and you get to eat stuf! heehee i use the smokehouse chips. tons of choices on amazon dot com and I think mills fleet farm has them now also.

[OnAFly]

Do a pork butt. Figure out what goes on and get comfortable with it. Trust me, the pork won't last long, so you'll need more by the end of Jan.

I would get a digital probe thermometer if I were you. It will tell you the exact temp of the meat, which is important.

[Leaky]

Thanks for the suggestions! I happened to pick up a bag of the Smokehouse Chips (Hickory) when at Fleet and have a digital probe meat themometer I've used in the past for Prime Rib, Turkey, ect. It's one of those that has the cord so I don't have to open the door.

Looking forward to giving it a whirl this weekend.

[OnAFly]

Sounds like you're all set. It's addictive. Once you start smoking different stuff, you just keep looking for more recipes. There are some really good ones on this site.

[old goose hunter]

I agree with OnAFly, practice on a pork butt. Find a good spice rub

and rub it down at least 2 days before you smoke it. It will not last

long, or you can bag it up and freeze it for later. If your looking for

pork butts, Sam's club has them for $1.79lb for each or if you buy a

75lb case they are $1.39lb. My brother just bought a case, he has a

big super bowl party every year and I smoke up pork for pulled pork

sandwiches. I will be putting the rub on tonight and smoking on Saturday.

Start your self a smoking note book, write down everything you do.

Rub recipe used, how long it marinated, how long it smoked, type of

wood used. I even write down weather conditions as that will affect

smoke times. Most importantly, was it Good? Should I do it again?

Have fun!!!!!

[reinhard1]

some good advice on this site. it wont be long and you will be hooked. good luck.

[archerystud]

Definitely start with the pork butt. There is so much fat in it that I think it is kind of hard to screw up. When you feel like moving up to a brisket prepare for the challenge, IMO.

Just to add in I love my Weber Smokey Mountain, or should I say both of them. To me the charcoal smokers are the best but they need to have vents so that you can control the oxygen flow and thus control the heat.

[Leaky]

Pork butt it will be. I have a great rub I've used when I've cooked these in the oven. I've had it running for 2 hours (getting seasoned) and it looks to be holding temp really nice.

Oh Boy...............