119 out of 120 people found this review helpful.
The Original Bradley Smoker: A Must-Have Appliance for Every Home!
Date of Review: May 23, 2003
The Bottom Line: I don't know how we lived without this!
My significant other loves to smoke meats and fish, and he decided he wanted to upgrade to a better smoker. His old one worked well enough but required babysitting, making it a lot of work. After checking out numerous brands and types, we settled on a Bradley Smoker.
Why Bradley? Three reasons, really. First, Bradley is a respected name in products. They stand behind what they sell, and in this day and age where one never knows if one is going to get a quality product that is important.
Second, the Bradley Smoker has an automatic feed system. This means no standing near the smoker and checking it frequently to make sure there are still adequate wood chips and smoke.
Third, price. The Bradley Smoker we purchased sells for right around $350.00 and is a wonderful value for the money.
About the Bradley Smoker
The Bradley Smoker comes with the smoker unit and a separate smoke generator. The smoker unit comes in two styles, stainless steel and powder epoxy steel with an aluminum interior. The all-stainless style is approximately fifty dollars more expensive, putting the cost of that smoker at right around $400. We opted for the epoxy steel style, and that is the one I am reviewing. The epoxy steel style was the original Bradley Smoker, and the two styles are essentially the same in areas other than material. Both styles are fully insulated, an important feature in any smoker.
The internal cooking area is reasonably large enough to smoke most items and can hold up to eight racks. The units come with four racks and you can purchase an additional four. When using eight racks, every other rack is inverted, doubling the smoking area. The internal cooking area is listed at 2288 cubic inches.
Dimensions of this smoker are 2.6 feet high by 2.0 feet wide by 1.23 feet deep. Now, when I first read these dimensions in a Cabela's catalogue I envisioned a very small smoker, too small to be useful. We went to a real-world store here in Spokane, White's, and actually saw the smoker unit. Once we had seen it we were quite comfortable with its size.
The smoker comes with standard 110 volt power and has 5.5 amps. This is a nice feature as it can be plugged into any outlet. It comes with a standard six foot power cord, enabling you to set the smoker up in a reasonable area outside. The internal smoker heater has a 500 watt cooking element and a 125 watt smoking element. Now, these facts really meant nothing to me as I am just learning the process of smoking foods, but my significant other was quite pleased with them.
The entire unit only weighs 40 pounds, meaning even I can carry it. Another nice feature, as we are moving the smoker outside to use it and then bringing it back into the house when we are finished. One of these days we will have a covered patio and will be able to leave it outside, but in the meantime it is too precious of a new toy!
How to use the Bradley Smoker
First of all, read the manual. It is comprehensive (and contains information in English, French, and Spanish. The safety precautions are in the front of the manual and are important, so don't skip them!
The Bradley Smoker is for outdoor use only. Most homes do not have adequate ventilation to smoke foods indoors, so don't risk this one. The smoker should always be unplugged when you are not using it (standard for any appliance).
Assembling this product is easy, a good thing for a product-assembly-challenged person like myself! Granted, I just watched my significant other put it together, but it did not cause him undue stress while doing so. The main installation procedure is installing the smoke generator unit, which essentially just plugs into the main smoker unit.
Before you start smoking your first food item you need to season and prepare the smoker. The main reason for seasoning the smoker is to remove the somewhat-offensive odors that often accompany brand new products. The manual gives a comprehensive list of things to do in order to properly season the smoker so I won't go into it here. Suffice it to say that it is not a complicated process, but it is an important process. If you want your smoked food to taste the best possible, be sure to follow the seasoning instructions.
After the Bradley Smoker is properly seasoned you are ready to smoke! You fill the waste pot half full of water, turn the smoker on, and load your bisquettes. After the length of time you choose to smoke your food, you are ready to eat it!
Benefits of the Bradley Smoker
The main benefit is the automatic feeder system. You purchase the bisquettes separately in whichever smoke flavor you choose (alder, hickory, cherry, to name a few). Each bisquette will burn for approximately twenty minutes. While the bisquettes are a bit on the expensive side (approximately $40 for 120 bisquettes) the ease and convenience of using this smoker will far outweigh the cost.
The Bradly Smoker has two options, cold smoke or hot smoke, another nice feature.
Negatives of the Bradley Smoker
Well, so far we haven't come across any. It is much easier to use than our old smoker, and the smoked salmon we made the other day was wonderful! If we do happen on any negatives I will be sure to come back and update my review.
Final Thoughts
If you are in the market for a smoker, the Bradley Smoker is definitely one you should take a look at. We are totally pleased with our purchase, and I have no doubt we will continue to be pleased in years to come. Especially when we are enjoying that smoked salmon or smoked kokanee we will catch ourselves in the summer on Lake Coeur d'Alene!
Enjoy!!
