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We smokin’ turkeys…we smokin’ ribs…we smokin’ salmon…we is up in smoke! Bradley Technologies BT1S1 Electric Smoker I have owned a Bradley smoker for about 2 years now. I bought this unit mai...

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I’ve had my Bradley Original smoker for about five years. I’ve cooked ribs, brisket, pork shoulder, kielbasa sausage, salmon, and chicken. Everything I’ve cooked in it has come out perfect. The temperature is easy to control within the range needed for barbeque (150-220F). Even sausage, which is easy to ruin by cooking too hot, can be smoked with reliable results in the Bradley. The wood “bisquettes” are expensive but in terms of dollars per cooking time are about as expensive as cooking with charcoal. The bisquettes are available in several “flavors” (kinds of wood) but to be honest with the Bradley, I have not really noticed the wood to have that big an effect on the flavor of the finished product. Stick with Alder or Hickory and you should be happy with the results.

Since I purchased my Bradley, they have come out with a stainless model, which I would highly recommend, since it’s a pain to move it inside for storage after each use, but if you keep it outside the powdercoat eventually wears off and the outside rusts. Surprisingly, the smoke generator has proven very robust. Even though mine has been drenched several times, after it dries out again it works fine.

Over the years I have had a few minor problems, many of which appear to be fixed in the newer (and more expensive) models. First of all, the guide tube for the bisquettes is located by three pins on the smoke generator. If the tube is not mounted perfectly on these pins, the bisquettes do not feed reliably and if you don’t notice, you could end up cooking for a long time with no smoke. Furthermore, the pins are fairly fragile and if you try too hard to force the tube onto the pins (like you might if you wanted to make sure it was lined up properly), it is possible to bend the pins and subsequently have an even harder time lining the tube up right. A threaded tube would be more expensive but ultimately more robust.

The rheostat that controls the temperature of the infrared heating element is mounted right below the door, where it is vulnerable to being dripped on by grease or water (should you jar the unit and spill the water in the pan used to extinguish spent bisquettes). Once the rheostat gets gunked up it gets hard to move smoothly and could stop working. On the newer “digital” smoker the control is moved to the smoke generator, so for the $100 difference in price you can avoid this problem.

Finally, there are some plastic parts on the exterior that in time become brittle and crack due to UV exposure. The digital model appears to have eliminated all plastic from the exterior. If you don’t get this model, invest in the Weather-guard cover ($30).

In summary this critcism should be considered minor in view of the fantastic results and resonable price. That said, for my next smoker, I must admit I’m looking at the Cookshack because it looks to be a simpler design and uses conventional wood chunks (and a lot less of them at that) and so appears to be much cheaper to operate.

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