Bradley Smokers US https://www.bradleysmoker.com/us Thu, 31 Dec 2020 10:55:22 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.9.5 https://www.bradleysmoker.com/us/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2019/12/Bradley-smoker.svg Bradley Smokers US https://www.bradleysmoker.com/us 32 32 ANSWERS FROM THE PROS https://www.bradleysmoker.com/us/blog/2020/12/31/answers-from-the-pros/ Thu, 31 Dec 2020 10:55:21 +0000 https://bradleysmoker.wpengine.com/us/?p=10632 The outdoor world is at your fingertips with our excellent fishing & hunting guides from outdoor experts. We’re

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The outdoor world is at your fingertips with our excellent fishing & hunting guides from outdoor experts. We’re

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COOK, EAT, REPEAT https://www.bradleysmoker.com/us/blog/2020/12/31/cook-eat-repeat/ Thu, 31 Dec 2020 10:52:11 +0000 https://bradleysmoker.wpengine.com/us/?p=10627 Looking for inspiration during your next cookout adventure? We’ve got you.

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Looking for inspiration during your next cookout adventure? We’ve got you.

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What’s Not Great About Smoked Whole Chicken? https://www.bradleysmoker.com/us/blog/2020/12/28/whats-not-great-about-smoked-whole-chicken/ Mon, 28 Dec 2020 15:00:00 +0000 https://test.bradleysmoker.com/?p=9748 Just imagine one of those bland or dry Sunday night roasted chickens your mom used to make. Only now they are moist, tender, and bathed in flavorful smoke. Not to mention, the wonderful warm spices and slow cooking, to the point where it melts in your mouth. I really think that smoking chicken is the [...]

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Just imagine one of those bland or dry Sunday night roasted chickens your mom used to make. Only now they are moist, tender, and bathed in flavorful smoke. Not to mention, the wonderful warm spices and slow cooking, to the point where it melts in your mouth. I really think that smoking chicken is the way chicken was meant to be cooked, well except for Hot Fried.  

I spatchcocked my last few birds and I’m sold on the technique. That is to cut out the backbone and spread it out flat. I’ve gotten very good and moist results using the technique. There are many videos on YouTube to show you how. It’s actually quite easy, especially if you have a good pair of poultry shears and a sharp knife.

We love smoked chicken and it is far superior to any rotisserie chicken you can purchase at the grocery store. The meat is moist and juicy with a wonderful smokey flavor.

One other thing we love about smoked chicken is that it is outstanding for leftovers. We always make extras, knowing that the meat will be great in wraps, sandwiches, or on pizza. Use the carcass to make some smoked chicken broth for a soup with so much flavor.

About Temperatures

I usually keep cabinet temp 225 to 250 F, until the thickest portion is at 160 to 165 F.  Some like it hotter to “crisp” up the skin, but I won’t risk a dried-up bird for a crispier skin. Some will finish inside in the oven as well.

The first step in smoking a barbecue chicken is to find a good chicken. Don’t pick up a shriveled-up, frozen bird. Pick out a fresh, plump bird, and try to avoid any chicken that is packed with “solution”.

Many, if not most chickens these days, are mixed with a chemical brine to make it look good and plump. This makes them look good, but it doesn’t necessarily make them taste good. Consider getting two or three or four. Four is as easy to smoke as one.  I usually try to find a 4 to 5-pound bird.

Woods And Brines

There are no specific rules as to the kind of wood to use. Use whatever you like, but definitely hickory, apple, and cherry, which gives a good reddish color.

Normally, I don’t brine chickens. I have a hard time finding a “non-enhanced” bird and a brine would not work very well with an enhanced bird. Besides, with the spatchcock method, I find they don’t dry out as much as a whole hunched up bird.  

However, a typical brine is one cup of salt to one gallon of water.  Add spices as your tastebuds guide you. Typically, for a rub, I’ll use a rosemary/garlic blend, a Montreal Chicken blend, a lemon/pepper blend, or just salt and pepper. Occasionally, I will marinate in Italian dressing and then sprinkle the rub-on.  Sometimes I will use a marinade of Dales, Worcestershire sauce, and jalapeno juice, along with some Mexican spices. 

Sometimes, I will place things such as sliced sausage or chorizo, or sliced lemons, herbs, or butter between the skin and the meat.  Have not done that with a spatchcock, but often with a whole hunched-up bird.  If doing a whole hunched up bird, I will usually stuff the cavity with butter, onions, and jalapenos. 

Be sure to keep the vent open. And in the Bradley, the skin will not likely get crispy. But I have no trouble with that, as the skin tastes fantastic. 

