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130 of 133 found the following review helpful:
 I like my smoker and I like the quality of this smoker Nov 27, 2007
By C. T. Vanderdecken
"In the Art & Style of a Gentleman"
It looks like a very small refrigerator.
Every piece of sheet metal is sanded on the edges, no cuts from sharp edges.
Easy to put together, no more difficult than putting together a refrigerator.
Quiet as a refrigerator too.
Read the instructions and season it first as directed.
You will need extra wood pellets. It does not come with any in the box, so order some extras. Each pellet lasts about 20 minutes.Bradley Apple Bisquettes 48 pack
NOTE: you have to put at least 4 pellets in the stacker to get it to burn 1 pellet. Just the way it works. I put in two pellets and nothing smoked. It needs 4 pellets to push the pellets along the tray to the burner. Not a problem, just try to remember that 3 of the pellets won't burn.
So, if you want to cook for 4 hours you need: 3 pellets per hours x 4 hours = 12 pellets + 3 pellets to get them to burn plate = 15 pellets.
I tested a Butterball Turkey Breast first. I followed the Bradley instructions in their cookbook Bradley Recipe Book Volume 1 for the turkey cooking temperatures. I used their glaze recipe under the skin. I also used a wireless remote meat thermometer Oregon Scientific AW131 Grill Right Wireless Talking BBQ/Oven Thermometer feed the probe wire through the roof vent of the smoker. I used the apple pellets from Bradley Apple Bisquettes 120 pack
I sat back and waited. A few hour later the Oregon Scientific AW131 Grill Right Wireless Talking BBQ/Oven Thermometer began to chirp "almost done" "Almost done". The wireless thermometer is great because I was smoking the week of Thanksgiving and it was in the 30's outside so not having walk out to the smoker to check the meat was ideal. (My wife was concerned about the smoker being able to maintain cooking temperature in the cold outside. This smoker was stable, the temperature stayed steady. the outside of the unit did not get hot to the touch, except around the smoke vent which is to be expected.)
I used a Taylor Analog Instant-Read Dial Thermometer to verify the temperature of the meat when the wireless told me it was done. Both thermometers were within a degree of each other.
I took the turkey breast out of the smoker and let it rest for about an hour. The color was extremely golden skin. Not black or Smokey but as if was dipped in golden lacquer. A gorgeous turkey breast. No burnt places, not excess smoke, perfect. When I carved the Turkey breast it was as moist as a wet sponge. Unbelievably tasty, nothing like store bought smoked turkey. The taste of the turkey was like that of caviar compared to fish sticks, it was rich, smooth and wonderful.
This smoking robot works. Just add a Oregon Scientific AW131 Grill Right Wireless Talking BBQ/Oven Thermometer to you don't have to walk outside and let it do its job.
Also, we ran the smoker on our back porch, about 10 feet from the house. It only exhausts a small amount of smoke while working. It did not look like a fire at the, just a little smoke, less than the steam from a tea kettle. If you cheat and peak while it is cooking you will get your clothes smoked and have to change for dinner, but the smoke from the smoker did not get into the house otherwise.
Easy to setup, easy to control and easy to cook with. Oh, the trays are 11x15 so you could put a 12-14 pound turkey in it. Next is a Roast, Ribs and some Cheeses. The Bradley Recipe Book Volume 1 also includes recipes for cheese, fruit, and more. Just follow the instructions and be patient. It can do both hot and cold smoking.
24 of 24 found the following review helpful:
Excellent - no hassle smoker Jan 03, 2009
By JH
"Bubba"
I've owned the OBS for about a momth now and have smoked all kinds of meat. It's so simple and easy that I know I will be using it far more frequently than a standard smoker just because it's easy. I'm able to run it on my deck without worry of torching the house since it cooks with electric element.
One of the cons of this product as I was researching it is that you have to buy Bradley's wood chips (biscuits) to use in the feeder mechanism and the cost associated with that. I don't see that as a problem at all since you'd be spending money for charcoal and or standard wood chips anyway. True that running this unit would be a bit more expensive than another electric smoker. But, it's well worth the additional operating cost to be able to run an overnight smoke without having to get up in the middle of the night several times to add wood for smoke or stoke a fire.
