Food Smoking
Why Is Cold Smoke Important?
Creating smoke without heat is the best way to control the flavour of any food being smoked.
Cold smoking is a technique used to flavor and preserve food, especially meat, fish, and cheese, by exposing it to smoke from Bradley food smoking bisquettes.
Unlike hot smoking, which cooks the food as it smokes, cold smoking does not raise the temperature of the food enough to cook it, but instead aids in drying food out and adds smoke flavour. This makes it an ideal method for preserving food because the low temperature and prolonged exposure to smoke inhibit the growth of harmful bacteria, mold, and other microorganisms that can spoil food.
What is a meat cure?
A meat cure is a combination of salt and sugar. It can be liquid (a brine) or coarse and granular (a cure). It can include many other ingredients to enhance the flavour or preserve the meat. You can buy a meat cure from grocery stores, meat supply stores, or some butcher shops specialising in sausages and hams. You can also make your own; however, make sure you have a proper smoker recipe and you know the correct proportions for the type of product you are smoking.
Can you cold smoke food without curing it first?
Yes, you can. This is one of three ways you can cold smoke food. Try taking any meat product fresh out of cold storage and smoking at the coolest temperature possible. Do not let your food smoker go above 100F degrees. Season or marinate to taste. Only smoke for 1 to 2 hours and then cook as you would normally. Keep the damper at the top of your smoker wide open, as this helps in keeping the temperature low. This can be a little tricky in the middle of summer when the air temperature is above 60F degrees. The new flavours you can create are fantastic.
How much does it cost to smoke with a bradley smoker?
The cost to smoke with the Bradley Smoker is about £1/€1 per hour. This is about the same as using wood chunks purchased in a store.
How does Bradley make the flavoured bisquette?
That’s a secret. However, we will tell you that the bisquettes are made with all natural products and the wood we use is clean and has not been used for some other purpose before we made it into a bisquette.
How Long Has Bradley Been Making Smokers And Bisquettes?
We have been making electric smokers for backyard cooks, foodies and the restaurant industry since 1986. Many of the finest hotels and restaurants around the world smoke their own foods using a Bradley Smoker. Visit our recipes page or the Bradley Smoker Youtube channel to learn more about the variety of foods that can be made in a smoker.
What kind of wood goes well with seafood?
Certain types of wood give a better flavor with different food groups. There is no hard and fast rule, however try using hickory or mesquite with pork, beef or red game meat. All types of seafood are excellent with alder, maple or our own special blend. Fruit woods work very well with poultry and fresh water fish. Try using cherry with wild duck or chicken.
Can bradley Bisquettes be used in other smokers, BBQ Smokers and Grills?
Yes, we have Bisquettes available in all our flavors that you can purchase from many retail stores around the country.
You can also purchase Bradley bisquettes right here.
How long does the smoke generator run?
As long as you like! Each bisquette burns for 20 minutes, so once you’ve loaded up your bisquette feeder tube you have 8 hours before you’ll need to load it up again.
How many wood bisquettes are used in an hour?
Each bisquette burns for 20 minutes. Three bisquettes are used per hour.
Why did my brisket turn out dry?
Try basting or using a “mop sauce” to help keep in moisture.
Maintenance
How can I control the moisture inside my smoker?
You can control the moisture inside your smoker with the vent on the top of the cabinet.
Don’t close the vent at the top all the way when the smoke is running. If we restrict the air movement by closing the vent, the air has nowhere to escape. Moisture starts to condense and sometimes you will see that brown water leaks at the bottom of the door. Moist, trapped air is trying to look for the easiest ways out as it keeps expanding. As it starts to flow back into the generator it coats the electronics, switches and sensors with condense and can cause an array of issues.
Where can I buy replacement parts for my smoker?
To buy a range of parts, please look under our Parts and Accessories page or contact our Customer Service team using the chat function in the bottom right hand corner of the screen or via the contact us page.
How do I register my Bradley Smoker warranty?
You can register the warranty for your smoker using our Product Registration Form.
Troubleshooting
Why isn't my smoker reaching full temperature?