Final Thoughts

Smoked chicken is definitely going to be the star of the show for your work’s potluck, family holiday feast, or just to show off for your sweetie. Don’t forget to check out the Bradley Smoker Blog for more food smoking tips & tricks to get you started on your cookout adventure.

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OUR SMOKE, YOUR IMAGINATION https://www.bradleysmoker.com/us/blog/2020/12/25/our-smoke-your-imagination/ Fri, 25 Dec 2020 05:20:10 +0000 https://test.bradleysmoker.com/?p=10621 The Bradley Smoker Pros are a team of well-experienced pitmasters, cookbook authors, and recipe developers. We’re great at what we do. So, from choosing the right cuts of meat to wood flavor profiles, we’re sharing our secret culinary tips with you.

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The Bradley Smoker Pros are a team of well-experienced pitmasters, cookbook authors, and recipe developers. We’re great at what we do. So, from choosing the right cuts of meat to wood flavor profiles, we’re sharing our secret culinary tips with you.

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Directions To Make the Best Whiskey With the Bradley Smoker https://www.bradleysmoker.com/us/blog/2020/11/23/directions-to-make-the-best-whiskey-with-the-bradley-smoker/ Mon, 23 Nov 2020 14:00:00 +0000 https://test.bradleysmoker.com/?p=9936 Smoking drinks have become a popular trend nowadays, and it is a process that can be done at home. With the arrival of home smokers, it is simple to smoke your favorite drink to give off a richer flavor. You can use smoke to enhance any form of a drink. By using a Bradley Smoker, [...]

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Smoking drinks have become a popular trend nowadays, and it is a process that can be done at home. With the arrival of home smokers, it is simple to smoke your favorite drink to give off a richer flavor. You can use smoke to enhance any form of a drink. By using a Bradley Smoker, you can smoke your whisky to improve its taste naturally with any flavor of your choice using flavored Bradley Bisquettes.

4 Steps to make whiskey with the Bradley smoker

The process to smoke your whisky using a Bradley smoker is fairly straightforward. Here are the most important 4 steps to follow:

#1. Choose your smoke: The first step involves gathering all the ingredients you will need during the smoking process and to choose your smoke. You will need to select the whiskey you want to smoke along with the flavor of Bradley Bisquettes.

Pro Tip: Only use smoke and don’t turn on the heat, we don’t want a fire hazard!

#2. Place your whiskey into a steel pan or pot. The pan or pot should be shallow to allow the smoke to contact with as much of the whiskey’s top surface area as possible to give it the right amount of smoke flavor.

#3. Create your smoke: It is now time to create the smoke. This is done by lighting the Bradley Bisquettes that you have chosen to use for this smoke. The bisquettes are easy to dispense and will burn for a longer time. One bisquette provides smoke for at least 20 minutes. Keep smoking the whiskey until you achieve the smokey flavor you want.

#4. Smoke your whiskey: Place the pan or pot filled with whiskey on the smoker rack and let it smoke for around thirty to forty minutes. When your whiskey is fully flavored and ready, remove from the smoker and leave it to cool down. Smoke enhances the whisky by adding flavor to it, depending on the wood used from the bisquettes. For instance, when you use Applewood bisquettes, your whisky will get the fruity flavour of apples. While mesquite wood bisquettes can give off an authentic smoky taste for your whiskey, making it more enjoyable.

Bradley Tips & Tricks For Better Smoked Whiskey

There are several Bradley tips & tricks we recommend to achieve a well-smoked whiskey. It does take a little bit of patience and experimenting to get right. Even if you don’t get it perfect the first time, it’s still a lot of fun. Here are a few of our best smoking tricks to incrase your odds of getting the perfect smoke whiskey.

#1. Go low and slow

The process of making whiskey in a smoker is done slowly on low indirect heat. Subjecting your whiskey to the smoker for an extended time makes the drink gain as much flavor as possible. You can add more sweet aromas to your drink by burning bisquettes from a variety of woods.

#2. Do not overdo the smoke

When you are smoking food or drink in your Bradley smoker, it is crucial to ensure that you do not overdo the smoke. That is why it pays to go low and slow. When you have too much smoke or your whiskey stays for a more extended period than it should be, the smoke will overpower the other flavors and may make it taste bitter. Also, your whiskey can evaporate during the process. With the Bradley Digital smoker, you can easily set the precise temperature and time you require for the preparation of your whiskey.

#3. Airflow is vital

One of the factors that affect bisquette burning is the airflow in the smoker. Proper airflow means sufficient oxygen supply in the smoker, since it is a requisite in the burning process. The optimal combustion of bisquettes is achieved with adequate airflow supply.  A Bradley smoker has vents on the top side to make sure you have enough airflow. Keep the vent at least halfway open to serve as ventilation allowing for a high burn rate and clean smoke. The open vent also allows better circulation of the smoke from the bisquettes for your whisky to absorb the smoky flavor.

