Where I Was, Where I Am and Where I'll Be - Part 2

Where was I? (Continued)

So, my first smoker was a moderate success. But the effort was too much.  Wasting a whole day just wasn't worth it when I can get ready-made bbq on a whim.

Then, I saw this...

Bradley Digital 4 Rack Smoker

It was everything I wanted and needed! Refrigerator-type seal for cooking area. Digital temperature control and timer. Wood pucks that only smolder to produce the smoke. Basically, your fire & forget smoker and I wanted it!

I poured over its description. Went to the Bradley Smoker website. Watched YouTube videos reviewing it. I wanted it. I needed it.

So, I had a weak moment (I'm famous for these, btw - just ask my wife) and bought it when we really didn't have the money.

But I got it. And 4-5 shipping days later, it came!

I was so excited as I assembled it and getting it ready.

My Second Smoker

Now, I just needed to test it out. Too long for brisket. I wanted something now! And more importantly, I needed something I already had on-hand in the fridge. Fish!  People smoke fish.  Yea, I'll try that. 

So, I pulled out some frozen tilapia fillets, did a quick brine and smoked it for a few hours.

Smoked Tilapia Fillets

So I loaded the racks with fish. Added the wood pucks. Set the temp and timer and START.

A few hours later, they were ready! And they. Were. Perfect! Tender. Really flavorful. And most importantly, I didn't have to monitor it every 5 minutes like my old bullet smoker! It was definitely fire & forget. THIS was the way to smoke. I was a happy camper.

Whole Chickens

Of course, after successful pilot smoke, it was time to open the throttle full and go to town. Whole chicken and pork butt were my next smokes over the next month.

Pork Butt

Again, prep. Load wood pucks. Program timer and temp. Hit start. Walk away.

(To be fair, you have to empty the water bowl that catches the spend wood pucks every three hours, but this was a far cry from sitting next to my bullet the entire time. I could go do errands. Take a nap. Watch TV. My Saturdays were mine again!)

Then I got ambitious. I have 4 racks to place meat. So...fill 'er up! Chicken, pork, brisket, ribs. Do it all! Again, fire & forget.

Now, with this much volume, and me thinking I'm such a BBQ badass and all, it never occurred to me this much meat would dramatically increase the overall cooking time for everything. So much more time, in fact, I ran out of wood pucks to cook everything. But that's okay, the wood pucks were for the smoke only. There's a heating element also in the smoker that's actually the cooker. So even if I ran out, I had heat to finish it.

I don't remember the overall time for everything to be finished, but it had to be 12+ hours before I pulled the last piece of meat from it.

Go Big or Go Home

But still, it was all good. And we got to be carnivores for the rest of the week, devouring its smokey goodness.

Yup. This was the future of smoking, and I was pleased as punch I was pioneering it.

Then my first real setback.

I was getting something ready to smoke (probably brisket) when I turned on my Bradley Smoker and heard a "pop!" and no heat. The heating element burned out. 

This was really depressing as I had something to cook and no way to do so.  So, as a result, I had to resort to cooking it in the over that day.  I was majorly depressed about it.

Ordered a replacement part. Got it in the mail. Changed it our. (And let me tell you, with about a year of build-up of smoke in the chamber, that was a messy fix) but I got her back up and running and continued with my next (and many) smokes for the next 4 or so years.

Chicken Poppers - My Absolute Favorite Thing to Smoke

Then, about a month ago, I decided to be ambitious again.

This time, I tried to make barbacoa (Mexican style brisket, essentially) pork butt, whole chicken and chicken poppers.

Everything bought. Everything prepped. Wood pucks purchased. 12-pack of beer cooling. Yup, this is going to be a great weekend!

6am rolled around and I got up. Pulled the meats to get to room temperature. Went outside to "fire up" (turn on) the smoker when this time I got another "pop" along with a bright flash from the back.

Not. Good.

Nothing came up. No heat. No digital display. Nothing. This is bad.

So, with it being about 6:30am, and everything closed to try to fix it.  I resorted to using my grill for indirect cooking. Again, wasn't bad. But I was beside myself I was so upset (again)

Now, these past 5 years with the Bradley (minus the two times it blew up) have been wonderful. I would still recommend this product for anyone wanting a semi-hassle-free smoker. The past five years, in addition to the above, I also smoked corn on the cob, chipotles, a whole turkey, scotch eggs, and a few other things I'm sure I've forgotten. I Have definitely gotten my return-on-investment on this.

But also, these past five years, I've gotten a bit more experience with smoking.  Not just the fire & forget, but actually starting to learn about the art of smoking. I've been watching videos and reading blogs behind the science of smoking and starting to grasp a deeper understanding of what happens when you smoke meat.

But with this latest disaster with the Bradley and waste (not really 'waste, as it was all still consumed eagerly) of meats to go into that smoker, and most importantly, I can't figure out what blew up to repair it (It's currently disassembled on a patio table) I've decided maybe it's time to upgrade to something new.

Or probably more accurately, downgrade to something old...

To be continued...