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In article >,
says...
> While shopping in the local Sam's Club the other day I found that they
> are now carrying Bradley Smokers at a pretty good price of around
> $350. And that is about 15% better than any other price I've seem for
> them.
>
> I was wondering if anyone here as used one and in general what you
> think of them.
>
> One clear downside is that you have to use their little proprietary
> compressed wood disks for smoke generation. This could be expensive in
> the long run.
>
> On the plus side, it seems the smoke generation is a separate function
> from the heat source which is electric. Besides promising a steady
> thermostatically controlled temperature, it should allow me to do
> cold smoking. I would like to try my hand at making my own bacon and
> smoking fish. We catch a lot of mackerel up here in the summer and it
> seems like a good way to use them.
>
> As I've said , I live in Maine, and for a large part of the year it is
> just too damn cold to use most smokers. Does anyone have experience
> with a Bradley in the cold?
>
> Thanks in advance,
> Jim
>
A buddy of mine has a Bradley and loves it. He uses it year round in
all kinds of weather, from hot, humid Summer temps in the 90s, to the
Winter extremes (around here) in the teens, sometimes into single digits
for a few days at a time.

My friend cares not at all about the cost of the Bradley chips. He buys
them in bulk and has a major stash of them in his shed. (This guy is
not hurting for money, so life-cycle costs that might deter some folks
are not a consideration.)

Over about a year and a half I've sampled a lot of what he's done in the
Bradley, literally from soup to nuts, and it's all been good. No
complaints there.

You might want to look into one of the ceramic cookers as an alternative
to the Bradley. Although the ceramics are not as flexible in some ways
(like cold smoking) their cold weather performance is supposed to be
good, and they have some grilling and smoking options that the Bradley
doesn't. Good luck,
--
Bob
(remove ZZ to email)