#4. Use Bradley Bisquettes

The secret of achieving the best results when smoking with Bradley smoker is using our bisquettes. They are uniquely designed to enable them to burn consistently for about 20 minutes at a time.  They are available in a wide range of flavors and do not give your whiskey the foul flavor you get from other fuel sources that put off too much ash.

These bisquettes are easy to dispense and maintain. They are natural, giving off a clean smoky flavor every time.

#5. Do not wet your Bisquettes.

Bisquettes should be used dry. Many people think that if they wet wood, they can achieve more smoke. However, soaking them will affect the compacting pressure and moisture level, which will affect the burning effects of the bisquettes. Also, always ensure you store your bisquettes in a dry place.

Final Thoughts

It’s possible to give your whiskey an incredible smoky flavor with the Bradley smoker using the steps above which you will enjoy with every sip. Create your perfect whiskey smoke using Bradley bisquettes with the taste of your choice, and don’t forget to follow the Bradley tips & tricks food smoking blog to achieve delicious results.

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Directions On Brining And Curing Your Meat For Food Smoking https://www.bradleysmoker.com/us/blog/2020/11/03/directions-on-brining-and-curing-your-meat-for-food-smoking/ Tue, 03 Nov 2020 14:05:00 +0000 https://test.bradleysmoker.com/?p=7947 We often get asked how to brine and cure meat to perfection. Brining is the process of submerging meat in a brine solution, which is simply salt dissolved in water. The meat absorbs extra liquid and salt, resulting in a juicier and more flavorful final dish. This technique is particularly great for lean cuts of [...]

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We often get asked how to brine and cure meat to perfection. Brining is the process of submerging meat in a brine solution, which is simply salt dissolved in water. The meat absorbs extra liquid and salt, resulting in a juicier and more flavorful final dish. This technique is particularly great for lean cuts of meat that tend to dry out during smoking! On the other hand, curing food is the addition of meats of a combination of salt, sugar, nitrite, and/or nitrate for the purposes of preservation, flavor, and color.

I’d like to share with you our perfected steps on brining and curing while demystifying the process while we’re at it. I will use a turkey in my demonstration. Let’s have some fun with it!

First, let’s start out by introducing what curing does for your food:

  • Cures are used to change and enhance the flavor and color of many foods. Curing also stops the growth of bacteria and delays the development of toxic spores discharged by bacterial growth. Primarily, this process helps to preserve food.
  • Curing salt is a dry powder mostly composed of standard table salt. By adding sodium nitrite exactly (6.25%) it is then referred to as Praque powder #1, curing salt, or pink curing salt. The pink is added so don’t mistake it for table salt.
  • Another cure, Praque powder #2 also includes (4%) sodium nitrate along with (6.25%) sodium nitrite. The remaining is table salt. This product is used to cure sausages. The sodium nitrate reacts to the protein in meat and converts into sodium nitrite. 
  • You will use Praque powder #2 for the making of salami, ham, and other food products requiring long periods of time to cure before they are fully cooked and consumed.
From IG: olmsteadcateringllc
Pancetta: Curing Pork Belly.

OK, so why do we need to cure meat exactly?

  • Meat decomposes rapidly. So by curing, we are extending the meat’s shelf time. It will still decompose, bacteria will still grow on the meat, and it will become inedible, but over a longer period of time.
  • Cured meat inhibits the growth of toxins created by a strain of bacteria that causes botulism. Botulism is a severe form of food poisoning caused by ingesting toxin-containing foods. Trust me, you wouldn’t want to contract that!
  • There are many other bacteria that cause food poisoning and the cure works its magic to prevent the bacteria from growing and spoiling meat.
  • Cured meat not only preserves it, but it also changes the flavor and color of the meat. It also enhances the flavor of the meat. The best example I can give you for this is bacon. Who does not love the smell and flavor of really good bacon?

Next, using a salt cure…

  •  …is relatively easy, but it’s important to use the right amount. On average you use 2 tablespoons of salt cure with 5 pounds of meat. Now, this is not the only ingredient used to cure meat. Usually, there is salt and sometimes sugar so remember it’s important to follow the recipe. If you are prone to winging it, (like me), at least follow the guidelines and have an idea of the intended results. Some recipes call for more cure, for example, 3 tablespoons for 5 pounds of meat. These are usually for things like polish sausage and meat sticks.

