Bradley Smoker Help

[covey ridge]

I have a Bradley Digital 4 rack. I like smoke flavor but recently noticed that the taste is overwhelming in spite of not using many pucks or long smoke time.
I have always used less smoke than recipes suggest. I have cut back to 1 puck or 20 minutes for medium beef and pork roasts but still get a very harsh smoke taste. I keep the top vent wide open to let off as much smoke as possible. What am I doing wrong? Thanks:)

[coreya3212]

I have a Bradley Digital 4 rack. I like smoke flavor but recently noticed that the taste is overwhelming in spite of not using many pucks or long smoke time.
I have always used less smoke than recipes suggest. I have cut back to 1 puck or 20 minutes for medium beef and pork roasts but still get a very harsh smoke taste. I keep the top vent wide open to let off as much smoke as possible. What am I doing wrong? Thanks:)

After twenty minutes, do you remove the burnt puck from the burner?

[wwbirds]

Some wood is strong, some mild like apple. If you are using mesquite or hickory I find they are quite strong. My wife also doesnt like it overpowering.

[omega50]

I think I would look first to the issue that Rob brings up about wood type.

Barring that:

Any item that is cold smoked will have a moist surface and acrid taste fresh from the smoker

Depending on the product I like to provide 24-48 hours of mellowing/maturing time after smoking/between smoke sessions in a temperature and humidity controlled environment with good airflow to tame the beast-so to speak.

Cheeses need about a month to mellow down from the ashtray taste

Makes a huge difference in taste

[ghostguy6]

First there are a few questions that need to be answered to really narrow it down:
How do you prep your meats? Do you pat the meat dry or fresh out of the package? Do you allow your meat to sit and warm up a bit before you start smoking? Do you allow a pellicile to form on the meat? Is it brined, marinated or using a dry rub? What type of wood do you use? Do you soak the pucks in water first (don't know if the Bradley's do or not). What temp is the smoking being done at and for how long? Steady heat or gradually rising? Do you use the moisture pan? Do you tinfoil the meat? What does your smoke look like? Thin or fairly dense? white or more of a bluish grey color?
There are many variables that can affect the amount of creosote that gets absorbed by the meat. The creosote is what gives the bitter flavor if that's what you mean by harsh smokey taste.

[covey ridge]

After twenty minutes, do you remove the burnt puck from the burner?

Yes

[covey ridge]

Some wood is strong, some mild like apple. If you are using mesquite or hickory I find they are quite strong. My wife also doesnt like it overpowering.

I use apple and alder. Cherry, hickory and pecan are stronger.

[covey ridge]

First there are a few questions that need to be answered to really narrow it down:
How do you prep your meats? Do you pat the meat dry or fresh out of the package? Do you allow your meat to sit and warm up a bit before you start smoking? Do you allow a pellicile to form on the meat? Is it brined, marinated or using a dry rub? What type of wood do you use? Do you soak the pucks in water first (don't know if the Bradley's do or not). What temp is the smoking being done at and for how long? Steady heat or gradually rising? Do you use the moisture pan? Do you tinfoil the meat? What does your smoke look like? Thin or fairly dense? white or more of a bluish grey color?
There are many variables that can affect the amount of creosote that gets absorbed by the meat. The creosote is what gives the bitter flavor if that's what you mean by harsh smokey taste.

Un wrap meat and pat dry
Sprinkle meat with kosher salt and set in fridge.
Remove meat from fridge and pat dry again.
Set at room temp for at least an hour.
put on film of evoo or regular mustard to help rub stick
Apply dry rub
continue to set at room temperature until smoker comes to about 230 degrees
start smoke. I usually do not let my smoker above 250 degrees
after is see smoke I put in meat and stop smoke and remove pucks at 20 minutes.
Continue cook til done.
I can not soak pucks or they fall apart
pan of water to douse pucks.
remove and foil meat waiting for wife to get other stuff ready
Smoke is fairly visible

[sharpstick]

Get rid of the Bradley and get a Pellet Smoker. Yoder, Rec Tec, GMG, Trager, Louisanna Grills... You will wish you had bought one sooner.

[covey ridge]

Get rid of the Bradley and get a Pellet Smoker. Yoder, Rec Tec, GMG, Trager, Louisanna Grills... You will wish you had bought one sooner.

Well, if I do not get a better handle on the Bradley I will have something else next spring. The only thing I do well on the Bradley is thick steak. I do the low and slow thing then finish with a quick flip on really hot wood charcoal.

[Xbolt7mm]

After twenty minutes, do you remove the burnt puck from the burner?

That would be automatic except the last puck,,correct?

[sharpstick]

Yes, the Reverse Sear is a great way to do steaks, I do that often as well.
Gives me an idea of what to cook this weekend...

[Vigilante]

I find this is the case with my Bradley as well. Now that I have some smoking experience under my belt, I am going to upgrade to a pellet smoker.

[coreya3212]

That would be automatic except the last puck,,correct?

Correct. Some guys forget and that last one sits there your meat is so bitter. Just a thought i had as a possibility easily fixed. Sounds like he has other issues to work through.

