monty's BBQ editorial (v2) - The Bradley Smoker [General]
2009 Sep 7
The cabinet has 2288 cubic inches of smoking space and 4 racks. Inverted extra racks can be added to allow more room for things like jerky, smoked salmon, sausages, etc. The OBS comes with a temperature guage which sits just a little over half-way up the tower. It's surprising accurate although many Bradley-smokers couple their OBS with a thermometer like the Maverick ET-73, which provides a dual probe measuring both the internal temperature of your meat and the cabinet temperature.
2009 Sep 7
This is the heart of the OBS - the smoke generator. The pucks/bisquettes are made of pressed hardwood are are available in the following flavours:
Apple
Alder
Cherry
Maple
Mesquite
Oak
Hickory
Pecan
Special Blend
Jim Beam
Crown Royal
Really this was the biggest caveat for me when looking at the OBS. Like anything proprietary, it's somewhat worrying that you could be left with a useless product. How, my fears were eased after a little research. I don't know when Bradley was founded (their HQ is in BC) but boy their footprint is STRONG! The have a very loyal international following and the bisquettes are readily available both online, and locally at Canadian Tire or Le Baron.
Apple
Alder
Cherry
Maple
Mesquite
Oak
Hickory
Pecan
Special Blend
Jim Beam
Crown Royal
Really this was the biggest caveat for me when looking at the OBS. Like anything proprietary, it's somewhat worrying that you could be left with a useless product. How, my fears were eased after a little research. I don't know when Bradley was founded (their HQ is in BC) but boy their footprint is STRONG! The have a very loyal international following and the bisquettes are readily available both online, and locally at Canadian Tire or Le Baron.
2009 Sep 7
OK back to the mechanics of the OBS. After loading the bisquettes in the generator they are pushed onto a 125 watt element to burn, pictured here. Each bisquette burns for 20 minutes, after which time the generator pushes the burnt bisquette into a bowl of water to extinguish, and a new bisquette is then fed onto the element. This produces a very clean smoke and flavour - no ash is produced and you don't get a harsh smokey taste (think campfire cooking). Since the smoke produced is very intense, Bradley recommends smoking for 1/2 of your cooking time - ex if you're cooking ribs for 4 hours, use 2 hours worth of smoke.
Prices of the bisquettes vary, but generally the smoke generator will cost ~$1 per hour to run. Recall the 2 elements - the cabinet element and the smoker element. Both operate independently from one another, which allows for a cold smoke if required.
Prices of the bisquettes vary, but generally the smoke generator will cost ~$1 per hour to run. Recall the 2 elements - the cabinet element and the smoker element. Both operate independently from one another, which allows for a cold smoke if required.
2009 Sep 7
Overall the OBS is a great little smoker. It does an excellent job of holding low temperatures and it's pretty versatile as far as smoking is concerned. It's truly "set it and forget it" low n' slow BBQ. Price points vary from retailer to retailer, but it can be had for as low as $289.99 at Canadian Tire ("just 4 easy payments" :P). For what it's worth I've been pretty impressed with the service and support of Bradley HQ, and they have a fairly big following on the Bradley forums as well.
I'd highly recommend the Bradley for anyone out there who already has a grill and wants to complement it with a smoker.
I'd highly recommend the Bradley for anyone out there who already has a grill and wants to complement it with a smoker.
2009 Sep 7
Ribs in a Bradley
Quick tutorial of doing ribs in a Bradley. I use the 2-1-1 method for baby backs:
2 hours smoke (Apple)
1 hour boated/wrapped in Apple Juice
1 hour sauced
For spare ribs, increase to '3-2-1'.
It deviates from convential low and slow bbq with the boating/foil wrapping, but this method produces tender near fall-off-the-bone ribs.
Quick tutorial of doing ribs in a Bradley. I use the 2-1-1 method for baby backs:
2 hours smoke (Apple)
1 hour boated/wrapped in Apple Juice
1 hour sauced
For spare ribs, increase to '3-2-1'.
It deviates from convential low and slow bbq with the boating/foil wrapping, but this method produces tender near fall-off-the-bone ribs.
2009 Sep 7
As always with ribs - ensure you remove the membrane.
Rub down with your favourite mixture of spices and give time to penetrate (I use Paprika, Salt, Onion Powder, Black Pepper, Cayenne).
Let stand outside the refridgerator before you smoke to let the meat to come closer to room temperature, this will allow for greater heat recovery after loading into the smoker.
Preheat the OBS to ~250 - after loading the ribs your temperature will drop closer to the optimal point of 225.
Rub down with your favourite mixture of spices and give time to penetrate (I use Paprika, Salt, Onion Powder, Black Pepper, Cayenne).