The Process Of Brining

First, let’s start out by introducing what brining does for your food:

  • Brines are used for changing and enhancing the flavor and color of many foods. They also stop the growth of bacteria and delay the development of toxic spores discharged by bacterial growth. Primarily, this process helps to preserve food.
  • A brine is essentially a high concentration of salt and water. Brine is used for pickling, fermenting, and preserving food. Adding a curing salt to a brine helps to preserve the food.
From IG: bakestreetinhk
Brining some chicken breast! Say bye to rubbery chicken breasts.

Making a brine with salt cure…

  • Using a salt cure in a brine is just as easy as curing, however, you have to consider the amount of water used. I will use a 15 pound turkey recipe as an example. 
  • You will need 6 tablespoons of salt cure just for the turkey. You will also need more salt cure for the brine. You can check out my video all about curing in the description box below. 
  • Then, I place the turkey in a “brine bucket”. I add water to the bucket until the bird is submerged. 
  • I measure the amount of water required to submerge the bird. Let’s say it’s 6 litres or a little over a gallon. I take the same amount of freshwater, put it into a pot and get it warm to room temperature. 
  • I start adding table salt to it, I continue to add table salt until it no longer dissolves, for example the water took 2 cups of salt to become salt saturated. I will also add 1.5 times sugar to the brine (3 cups). I will let the brine dissolve and cool down a bit. 
  • You may want to add some ice to cool it down. I will add the 6 tablespoons of curing salt for the bird and ½ tablespoon of curing salt for every litre of water (3 tablespoons). Now place the bird in your brine, add a zip lock bag of ice on top of the bird to keep it submerged and store in a cool location for 48 hours. I find this to be the perfect brine for smoking/cooking a turkey.

Important Tips For Wet Brining

When it comes to wet brining, it can be a bit confusing at first, when the recipe doesn’t clearly include up to how much meat in the weight you can brine. Here are 3 important tips when it comes to wet brining:

Pieces of Meat Should Be Loose in the Container

For example, take a recipe that can cure up to 48 pounds of meat. If you can fit all pieces of meat loosely in the container, you can cure them altogether. Just don’t stuff the pieces in, they should be loose, and every 24 hours move the pieces around and stir up the brine.

There is no maximum amount of brine that you can make for a certain weight of meat, but there is a minimum. For example, you can brine 2 pounds of chicken breast in five gallons of brine mix, but it only needs one pint of the same brine mix to properly brine or cure it.

Whether brining in five gallons or one pint, the chicken breast will cure at exactly the same rate. Making too much brine is a waste of supplies, but making too little will effect the quality of the final product.

Apply the Basic Rule of Thumb

To make sure you have enough liquid for brining, a basic rule of thumb dictates that the amount of brine should come to 50% in relation to the weight of the meat. Many sources state 40%.

I use the 40% number to insure that I have enough brine. The 40% corresponds to many other recipes, such as what Kutas uses. For his ham recipe, he states 5 quarts of brine will cure up to a 25 pound ham. Use either percentage that you feel more comfortable with.

A whole loin weighs 8 lbs. – 11 lbs. Two quarts of that brine mixture will be enough for 10.4 lbs of meat; 3 quarts will be enough to cure 15.6 lbs. To save supplies, you can scale the recipe down and make one gallon. That will be enough to cure brine/cure 16 lbs. of meat.


From IG: stormy0
Kitchen therapy was desperately needed, so in preparation for tomorrow’s dinner, I am brining a pork butt.

You Can Always Scale the Recipe

The amount you need will depend on the size of the container. You will still need to make enough brine so that whatever container(s) you use, the brine will cover the meat. So, if one gallon is not enough, you will need to scale the recipe to make enough. Or you can go ahead and make the full three gallons and use the amount you need to cover the meat.

Also, once the brine is ready, say you are using multiple containers, such as you are going to cure each piece into a separate one-gallon Ziploc bag, you can distribute that batch of brine between the three bags.

Place one piece of loin into a gallon bag, pour in the brine until it is well covered, close the bag – expelling as much air as possible. Repeat for the other two pieces. If using Ziploc bags for curing/brining, always place them on a rimmed baking sheet. In case there are any leaks, the brine that leaks out will be contained.

Final Thoughts

So there you have it, you now have a handy guide for curing and brining your food! Experiment with it using our Bradley recipes and definitely don’t forget to check out our extensive library of food smoking tips and tricks!

Happy smoking!

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How to Ace the Art of Food Smoking https://www.bradleysmoker.com/us/blog/2020/10/27/how-to-ace-the-art-of-food-smoking/ Tue, 27 Oct 2020 13:00:00 +0000 https://test.bradleysmoker.com/?p=9593 Food smoking is a popular way to prepare beef, pork, fish, and poultry. The smoky flavor it gives to the meat is incredibly delicious. Smoking is a great way to cook, but you must follow a few rules of the road to ace the art of getting tender, juicy, and delicious meat with the right [...]

