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[Nitroholic]

october 2-8 at can tire, just thought I'd give anyone in the market a heads up 

[marbles]

thats a pretty good price,I could get rid of my two big chief's

[Bhinky]

That's a darn good price for a digital one!

[norm_2]

What are the advantages of the Bradley?  Thanks.

[bbronswyk2000]

What are the advantages of the Bradley?  Thanks.

Its built solid, has a temperature gauge as you can control the heat, the pucks are loaded so no need to keep adding more wood chips. You can cold smoke as well.

[Eagleye]

I would say the only disadvantage of the Bradley is the wood pucks and smoker are pricey.  That said, the little chief makes excellent smoked salmon, and so does the Bradley but the outcome is different and can be fine tuned more with the Bradley.  I use both for variety and conveience of being able to smoke lots at one time.

[ynot]

if you want to cold smoke( lox )then dont buy bradley as cant keep temp at 80f  or even close,also bradley dont reply to emails so wont buy another one ever.little chief are simple and work great.

[robj]

if you want to cold smoke( lox )then dont buy bradley as cant keep temp at 80f  or even close,

WRONG!!  I make lox with mine in the middle of summer and it never gets above 60 to 70 degrees F.  I made a very simple cold smoking attachment from a metal tool box and some metal dryer vent hose.  Works great.  The Bradley is far better than the little or big chief IMO.  I bought mine directly from Bradley on Annacis Island and it was a scratch and dent for a fairly reasonable price.  I do agree that those pucks are very pricey!!

Have a great day

Rob.

[Robert_G]

I don't like being restricted to using pucks. I actually prefer to add smoke chips as I see fit.
I know a few people who have had them stop working and apparantly the company sees no reason to help them out, even after only a year or 2 of little use.
I have a Centro electric smoker from Crappy Tire that I bought on sale for 199 bucks. It uses wood chips.
It's a bit finicky sometimes, but it's insulated and has an electronic control panel that makes things easy. The smoker also heats nice and evenly throughout.
I would not buy a Bradley.

[BigFisher]

A smoker is one of those things you just dont buy. You bum it off your buddy. 

[Every Day]

A smoker is one of those things you just dont buy. You bum it off your buddy. 

Lol you would know too...   
I need to get a new smoker sometime....

[Lawsch]

Has anyone tried  to make the pucks DIY style using other types of chips?  Maybe cheaper if it works.

[bbronswyk2000]

if you want to cold smoke( lox )then dont buy bradley as cant keep temp at 80f  or even close,also bradley dont reply to emails so wont buy another one ever.little chief are simple and work great.

http://www.bradleysmoker.com/cold-smoke-adaptor.asp
 

[Slamdunk]

I have had a Little Chief and Big Chief for many, many years and they are very good for smoking salmon and I continue to use them for this purpose. Their drawback is that they cannot attain a higher temperature compared with the Bradley.

With the newly acquired Bradley (I have the original Bradley smoker, or OBS model which most people seem to prefer) I've been able to do Ribs, a whole Turkey etc. requiring temperatures of 220 degrees or so. You can get the temperature up to 250 degrees versus 175?? with the Chiefs.

Yes you do have to use pucks with the Bradley, but I don't think it is that costly. You can buy 48 pucks at Canadian Tire for something like $20 - $25. Each puck is good for 20 minutes. Usually a 2 - 3 hour puck smoke is called for - more than that and you will get a stronger, unpleasant taste. So, doing the math, an average cost for a 3 hour puck smoke is 3 pucks per hour for 3 hours = 9 pucks at 40 - 45 cents = what?? $4 and change? When the result is what you hoped for, does $4 really matter??

The Bradley is really simple to use and doesn't need much in the way of supervison.

As for the response from Bradley on Annacis Island, I haven't had a problem. I love my Bradley. For more information take a look at this site

http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/

[firstlight]

Bradleys are great smokers.
Like others have said allready,they can do a lot more than just smoke.
Ive cooked quite few different things and they turn out great.
Try smoking some pork chops in the Bradley if you have one.
Yes the pucks are pricey but you can also leave the house if you like as the temp is easy to adjust and control and the self loading pucks do just that.

I had a little chief or two as well and yes they work and can produce a nice product but its like comparing a Trophy to a Sage.