One last thing....if you're comparing the Original Bradley to the Digital Bradley; buy the Original and purchase the Auber digital PID with it instead of buying the Digital Bradley. The Auber digital component is a plug and play digital temp control unit that is much more accurate than what is provided with the Digital Bradley. I find on the Bradley forum that many who bought the Digital Bradley end up purchasing the Auber PID to override the standard Bradley digital component anyway.
23 of 24 found the following review helpful:
Smoking made elementary but will never crisp the skin. Jan 14, 2008
By Daniel R. Cruz
I have one and I love it. Its effortless with the smallest amount of maintenance so far, just keeping that box clean and free of debris is the most youll have to do. As for the smoke, the flavor is spot on. When it comes to smoking birds, youll never get the thing up high enough to crisp the skin like a charcoal smoker. Yes sometimes a smoker wants high temps. This little baby will never do it, not on its own. But when it comes to cold smoking or smoking at 220ish to 240, this baby cant be beat for the ease of use and perfect meat flavor. If you got the cash pick her up.
17 of 17 found the following review helpful:
 Good in concept but falls short. Mar 26, 2011
By BrianD
This is a very slick little unit with a digital temperature control and automatic smoke generator, using a wood chip biscuit feeder. Technically it should be hands off. More on that later.
It is made in the Orient and resembles one of those small inexpensive refrigerators complete with plastic trim. The interior is lined with very thin gauge Stainless Steel, and has 4 thin gauge racks. It is fairly light weight especially without the smoke generator attached. Assembly was fairly straight forward and is easy to move around.
The smoke generator uses lightly packed disks consisting of small wood chips. These are distributed by Bradley in various wood types. The smoke generator heats them individually on a small plate until they smoke. After 20 minutes another is indexed into place, pushing the used up bisquette as a blackened disk into a water tray, just short of rendering it to ashes. A tubular magazine holds enough bisquettes to last for many many hours.
The main issue I have with it is it's very poor temperature control. The key to smoking meat is to keep the temperature low and slow. This unit struggles with that, deviating considerably from the set temperature, specifically going higher. There is a 500W heating element in the smoke tower that comes on once the thermostat drops 10 degrees below the set temperature. The actual temperature in the smoke tower rises rapidly once the heater comes on but the thermostat lags way behind, allowing the actual temperature to rise well above what is desired. The temperature could be some 40 degrees or more above the thermostat reads. This is an especially serious problem if you are using a sugar based rub, because it will start to burn above 240 to 250F. Not to mention the fact that the meat will cook too rapidly.
Also being that the smoke tower has so little mass there isn't much to hold the heat, so opening the door to check on the status or baste causes the temperature to drop rapidly.
The other issue I have is that after 3 hours of smoking, I was surprised to see that the meat showed little evidence of smoking. The taste was there somewhat but seemed weak.
In my final analysis I would say you get what you pay for. Conceptually it has a lot to offer, and it's design seems very well thought out, but in practice falls short. With just a little more effort in the way of a better thermostat it would be immensely better. Also I'm not convinced it needs a 500W heater, it's possible a 250W unit could keep up and improve heat versus thermostat control.
Update: It's Superbowl Sunday 2012 and I'm using my Smoker for some Chicken Thighs. It's only the 4th time I've used it in just short of a year from when initially purchased it. It heated up initially but then packed it in after about 30 minutes. The heating element has failed. I now get to check out their customer service.
Update: Customer service is so far excellent.
34 of 38 found the following review helpful:
Bradley Digital Smoker 4 Rack Apr 04, 2007
By kromane
"Smokin Master"
This electric smoker makes the job easy. I wanted to stick to our grill but my wife talked me into this. It's great. The smoke delivery system is great and precise. I decided against propane and charcoal for many reason that an electric smoker overcomes, e.g. electronic timer, automatic brisquet feed, digital temp control, etc. Reason this isn't 5 star: 1) packaging not sturdy enough. Box didn't look damaged but upon opening the first delivery, metal was rippled and door edge crimpted (bent) obviously due to being dropped. Amazon exchanged with no problem. 2) Construction/fit quality not perfect (FYI-made in China) 3) becasue it is electric, it has a great compact design but I need to set up a table outside to set it on to avoid bending over to view digital read out or to access internal shelves. I paid $449 3/07. Brisquests are available thru amazon at the best price when shipping is considered. They can also be purchased locally thru Bas Pro Shop.
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