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Food smoking is a popular way to prepare beef, pork, fish, and poultry. The smoky flavor it gives to the meat is incredibly delicious. Smoking is a great way to cook, but you must follow a few rules of the road to ace the art of getting tender, juicy, and delicious meat with the right amount of smoke.

Smoked turkey and other meats are a favorite for the holidays. However, for most cooks, there’s a big difference between our expectations and reality. Rather than the tender and succulent meat you were hoping for you end up with meat that is dry, tough, and tastes like boot leather. Here you’ll learn how to make sure this never happens to you.

Today, How to Ace the Art of Food Smoking is coming to the rescue to show you how to choose the smoker with the right features, wood, and secret tips that will make the grinch in your family green with envy.

Smoked Salmon in the Bradley Smoker via Instagram sarahmarie_stevens

How to choose the right food smoker

A quality food smoker should help you make delicious smoke meats, be easy to use, and be easy to clean. Here are some of the features to look for in a good food smoker.

#1. Multi-function heat elements: Separate controls for oven and smoke allows the device to function as a hot smoker, cold smoker, dehydrator, or oven.

#2. Automatic thermostat: This ensures the smoker maintains a consistent temperature throughout the cooking process according to a pre-set temperature. 

#3. Automatic turn-off: This feature automatically turns off the wood burner or food smoker once the smoking time has run out. It helps you not to miss the perfect doneness!

#4. Digital interface: This makes the whole cooking experience much easier by offering all functions at your fingertips. You can set the device to roast, barbeque, or smoke at the desired temperature.

#5. Insulated body with magnetic doors: Magnetic door ensures the smoke doesn’t escape while cooking and make clean up easier too.

#6. Automatic feed system: This feature saves a lot of time on reloading wood when you’re cooking for a crowd. For example, the system on the Bradley Smoker goes for about 9 hours with no wood refilling with the Bradley Bisquettes. A no babysitting, no hustle experience!

There are a number of great smokers out there with these features. Of course, the Bradley Smoker offers all these features and more too.

Smoked whole rainbow trout by Bradley Smoker community member @ryanfashfood. Looks Delicious!

Tips for perfect food smoking

Every culinary art has some hidden tips and tricks, food smoking is no different. To get the best tasting and perfectly tender meat here are the Bradley tips and tricks to take your meats to the next level of delicious.

#1. Smoke it all the way: One of the big myths out there is that you should finish the meat in the smoker after it already mostly cooked. The problem with this approach is that you don’t get much smoke flavor because the smoke flavor only penetrates meat while raw. A quality smoker is able to properly cook meat to perfection. A better approach is to start meat in the smoker and if needed finish it on the grill.

#2. Maintain low heat for slow cooking: The secret to making succulent and tender meat is to cook it at low temperatures so the meat doesn’t dry out.

Also, the low and slow approach works really well with cheaper cuts of meat and game. Lower temperatures and longer smoke times will make those tough to cook pieces tender and taste amazing!

#3. Brine the meat before smoking: Salt used in the brining process enhances the water-absorbent properties of the meat. This helps the meat stay moist throughout the smoking process.

#4. Allow a little airflow: Keep the top vent of the smoker half-open to enable clean ventilation. This will let the smoke from wood reach the food and then pass out from the same vent. 

#5. Balance the moisture: Keep the water pan for the steamer filled up while the smoker is on. This will ensure the food is steamed simultaneously while smoking to retain its tenderness.

#6. Smoke Clean: When wood chips turn to ash they release smoke that makes your meat foul-tasting. You want the wood to extinguish before they turn to ash to get clean smoke and the best flavor. Bradley Bisquettes are specially designed to extinguish before they turn to ash to give you deliciously clean smoke.

Final Thoughts

Food smoking is a fun and delicious way to enjoy meat and even a large array of vegetables. We showed you the features to look for in a quality smoker, gave you our best tips for delicious and juicy meats, and provided you with the secret to better smoke flavor.

Whether you’re smoking the turkey for the holidays or for any other season, we wish you the best in your smoking adventures. Don’t forget to check out our food smoking recipes for more food smoking tips & tricks.

