Pete,

Any notes on how they did the jerk? I'm a huge fan of jerk foods and wonder
if they do a standard smoke or something different with ribs/butts.

Evan

"Pete C." > wrote in message
...
> Reg wrote:
>>
>> Nonnymus wrote:
>>
>> > Now, here's my question for this group: What experiences have you had
>> > with an electric fed and temperature regulated smoker, such as sold by
>> > Bass Pro Shops? http://tinyurl.com/yepbba From what I've seen and
>> > heard, it's a pretty decent compromise for a person in my position.
>> > Now
>> > that we're older and the kids are gone, my smoking is primarily for the
>> > wife and me, with occasional bigger batches for visitors. I want
>> > something I can "charge up," and forget while I tend to the new, other,
>> > things in my life. From what I've seen, the temperature inside the
>> > smoker is regulated by a digital thermostat and there's a second
>> > heating
>> > element that fires off the wood or charcoal to provide the smoke. On
>> > my
>> > limited real estate, I'd place the smoker on a concrete pad beside my
>> > gas grill/ infrared cooker, so it'd be right by a 120v GFCI outlet.
>> > The
>> > released smoke would be minimal and probably would not irritate my
>> > neighbors too much.
>> >
>>
>> Did you know that you have to buy the smoking wood from
>> Bradley? You can't use your own wood, and there's not
>> even a 2nd manufacturing source. If Bradley raises
>> the price, you have to pay it. If they go under and
>> stop making them, no more smoking with the Bradley.
>> It becomes a holding oven.
>>
>> (Anticipating the question: "Can I make the proprietary
>> wood things myself?", the answer is, I'd bet a million
>> you couldn't)
>>
>> Some math is in order.
>>
>> The proprietary wood things you have to buy from them
>> cost $1 per hour of smoke time. 10 hours of smoking
>> per week = 10 bucks per week = $520 per year to run
>> it. That's more than the cost of the unit itself out
>> of pocket, every year, forever. I run my smoker(s)
>> at least 20 hours per week, so that's a conservative
>> estimate.
>>
>> That said, I do own and use one. It's not the best for hot
>> smoking, pretty lousy actually, but it's unrivaled for
>> convenient cold smoking. There isn't a cheaper, more
>> reliable cold smoker available. Set it, forget it, and
>> come back in 8 hours to a finished product (with minor
>> mods you can get it up to 8 hours or even higher).
>>
>> For a more versatile and durable smoker in this category,
>> which I would classify as "insulated electric oven type
>> smokers", check out cookshack. It's a much, much better
>> built product, and you can use any wood you want. I own
>> one of these also.
>>
>> <http://www.cookshack.com/index.php?pr=Home_Smokers>
>>
>> You really do want a well insulated unit, too. It's
>> worth the cost.
>>
>> You're right about the fact that they put out minimal
>> amounts of smoke. I call em "stealth smokers" and
>> recommend them to people who need to smoke unobtrusively
>> because of neighbors, homeowners association rules, etc.
>>
>> > Looking back over the years, one thing I've not done personally is
>> > sausage. I have a meat grinder on order and plan to play around making
>> > some smoked sausage.
>>
>> The insulated electric oven smokers have a downside
>> here. They tend to have lower total airflow, which equates
>> to a higher humidity in the chamber. When smoking sausage,
>> which I do a lot of, I solve this by leaving the door open
>> for part of the cook.
>>
>> --
>> Reg
>
> While I'm pretty sure I could make my own wood pucks for the Bradly
> smoker (I've got a well equipped shop and a 20 ton press), the Cookshack
> smokers do an excellent job. My favorite Jamaican restaurant had a large
> commercial sized Cookshack and turned out fantastic jerk pork. I was
> just about drooling every time I walked in the door it smelled so good.
>
> Pete C.