Bradley's are nice for ease of use but some of the parts tend to wear out. For a very sturdy built one check out the Smokin-it line of smokers. I have one on order right now. It got very good reviews.
For many years I had a smoker that I built myself, rigged from an old freezer shell & electric hotplates. One day it shorted out, and started an electrical fire in my shed.:ko:[rofl] Thank goodness my homeowner's was paid that month. After that fiasco, I bought a Smokin Tex, works great, had it 5 years. A buddy has a Smokin It smoker, which is basically a rip-off of Smokin Tex, and his works fine. The only thing is it holds the moisture in (no dampers), so I bought their drying fan for making jerky, comes out great. I don't keep it in the shed anymore, I keep it on the back porch (covered awning).
Here's the place to ask. Forums Got my 20lb elec from the sausagemaker.com but I believe Lem has them cheaper. Masterbuilt is great from what I've read.
I have a Masterbuilt electric smoker. I have had it for about 3 years. I have no complaints. Use it about once a month on average. Sometimes more often.
It is nice to just set the temperature dial and not have to worry about it getting too hot or not hot enough. If and when it stops working I will probably by another Masterbuilt.
I have a buddy that bought the Bradley automated smoker. The thing worked great for the first year then he started having issues with it. After two years he is shopping for a new smoker.
I thought mine was great also tilll the dam element lit up like a sparkler and burnt out, have to try and find a new element for it I do love it and it alway worked great untill that happend. I also had mine for about 3 years but would use it alot cant count how many times I used it
I been running a Smokin tex for 15 years…incredible smoker. I just bought a Masterbuilt also from a member here, can't wait to try it, people seem to like them & they are good in price.
I've been using the Bradley for about 6 years. it is very easy to use but it is not the cheapest. their patented smoke generators only use their wood pucks which can be pricey but you can get them cheaper on ebay or even from homedepot.com. I know there are a couple of deer processors on this site who use Bradley for their jerky and smoked sausages. temperature control is critical when making sausages as temp spikes can cause the fat in the sausages to render, resulting in sausages that have a dried cardboard texture. ideally, you should use an aftermarket temp controller if your making a lot of sausages. pm me if you go with the Bradley and I can point you in the right direction with equipment and setup.
this is my smoker setup. I put it in a garden tool shed mounted to a dolly. I leave it in my garage and just roll it out when smoking. you can see the after market temp controller that I use from auber instruments made just for the Bradley. it holds temps to +/- 1 degree which is real important when making sausages. I do all my venison sausages, snack sticks and bacon in here as well as pork shoulders for pulled pork. I never had to replace anything in 6 years but I don't use it every day
this is my smoker setup. I put it in a garden tool shed mounted to a dolly. I leave it in my garage and just roll it out when smoking. you can see the after market temp controller that I use from auber instruments made just for the Bradley. it holds temps to +/- 1 degree which is real important when making sausages. I do all my venison sausages, snack sticks and bacon in here as well as pork shoulders for pulled pork. I never had to replace anything in 6 years but I don't use it every day
I picked up a 30" master built from tractor for $140 a month ago the cold smoker for $50 from cabelas for it. Very happy with it. Only thing I like about Bradley's is the auto feed
I have a Masterbuilt and use it a couple times a month. I love it. Super easy to set the temperature and walk away. Whatever you get make sure that it uses wood chips and not manufactured wood disks. Electronic controls are nice too. A glass window adds to the cost and will be covered with soot so you won't be able to see trough it anyway.
I have a Bradley as well. I added a circulation fan, 900 watt element, Auber PID controller and I use pellets for smoke. Not the Bradley pucks.
So basically, it's an insulated box at this point with "Bradley" written on it.
I use my electric smoker for fish, cheese, bacon and sausages. The smoker never goes over 175 degrees. I prefer my charcoal smokers for briskets, pulled pork, leg of lamb, etc.
www.curleyssausagekitchen.com The only thing I added to the recipe was 1 teaspoon of brown sugar per pound of meat which seemed to balance out the saltiness a little bit better than the plain recipe but it is still not sweet. Also, I add 2 lbs of pork trimmings to 5 lbs of venison.
My buddy has the 25th anniversary edition. The black and gray...it's complete mint.all decaled up. Beautiful car
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