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Learn How To Treat Yourself With A Smoked Pizza This Fall https://www.bradleysmoker.com/us/blog/2020/10/22/learn-how-to-treat-yourself-with-a-smoked-pizza-this-fall/ Thu, 22 Oct 2020 13:00:00 +0000 https://test.bradleysmoker.com/?p=9150 With autumn looming on the horizon, the smokers are out in full force. While the traditional fare of burgers, brats, dogs and barbecue create mouthwatering meals, there is a less traditional, albeit no less tasty food smoking option. Tread the lesser known path by smoking a pizza cooked in a smoker. This gives your pizza [...]

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With autumn looming on the horizon, the smokers are out in full force. While the traditional fare of burgers, brats, dogs and barbecue create mouthwatering meals, there is a less traditional, albeit no less tasty food smoking option. Tread the lesser known path by smoking a pizza cooked in a smoker. This gives your pizza an edge with a traditional smoky flavor with a modern twist. If you are looking to find a creative way to wow your guests, crank up the smoker, and in approximately an hour and a half, you will be eating smoky, flavorful pizzas. Learn How to Treat Yourself with a Smoked Pizza This Fall!

Here you’ll learn how to make the pizza dough and how to add your favorite toppings. To smoke cheese, use the Bradley cold smoker attachment or visit our Cold Smoke Cheese blog for more details.

Treat Yourself with a Smoked Pizza This Fall

What You’ll Need

1 ¼ tsp active dry yeast
½ cup slightly warm water
1 ½ tsp sugar
1 tbsp olive oil, plus a little extra
½ tsp kosher salt
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, plus a little extra ½ cup tomato sauce
1-2 cups of whatever pizza toppings you like (pepperoni, onions, bacon, peppers, mushrooms, etc…)
1 cup shredded smoked cheese*

To smoke your own cheese, simply smoke your hard cheese of choice (Cheddar, Gouda, Edam, Havarti, etc…) for 1-2 hours with your cold smoker attachment with mild bisquettes such as alder, maple or pecan. Or see our how-to Cold Smoke Cheese Blog

Remember that you can add cold smoked salmon or other garnishes to make this pizza the bomb for your friends and family!

Pro Tip: You can use whatever pizza dough you prefer. Options range from creating your own homemade pizza dough to buying prepared pizza dough. You can also change your cheese from mozzarella to goat cheese for a zesty California-type pizza. Add in pineapple and chicken for a more Hawaiian flavor.

Directions

1. Dissolve sugar & salt into warm water
2. Sprinkle yeast over top
3. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes
4. Add oil into mixture
5. Stir together dough while slowly adding the flour and mix until a dough ball forms
6. Transfer dough onto clean, floured surface and knead by hand until a smooth ball comes together
7. Transfer dough to an oiled bowl and brush top with oil. Cover bowl with a clean kitchen towel and set aside in a warm place to double in size. It takes about an hour.
8. Gently knead the dough and roll out into a 12” round
9. Top with tomato sauce, toppings and your smoked cheese
10. Brush the crust of the pizza with olive oil and bake at 450°F for 12 to 15 minutes, until crust is golden brown

Pro Tip: Remove the pizza from the smoker and place back on a serving dish. Be certain to wait a few minutes to dig in as the melted cheese, meat and vegetables will be very hot.

What’s A Pizza Stone & Why Should I Want One?

Pizza stones are usually made of a ceramic composite material which is great for high heat grilling and baking. The purpose of these is the ability to retain and distribute heat evenly (like cast iron). The benefit of using a pizza stone in a smoker is that it will help to wick away moisture in baked goods so that your breads and pizza crust will have a light and crispy exterior. Therefore, the pizza stone can get the pizza a lot closer to a wood oven’s result!

Final Thoughts

So there you have it, this is How to Treat Yourself with a Smoked Pizza This Fall! Check out the Bradley Smoker Blog for more insights and food smoking tips & tricks!

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Why Food Smoking Is The New Favorite Cooking Trend https://www.bradleysmoker.com/us/blog/2020/10/16/why-food-smoking-is-the-new-favorite-cooking-trend/ Fri, 16 Oct 2020 13:00:00 +0000 https://test.bradleysmoker.com/?p=9274 Food Smoking is hot and on trend for many reasons. Don’t be surprised to find delicious smoke flavors imparted in such varied foods such as butter, fruit, yogurt, desserts and beverages as well as such traditional items as meats, marinades and sauces at today’s top tables. Smoking flavors are adding nuance to a variety of [...]

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Food Smoking is hot and on trend for many reasons. Don’t be surprised to find delicious smoke flavors imparted in such varied foods such as butter, fruit, yogurt, desserts and beverages as well as such traditional items as meats, marinades and sauces at today’s top tables. Smoking flavors are adding nuance to a variety of applications! This is Why Food Smoking Is The New Favorite Cooking Trend!