Let stand outside the refridgerator before you smoke to let the meat to come closer to room temperature, this will allow for greater heat recovery after loading into the smoker.
Preheat the OBS to ~250 - after loading the ribs your temperature will drop closer to the optimal point of 225.
2009 Sep 7
Grab some heavy duty foil and create a 'boat' for the ribs. Splash with around a 1/4 cup of Apple Juice. You don't want to drown the ribs in liquid, just enough to provide some light flavour and liquid to produce steam.
Wrap ribs fully in foil with the AJ and replace in smoker for 1 hour.
Wrap ribs fully in foil with the AJ and replace in smoker for 1 hour.
2009 Sep 8
Haha sourdough the Napoleon still sees plenty of use! They both serve different purposes. It's so much easier to be able to leave the Bradley alone and let it do it's thing. I found that smoking using my Napoleon required too much intervention and "babying".
Temperature was held at 225 during the entire process, even after saucing. It sure left a pretty nice crust/bark!
Temperature was held at 225 during the entire process, even after saucing. It sure left a pretty nice crust/bark!
2009 Sep 8
I have a stuffer attachment for the kitchen aid - but like all kitchen aid attachments they are more trouble than they are worth. Actually, it isn't that bad. It's just mainly that it is mounted so high up that makes it a PITA to use.
I really would like to get a decent stand-alone stuffer. I don't recall what the selection is like at Preston Hardware but I recall they used to have a few to choose from.
I really would like to get a decent stand-alone stuffer. I don't recall what the selection is like at Preston Hardware but I recall they used to have a few to choose from.
2009 Sep 10
Monty - Great tutorial. This should definitely help anyone who is "on the fence" and also will be a great reference document for future visitors to the OF Site.
Hmmmm, maybe I need to look into buying a smoker. We didn't do much all-day BBQ-ing this summer due to all the rain, but I have hopes that Summer 2010 will be awesome patio weather.
Hmmmm, maybe I need to look into buying a smoker. We didn't do much all-day BBQ-ing this summer due to all the rain, but I have hopes that Summer 2010 will be awesome patio weather.
2009 Sep 11
The internet does a much better job on BGE promotion than I could ever attempt! I tried making a pulled pork shoulder last weekend -- thanks to Ron Eade's cheapskate grocery promo blog -- and it was a raving success. I have not yet attempted pizza, but it's just a matter of time. Two unexpected things I dearly love about the BGE: duration of charcoal burn compared to other charcoal BBQs (after 10 hours of pulled pork, my charcoal was only down by about 1/3), and the fact that skin-on chicken browns well without blackening (something I found fairly difficult to achieve on my gas Weber).
BTW, FarmBoy has pork side ribs on sale for a brilliant $.99/lb (farmboy.ca) this week. I'll be firing up the Egg for some of that!
BTW, FarmBoy has pork side ribs on sale for a brilliant $.99/lb (farmboy.ca) this week. I'll be firing up the Egg for some of that!
2009 Dec 3
Bradley Smokers are ON SALE this week at Canadian Tire (Flyer came in today's Ottawa Citizen)... Sale runs Friday, December 4th to Thursday, December 10th.
They have two models both at $ 100 OFF... one for $ 400 and one for $ 290
All you BBQing Dudes need to make sure this gets on your Christmas List... even if you have to go buy it yourself
;-)
They have two models both at $ 100 OFF... one for $ 400 and one for $ 290
All you BBQing Dudes need to make sure this gets on your Christmas List... even if you have to go buy it yourself
;-)
2009 Dec 3
Zym - True "Southern BBQ" usually involves an element of smoking... the term "BBQ" in Canada is a misnomer, for a technique otherwise known as "Grilling".
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grilling
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbecue
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grilling
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbecue
2010 Aug 9
-baby backs
-rub is Head Country Championship Seasoning (from Oklahoma www.headcountry.com/)
-smoked at 225F for 2 hours with hickory
-foil, meat side down, with honey, brown sugar, margarine, and a few ounces of apple juice. cook at 225F for another 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
-unwrap the ribs and throw back in the smoker or on the grill for 30min to 1 hour to tighten everything up
-no need for sauce
they were really good. not as sweet as you'd think, a lot of the sugar/honey mixture was left in the foil. i didn't even need to use any to glaze.
-rub is Head Country Championship Seasoning (from Oklahoma www.headcountry.com/)
-smoked at 225F for 2 hours with hickory
-foil, meat side down, with honey, brown sugar, margarine, and a few ounces of apple juice. cook at 225F for another 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
-unwrap the ribs and throw back in the smoker or on the grill for 30min to 1 hour to tighten everything up
-no need for sauce
they were really good. not as sweet as you'd think, a lot of the sugar/honey mixture was left in the foil. i didn't even need to use any to glaze.
