Bradley Original Smoker, Black

The thermometer was broken. Amazon.com has been difficult in replacing the broken item!!! Buy direct from the manufacturer!!

I love smoked meat! However, I don't have the time or the patience to smoke meat and tend to it all day by constantly having to throw more chips on the fire. Why didn't someone think of this sooner. Since I bought this item a few months ago as a graduation gift to myself, I have smoked like crazy. I have smoked different kinds of meat, my favorite being chicken breast. You don't even have to marinade it. The meat is so tender and so juicy. It self feeds, you just need to stack the wood bisquettes (which are made specially for use with this product) in the side shoot, turn it on and put the meet on the racks and VOILA, perfectly smoked meat. It is unbelievable! I even smoked london broil and it was so tender and juicy.

The smoker cleans easily (which supports my low maintenance needs). So, if you love smoked meat, but don't like the high maintenance that is required to tend the meet and clean up, I HIGHLY recommend this Smoker (or should I say "Lazy Q") You won't be dissatisfied. While you are at it buy the apple bisquettes for smoking chicken and hickory for smoking beef. Also, you might want to purchase the Bradley All Weather Cover to protect your investment. One last praise, it runs on electricity! You don't have to worry about running out of propane or charcoal because you won't need them. This is one of the best purchases I have ever made.

I've owned this smoker for 3 years and have been very happy. I've cooked ribs, brisket, pork shoulder, boston butt and salmon and they all have come out fantastic. Using the Bradley is very simple. I've tried smoking the traditional way but for the occasional weekend smoker keeping the heat low and slow is nearly impossible; the constant monitoring of heat and fuel for 6-12 hours took out all the joy of eating. Bradley is the way to go!

Besides making sure there were enough "pucks" of wood, you have to check the water pan to make sure it doesn't go dry. If you're smoking something fatty like a boston butt, I would recommend tossing out the oil and ash that drips into the pan after 3 hours or so and add more water. Other than that it's set and forget.

We don't have a much of a selection of wood where I live (mesquite is king) so it's great how easy it is get different woods to try and mix them like the pros do.

The only reason it doesn't get five stars is because it doesn't get hotter than about 225 degrees. If it were able to get hotter it would have greater versatility, and you could roast a perfect chicken with crispy skin.

Side note: Just as important as the smoker is the rub and sauce. The best cookbook for BBQ I've found is Peace, Love, & Barbecue: Recipes, Secrets, Tall Tales, and Outright Lies from the Legends of Barbecue. It gives you the REAL award winning recipes, not the common "based on" recipes from some well-known BBQ pros. In addition, there are valuable hints on prepping and cooking that most other books don't give and a great guide that will help you develop your own signature rub.

After owning many smokers in my lifetime; And recently building my own, using a Bradley's Smoke Generator; I decided to purchase one of these for the smaller capacity. (My home built is more than triple the capacity and works fine if you're cooking for an army but I wanted something smaller for every day use.)
The design of this unit is brilliant, using the miniscule 125 watt element to generate the necessary plus 500 degrees of heat needed to start the wood to smoke and the larger element to control the heat.
In addition; The folks at Bradley Smokers are very quick to respond in the event of a complaint as I found, after my original smoke generator failed to advance after moving 3 bisquettes,
In my opinion; If you are looking for a smoker; Don't buy anything less, unless you have an unlimited supply of suitable wood. By my estimate; My costs are around a buck an hour, depending on where you buy the bisquettes. Using charcoal, and/or smoking wood has proved more expensive to me, in addition to little (if any) temperature control.
The unit is incredibly well designed to smoke at low temperatures. The problem with this is; You must know what you are you are doing and use the appropriate techniques (such as curing) and food preparation prior to use at the lower temperatures.
This is NOT a grill and never was intended to be one.
Believe me; Iv'e tried the rest; Now try the best!

I received my new Bradley Original Smoker last Tuesday. Seasoned it according to the instructions and smoked my first turkey Friday. I have never smoked anything before and don't even do well at grilling, however the turkey was a huge success with our guests. Two days later I tried some pork ribs and the results were the same-the ribs were incredible. The Bradley Smoker is so easy even a novice can get great results from the start.

I couldn't be more pleased with my Bradley smoker and would highly recommend it to anyone, novice or pro. The Bradley web site also has a great forum with friendly people who are happy to help you get started. You won't go wrong with this smoker!