Over the last couple of years, smoke has become extremely integral to menus all around the world. From smoking meat for hours over a day, to smoking elements that make up a dessert, the ways in which smoke has been used in cooking have become more diverse over time, and have definitely challenged the way in which people think about using it with food.

It’s not only about the balance of seasoning and the flavoring of the food, but it’s also about the balance of the smoke and heat. Smoking is the precise application to impart deeper flavors and returning to wood for cooking.

Smoked Skewers!

Why Smoking Techniques Have Been The Focus As Of Late

Protein (meats) continuously gets the centre attention in food smoking, but vegetables and new experimental creations are also being made each day.

There is something so satisfyingly primal about the simplicity of wood and fire. It’s surely an attractive relief from finer techniques. Of course, cooking with smoke still involves a lot of skill, but it’s so fun and there’s plenty of room to experiment with different ingredients that would not usually come into contact with smoke. For instance, pitmasters and smoke hobbyists can experiment with various flavours from the wood or hot and cold smoking.

In the past you’d need to build a smokehouse, cut and dry the wood and babysit it to make sure you’re not adding ash flavor to your recipes. But for a while now, modern food smokers make it a log simpler and fun to experiment!

There’s a trend towards more of a general focus of simplicity in food. Small scale, sustainable farming gives us cooks and chefs some incredible produce to work with. To do the ingredient justice, sometimes simply smoking it with bisquettes with minimal babysitting brings out the best in the product. As mentioned before, it’s also a very primal process to take part in food smoking. When you are using great produce, you don’t want to do too much to it other than throw it in the smoker.

Why Bradley Smokers Make Food Smoking Easy

Why Smoke Is Integral To Every Menu

Any chef can experiment with lots of different dishes in a smoker. For instance, you can smoke fried chicken, and of course, there’s our signature brisket, which is smoked for hours.

The smoky flavour that you get from either cooking with bisquettes or the cold smoke adapter is really unique. You can use cold smoking with your desserts too. For example, you can make a maple syrup smoked ice cream, served with cashew nuts, brown sugar and hemp seed oil in a spun sugar cage. The ice cream is smoked to order using maple bisquettes, and served in a closed container so that when the diner lifts the lid, they smell all that fragrant maple smoke and then taste it again in the ice cream. Sounds fancy, but completely do-able!

Smoked Salmon in the Bradley Smoker!

You can get a salmon to the next level by making it using a smoker other than the regular oven!

Why Food Smoking Is A Special Process

The great thing about smoking is that there are so many subtleties that chefs, pit masters, and even the average Joe can play with. Different woods produce different flavours and of course, there’s cold smoking as well. There are so many ways to experiment! So we definitely encourage you to do so.

The more chefs get used to smoking food, the more there there will be a ‘smoke signature’ where you can tell which chef created the type of smoky flavour in your food.

“Our guests usually take photos and videos of the process of lifting the dome to release the smoke, and then they post it on social media and tag us,” says chef Dmitry Rodov of Duet Restaurant in New York’s West Village, which sells around 50 smoke dishes per week.

Smoking is already being introduced into all styles of kitchens, and not just savoury applications. Some kitchens are making smoked chocolate ice cream, there’s smoked soy products, and some great smoked salmon roe on the market. In the near future, smoking will become more and more commonplace on a day-to-day basis as opposed to gas cooking in restaurants and food manufacturing.

Conclusion

And there you have it, this is Why Food Smoking Is The New Favorite Cooking Trend! You can experiment with a smoker often and create your own repertoire of recipes and creations. Don’t forget to check out the Bradley Smoker blog for more delicious smoking tips and tricks.

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8 Tips and Tricks You Need to be a Food Smoking Master https://www.bradleysmoker.com/us/blog/2020/09/21/8-tips-and-tricks-you-need-to-be-a-food-smoking-master/ Mon, 21 Sep 2020 18:41:00 +0000 https://test.bradleysmoker.com/?p=8502 There are few foods more delicious than smoked meat. The case can be made that a good piece of smoked meat is like a work of fine art. It takes time, dedication, and know-how to get it right. Even if pit masters around the world disagree on the minute details, we’re confident they’ll all agree [...]

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There are few foods more delicious than smoked meat. The case can be made that a good piece of smoked meat is like a work of fine art. It takes time, dedication, and know-how to get it right. Even if pit masters around the world disagree on the minute details, we’re confident they’ll all agree on one thing: smoked meat is freaking awesome. Here are our 8 Tips and Tricks You Need to be a Food Smoking Master!

A video on several tips on smoking food with the Bradley Smoker!

1. Always Smoke Raw Food

Start to smoke early in the day as many of the flavor compounds in smoke are fat and water soluble, which means that whatever you are cooking absorbs smoky flavors best when it is raw. As the surface cooks and dries out, the smoke does not penetrate as well.