2010 Aug 9
thanks - I did baby backs a few weekend ago (the four racks not achieving temp) and also foiled in the oven for 2 hours but at 300 (to compensate for the lower smoke temp). Way over cooked. Maybe I'll get it right one of these days. 2 hours is what I'd usually do in the oven for side ribs - I think reducing time to 1 1/2 for backs is a good bet.
2010 Sep 25
I kept noticing that produce depot had cheap pieces of brisket so I tried the recipe on the Bradly site for spicy ole jerky. It turned out pretty good. I had $10 of brisket 3 hours of smoke and six hours total cooking time. I had two pieces just now and I'm craving more. It's a little tough but worth the chew. There was a total of three racks.
2012 Oct 6
OK I'm getting ready for my first run of the new (to me) Bradley.
Just mixed up a big batch of my favorite rub ( ottawafoodies.com ) and am reviewing monty's tutorial here to see what I might do. I just may do ribs 3 different ways ( 3 racks ) to compare results ...
Monday is the big day. We shall see how it goes
Just mixed up a big batch of my favorite rub ( ottawafoodies.com ) and am reviewing monty's tutorial here to see what I might do. I just may do ribs 3 different ways ( 3 racks ) to compare results ...
Monday is the big day. We shall see how it goes
2012 Oct 7
If you load it up with ribs I have found the cabinet can't quite get hot enough to render the fat in the ribs the way I like it. On a cool windy day mine sometimes has trouble keeping a steady 225F. Try laying on some smoke then finishing on a charcoal grill.
IMO the Bradley can't be beat for bacon, charcuterie, and sausage making. The ability to deliver heavy smoke flavour while keeping a low cabinet temperature is invaluable. Also like using it for pork butts and brisket.
IMO the Bradley can't be beat for bacon, charcuterie, and sausage making. The ability to deliver heavy smoke flavour while keeping a low cabinet temperature is invaluable. Also like using it for pork butts and brisket.
2012 Oct 8
Got it heatening up right now for the first time.
Put my own little chunk of cherry wood on the smoker thing and it is smoking great! I suspect it will burn a lot more slowly than the official pucks so I may not have to replace it very often. We shall see.
Yes I have the pucks, but I figured I'd come out of the gates with my own twist on things. Don't want to change too many variables and would be nice to use the cherry wood I'm already familiar with
Put my own little chunk of cherry wood on the smoker thing and it is smoking great! I suspect it will burn a lot more slowly than the official pucks so I may not have to replace it very often. We shall see.
Yes I have the pucks, but I figured I'd come out of the gates with my own twist on things. Don't want to change too many variables and would be nice to use the cherry wood I'm already familiar with
2012 Oct 9
I haven't checked the video - how did the ribs turn out? Agree with Monty on the heat factor, but if you wait long enough the ribs get done. 3-2-1 works well for me (on spares, back ribs 3-1-1). Thats 3 hours smoke, 2 hours foiled, 1 hour sauced.
I did turkey on the Bradley this weekend and it turned out great. 8Kg bird I did 4 hours of apple wood smoke, and another 4 hours with a couple of basting breaks. I had brined the bird the night before and did it breast side down. I think you should count on at least 1 hour/kg for cooking time. The temp in the cabinet didn't get much above 200. I also flipped the bird around after smoking so both sides would cook a bit more evenly. Every time I opened the cabinet to baste I lost quite a bit of heat. Putting the bird in the oven after smoking would probably be a good idea, but our oven was full of other goodies.
I did turkey on the Bradley this weekend and it turned out great. 8Kg bird I did 4 hours of apple wood smoke, and another 4 hours with a couple of basting breaks. I had brined the bird the night before and did it breast side down. I think you should count on at least 1 hour/kg for cooking time. The temp in the cabinet didn't get much above 200. I also flipped the bird around after smoking so both sides would cook a bit more evenly. Every time I opened the cabinet to baste I lost quite a bit of heat. Putting the bird in the oven after smoking would probably be a good idea, but our oven was full of other goodies.
monty
I bought a Bradley Smoker a few weeks ago after much research. To follow on my Smoking with a Nat Gas/LP grill writeup, I thought I'd do one in the same vein on the OBS ('Original Bradley Smoker').
The OBS is an electric refridgerator-style unit that is thermostatically controlled and can hot or cold smoke.
Smoke is produced by burning proprietary wood pucks/bisquettes through the OBS' smoke generator which feeds into the cabinet. The cabinet itself is heated via a 500 watt cooking element and can reach temperatures of 300+, although its main intention is to provide a low and slow smoke.
www.bradleysmoker.com/