[Unregistered user]

I use a couple of brass pucks at the end of the stack, so the last puck is pushed out on time like the rest.

[covey ridge]

I am happy with the slow cooking part of my smoker and I do take care to remove the burnt pucks when I stop the smoke. It must be something else that I do that causes the creosote taste. I have tried using an amaze-n-smoker tray and pellets in my Bradley but I am having a difficult time keeping it lit.

[omega50]

I am happy with the slow cooking part of my smoker and I do take care to remove the burnt pucks when I stop the smoke. It must be something else that I do that causes the creosote taste. I have tried using an amaze-n-smoker tray and pellets in my Bradley but I am having a difficult time keeping it lit.

I use a Pro Q in my Bradley.I pop a tealight candle out of the foil cup and partially fill the foil cup with Fondue Fuel or alcohol. The cup burns itself out so you do not have to deal with removing the starter flame source.

Pro Q goes on the bottom level where the water bowl sits and I slip a twig into the door gasket at the bottom to provide combustion air. No issues getting -8 to 10 hours of smoke without it going out. But the Pro Q burns fine dust processed in a commercial coffee grinder and not pellets.

http://www.macsbbq.com/cold-smokers

Cost to run is a fraction of Bradley Puck cost for a 10 hour smoke

[ghostguy6]

Un wrap meat and pat dry
Sprinkle meat with kosher salt and set in fridge.
Remove meat from fridge and pat dry again.
Set at room temp for at least an hour.
put on film of evoo or regular mustard to help rub stick
Apply dry rub
continue to set at room temperature until smoker comes to about 230 degrees
start smoke. I usually do not let my smoker above 250 degrees
after is see smoke I put in meat and stop smoke and remove pucks at 20 minutes.
Continue cook til done.
I can not soak pucks or they fall apart
pan of water to douse pucks.
remove and foil meat waiting for wife to get other stuff ready
Smoke is fairly visible

Looks like your doing everything right, perhaps try doing the smoking at a lower temperature like 165 then ramp it up to your cooking temperature to finish the meat in tinfoil.

This might be a long shot but when was the last time you cleaned your smoker? Could the creosote be flaking off the smoker and landing on your meat?

[covey ridge]

Looks like your doing everything right, perhaps try doing the smoking at a lower temperature like 165 then ramp it up to your cooking temperature to finish the meat in tinfoil.

This might be a long shot but when was the last time you cleaned your smoker? Could the creosote be flaking off the smoker and landing on your meat?

My smoker does have a well seasoned look about it:) I will try scrubbing the entire area above where the meat cooks.

[covey ridge]

Looks like your doing everything right, perhaps try doing the smoking at a lower temperature like 165 then ramp it up to your cooking temperature to finish the meat in tinfoil.

This might be a long shot but when was the last time you cleaned your smoker? Could the creosote be flaking off the smoker and landing on your meat?

The long shot paid off. Spent a couple hours cleaning back down to the stainless steel and then seasoned it with heat and smoke for about 90 minutes.

Today I did a pork roast with 40 minutes of apple and it was really nice. I could probably up the pucks a bit and still be in my taste level.

Thanks ghjostguy6:)

[IGS]

I have a Bradley smoker and a couple simple steps help.

1. Open the vent on top. Open it pretty much all the way. This allows the smoke to exit and not pass on the funky smell and flavor.

2. Burnt pucks are fed off the conveyor and drop into a stainless bowl full of hot water. This removes the burnt smoke flavor. Empty the bowl of burnt pucks every couple hours and refill with boiling water.

[omega50]

Yikes
Been running my Bradley a very long time with probably 300 smoke sessions on it and has never been cleaned. No offensive tastes.

But I am very careful to never allow conditions to develop that would lead to Black Rain

[covey ridge]

Yikes
Been running my Bradley a very long time with probably 300 smoke sessions on it and has never been cleaned. No offensive tastes.

But I am very careful to never allow conditions to develop that would lead to Black Rain

:sHa_shakeshout:



I seem to recall in the initial instructions that cleaning of the interior was not required or desired.

I also seem to recall an incident last year I left my smoker for a while with a very fatty chunk of beef with the top vent completely open but I had an unusual smoke build up that left most of the surfaces fairly dark, and the meat tasting like creosote. I had put in a sheet of foil to catch some of the grease and it may have blocked the release of smoke. As I had seen the inside of many smokers that were very dark I did not think the dark build up being a problem.

I probably only need to add heat to bring out the crap taste, which I thought was due to the Bradley making too much smoke.

Thanks to this thread I hope to be back on tract:)

[Unregistered user]

On cleanliness, a coworker was smoking a greasy Butterball. The water in the pan had evaporated and grease rained down on the smoldering pucks.Burned his Bradley and smokehouse to the ground.

[3blade]

Sometimes you do have to give em a scrub if things have gone wrong. I had an incident where I overheated a bunch of salmon, got salmon oil everywhere, and the next batch of jerky tasted like fish. Had to scrub it out and start the seasoning process over. Live and learn.