2. Go low and slow

The real food smoking process is cooked slowly over low, indirect heat with wood (bisquette) smoke. In order to not dry out the meat, you need to cook in lower temperatures to make sinewy meats so tender you will hardly need teeth. But don’t miss easy opportunities to experiment with adding sweet wood aromas in a variety of bisquette flavors for foods like steaks, shrimp, and even vegetables.

Cooking at low temperatures also makes it possible for tough collagens in the connective tissue of meat to be hydrolyzed into gelatin without overheating the proteins. In other words, smoking it low and slow lets all the tough tissue dissolve into the meat while simultaneously giving the smoke time to absorb.

3. You need to use Brine

Brining your meat keeps it from drying out during the smoking process. The salt in the brine makes the proteins in the meat more water-absorbent. When sodium and chloride ions get into the meat tissue, their electrical charges mess with the proteins (especially myosin), so they can hold onto moisture more effectively and lose less of it during the cooking process. For optimal moisture retention, soak your meat in a brine for 10-12 hours before smoking.

In its most basic form, brine is nothing more than salty water, however, it benefits from the addition of herbs and spices. To make a good base, add three tablespoons of salt to one quart of water, then throw in whatever else you prefer.

Pro Tip: Brining is a bit of a double-edged sword. It helps meat retain moisture but also makes it saltier. Some chefs use sugar and molasses to combat the salty flavor.

4. Don’t overdo the smoke

This is an extension of going low and slow. Don’t smoke the food for so long that it dries out the meat. After a long time in the smoker, the meat might taste bitter. In general, you should smoke food for no longer than half its cooking time. Also, the smoke should flow like a gentle stream, not like it is billowing out of a train engine.

The Bradley Digital Smoker allows you to set the timer for as long as you want the smoker, and the precise temperature you need for the preparation of any recipe!

5. Airflow is important

Keep the vents on top of your Bradley smoker open and position the vent at least halfway open. The open vents will draw smoke from the Bisquettes so that it swirls over your food and out the top properly, giving you the best ventilation and the cleanest smoke.

6. Buy the Best Meats to Smoke

When hunting for the right chunk of meat, try to pick something that will benefit from the slow-cooking process. Don’t shy away from cuts with lots of connective tissue and fat known as “marbling.” A generous marble will make the finished product more succulent and delicious. Beef brisket, ribs, pork shoulder, and steak. The selection is endless!

Even lesser known cuts like tri-tip and chuck eye can be thrown in the Bradley smoker. Who knows? You might just fall in love with this new-found cut of meat.

7. Use Bradley Bisquettes

Our Bisquettes are the secret to the Bradley Smoker. The bisquettes have a unique design burning at consistent temperatures and for controlled periods of time. They consist of precise quantities of hardwood sawdust, coupled with controlled pressures and wood densities.

Bisquettes offer perfect, consistent results every time.

Using the Bradley Bisquettes, you don’t have to worry about your sawdust burning too hot for too long, and giving your food an off-taste. They’ll give you perfect results! The same results that Bradley users have been enjoying for years.

Part of the excitement of food smoking is experimenting with different hardwoods. Try out till you find that perfect woody flavour for your food.

The Bradley Flavour Bisquettes use hardwood sawdust bound together with precise quantities at controlled pressures and densities, the flavour of the smoke determined by the variety of wood burnt.

For instance, alder and maple give a rich and distinct flavour commonly used with seafood, hams and bacon. Apple and cherry impart a sweeter, milder smoke flavour, commonly used with poultry and wild game meat.

Find the best quality smoking bisquettes by visiting our Bradley Smoker website today.

8. Maintain the Moisture

In addition to making sure your smoker is smoking, you also need to make sure it is steaming. Keeping the water pan full, provided in the Bradley Smoker package, is a crucial part of the smoking process. If you have a large smoker, you will probably need to refill the water pan a few times while smoking.

The water bowl adds moisture to your food preparations. This part is not optional! Adding a marinade before cooking or a sauce while the meat is smoking will assist in keeping the meat moist, but this is completely up to you.

Final Thoughts

So many people in the past have avoided smoking meat because of the challenges of maintaining consistent heat throughout the smoking process. Bradley Smokers allows you to create a no hustle, no babysitting experience. With Bradley, you will never have trouble smoking notoriously difficult meats such as brisket ever again.

Never before has smoking meats been this easy. As long as you apply these tips and tricks, then you will create some amazingly smoked foods.

Remember to visit our Bradley Smoker blog for more delicious food smoking tips and tricks!

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