It’s important to note that our heating elements are 500 watts, and are not designed for high temperatures. Bradley Smokers are crafted to maintain low and slow cooking temperatures. Nonetheless, here are a few tips and things to note about the temperature of your smoker.
- Opening your door releases the heat stored inside, which takes some time to build back up. Try to open the door as little as possible.
- Preheat your smoker before putting your food in it. Some Bradley Smoker users have found preheating slightly higher than you’ll be cooking at helps as well.
- Put your meat into the smoker at room temperature. This prevents the drastic drop in temperature when you place a cold piece of meat into the smoker, directly from the refrigerator.
- Keep your smoker protected from wind and the elements, and out of below freezing temperatures. Ambient temperature affects the internal temperature of your smoker, so the colder it is the longer it will take to heat your smoker.
If you require the use of an extension cord, make sure it is heavy-duty and less than 20 feet long.
- Cook with your vent open, as this releases some of the moisture inside. It is important to note that you should never cook with your damper closed more than ¼.
- If your heating element is flickering while heating up, or is not solid red across when hot, you may need to purchase a replacement heating element.
If you have any issues maintaining the temperature inside your smoker, please chat to us!
My smoker isn't giving off any heat, what is going wrong?
First, make sure you’re getting power to your smoker by ensuring that all the cords are firmly connected. Second, take your short and long power cord, connect them together to create one long power cord, and plug them from the smoke tower (larger unit on the right with the racks) directly into the outlet. Leave it plugged in for 5-10 minutes and check to see if your heating element glows red. If it doesn't, remove the shorter cable, and simply plug the longer cable into the smoke tower directly to the outlet. Again, leave it for 5-10 minutes and check to see if your heating element glows red. If your heating element does glow red, then you may just have a problem with your jumper cable (the shorter power cable). Please call our customer service line 1-866-508-7514 for further assistance. If your heating element doesn't glow red, then it may be burnt out and you can order a new heating element or again chat to us here.
What is causing my smoker temperature fluctuation?
A temperature swing is when your smoker's temperature rises above and sinks below your set temperature on an extreme level. This is unusual but small differences are completely normal and expected, please read below.
NORMAL TEMPERATURE BEHAVIOR
Bradley Smokers heat on an average, very similar to your home oven. This means the temperature will have slight fluctuations, either higher or lower than the set temperature throughout the cook; but over time, the temperature should average out to what you set it to. A home oven does the same thing, producing an average temperature over the course of the run time. So while a home oven shows you the average temperature, which a Bradley Smoker also shows you as the set temperature, but he actual temperature reading that you get on Digital models shows you the real-time temperature of the smoker. To make things slightly more complicated, this real-time temperature is from just one single point in the whole cabinet (where the temperature sensor is located) and so the real-time temperature itself will also fluctuate across the cabinet where you will experience hot spots and cool spots. Remember this is a natural draft smoker with air intake and a air vent for air flow to run through the smoker - it isn't an inclosed fan forced oven.
On good-weather day with low wind, your smoker should fluctuate no more than ±27°F (±15°C).
COMMON CONTRIBUTORS TO TEMPERATURE SWINGS
It’s important to note that our heating elements are 500 watts, and are not designed for high temperatures. Bradley Smokers are crafted to maintain low and slow cooking temperatures. Nonetheless, here are a few tips and things to note about the temperature of your smoker.
- Opening your door releases the heat stored inside, which takes some time to build back up. Try to open the door as little as possible.
- Preheat your smoker before putting your food in it. Some Bradley Smoker users have found preheating slightly higher than you’ll be cooking at helps as well.
- Put your meat into the smoker at room temperature. This prevents the drastic drop in temperature when you place a cold piece of meat into the smoker, directly from the refrigerator.
- Keep your smoker protected from wind and the elements, and out of below freezing temperatures. Ambient temperature affects the internal temperature of your smoker, so the colder it is the longer it will take to heat your smoker.
If you require the use of an extension cord, make sure it is heavy-duty and less than 20 feet long.
- Cook with your vent open, as this releases some of the moisture inside. It is important to note that you should never cook with your damper closed more than ¼.
- If your heating element is flickering while heating up, or is not solid red across when hot, you may need to purchase a replacement heating element.