I know this might seem sacrilegious, but..

I'm getting tired of tending the coals and limited space in my WSM. I
saw the Bradley, and it sounds great on the surface, but how is the
flavor of the wood they make and the resulting Q?

Abe wrote:
>
> I know this might seem sacrilegious, but..
>
> I'm getting tired of tending the coals and limited space in my WSM. I
> saw the Bradley, and it sounds great on the surface, but how is the
> flavor of the wood they make and the resulting Q?

Use minion with the wsm. That plus a remote therm makes tend coals
simple.

As for the resulting Q, you can make good Q in a sheet metal leanto.
This might help you decide on the bradly but I don't think you will gain
any capacity (IE:4 picnic shoulders for the WSM)

http://www.bradleysmoker.com/forum/

Abe wrote:

> I'm getting tired of tending the coals and limited space in my WSM. I
> saw the Bradley, and it sounds great on the surface, but how is the
> flavor of the wood they make and the resulting Q?

First, you'll have to take a serious look at total cost
of ownership. You must buy the Bradley wood biscuits
to run the thing. They cost about a buck per hour of
run time. Do some math.

Using the unit 10 hours per week, you'll be paying $520
per year in supplies alone. That's more than the
cost of the unit itself. Plus you pay that forever,
plus if they go out of business you're SOL (I've
tried to fabricate the things myself and didn't
even come close. I don't know of anyone who has
done it successfully, and I've been looking).

I do own and use their smoke generator, but only for
cold smoking. I sell most of what I produce with it
at a profit, so the costs are more than made up for
in labor savings. That's the only justification I
can see for what is a very high recurring cost.

If I were you I'd consider a different insulated
oven type smoker that doesn't require purchasing
proprietary supplies. My two favorites are Cookshack
and a knockoff brand called Smokintex.

The quality of the goods produced is not quite the
same as what you can do with your WSM. One reason
(among others) is that the smoking chamber has a
relatively tight seal and so creates a high
humidity environment. That's OK for some things
but not for others. The bark will not be quite
the same, though that can be fixed somewhat by
finishing on a grill.

My recommendation: Get a Cookshack Smokette for
about the same price as a Bradley, but with no
proprietary ball and chain attached.

--
Reg email: RegForte (at) (that free MS email service) (dot) com

>My recommendation: Get a Cookshack Smokette for
>about the same price as a Bradley, but with no
>proprietary ball and chain attached.
I'll certainly take a look. Thanks for the pointer.