cruzmisl Posted January 21, 2014 Report Posted January 21, 2014 Hi All. A friend of mine is looking to get into smoking. He's poor and not a very savvy cook so he needs something basically idiot proof. I was looking at the Bradley Digital. Any opinions or something better? Need a set it and forget it system. Only issue with the Bradley is the proprietary wood pucks. Thanks! Joe
rwalters Posted January 21, 2014 Report Posted January 21, 2014 Based on what you are looking for... in my opinion, this will be the best bang for your buck. www.smokin-it.com They can also be purchased through Amazon. Take a look at all of the positive reviews
rwalters Posted January 21, 2014 Report Posted January 21, 2014 However, if he decides NOT to go the electric route... than I would hands-down recommend the PBC. www.pitbarrelcooker.com I have one, and absolutely LOVE it for its simplicity and ability to turn out insanely good food.
dstr8 Posted January 21, 2014 Report Posted January 21, 2014 I owned two Cookshack smokers, similar to the linked smokers rwalters pointed to. Although not necessarily inexpensive they can be found with shipping deals for ~$400 USD. Plus it served as a back-up slow-oven/warming/keeping oven at party and/or holiday time so its use extended past smoking only. It probably boils down to how much smoking your friend is going to do. If just once in a while you can follow Alton Brown's relatively simple and inexpensive clay flower pot and electric plate burner patio smoker...gets the job done.
tony b Posted January 21, 2014 Report Posted January 21, 2014 If you're not 100% dead set on electric, the Weber Smokey Mountain is a great intro to smoking. I did notice that the Smokin It units only go to 250F, which is fine for super lo & slo, but poultry and ribs would need higher temps.
EGGARY Posted January 22, 2014 Report Posted January 22, 2014 Could always go with a Pellet Grill. Only thing that I don't like is the lack of smoke flavor but it is easy to use.
Bommer Posted January 24, 2014 Report Posted January 24, 2014 I have had a Bradley for about 15 years now and have just upgraded to the digital one, what is nice is you can set it and forget it Temp and smoke for hours. I have a KK and love it but if $ is an issue you will love the Bradley.
swalatee79 Posted January 24, 2014 Report Posted January 24, 2014 I have had a Bradley Smoker for the last 12 years which I primarily use for smoking fish. My personal opinion is, the Bradley has pretty poor build quality, it is quite flimsy. If I was buying now I would go with something like the Masterbuilt electric smoker with window sold at SamsClub for $300 or the Smoky Mountain smoker (online only) for the same price.
