# Bradley Professional Smoker P10 Review



## disco (Aug 31, 2020)

This is a review of my new  Bradley Professional Smoker P10. I have had it for a few weeks and really like it.

First, why would you want an electric smoker when you already have a great pellet smoker?

Pellet smokers are terrific and do a great job but they are not able to operate at really low temperatures. If you make sausage, snack sticks, or the like. Consistent low temperatures are a must. The Bradley smoker gives those consistent low temperatures.

Both smokers do great with the low and slow cooks, ribs, pulled pork, brisket and the like but the Bradley will cook at 140 F (60 C) with consistent temperatures.

On the other hand, my pellet smoker won’t go below 165 F (74 C) and struggles to stay consistent at that temperature.

The pellet smoker is better than the Bradley at high temperatures. I can oven fry chicken in my pellet smoker at 425 F (218 C) but my Bradley won’t go over 320 F (160 C).

So both are great smokers with the Bradley excelling at low temperatures and the pellet smoker excelling at high temperatures.

At least that is the story I told She Who Must Be Obeyed when asked why I needed another smoker.

I will start my review with what I don’t like about the Bradley.

First, the temperature settings default to centigrade. I haven’t been able to find a way to change the default. You just have to push a button to change them but it always turns on to centigrade.

Second, I have found the touchpad to be a little finnicky. I occassionally have to push a button twice.

Third, the two probes let you set a target temperature and an alarm goes off when you reach it. However, if you set a target temperature, you can’t read the current temperature.

There are some things that I have a love/hate relationship with the Bradley.

First, the device has an automatic child lock. If the control panel isn’t used for a period of time, the child lock engages and a lock symbol on the control panel lights up. This is a great safety feature. The problem is it isn’t listed in the operating instructions of the manual. It is pointed out in the button description but that is a little arcane.  It should be front and center in the operating instructions that the controls are locked if that light is lit. Now that I know about it, I like the safety aspect.

Second, the Bradley uses their proprietary biscuits to make smoke. I don’t like being tied to one supplier but the system gives you total control of the level of smoke you want. You can use one biscuit for 20 minutes of smoke or go for hours. The quality of the smoke outweighs the one supplier issue in my opinion.

Third, they have a program cook option that lets you download specific recipes with several steps. I really like this for my longer complex sausage recipes. However, it has a flaw. If you set for heat and smoke for 40 minutes, the heat starts right away but the smoke starts in 7 or 8 minutes when the heater for the pucks is up to temperature. It save pucks but when it got to the end of the 40 minutes, the heat stopped for 7 or 8 minutes while the smoke finished and then restarted with the next step. This is a minor problem as the unit is so well insulated, it lost very litte heat.

There are a lot of things I like about this Bradley.


It stainless steel surface is easy to clean.
There is no longer a box on the outside that always seemed to get in the way with the original model
The racks supports lift out of the inside of the box to make cleaning easier.
This model has a better grease and drip management system that keeps the smoker cleaner.
There is a handle hung in the unit you can use to remove an move trays (I always forget to take oven mitts out).
The trays are set up so you can pull them part way out and they won’t tip.
The original unit would waste the occassional biscuit. They have modified that so no biscuits are wasted now.
The probes and internal thermometer are quite accurate.
There are 2 probes which lets me monitor more than on item or two parts of a large chicken or turkey.
The pucks give a clean smoke.
To really find out how well  a smoker works, you have to use it.

I started with a temperature test at 140 F. I put a labratory quality probe on the top rack and one on the bottom.








As with every smoker or oven I have ever used, The Bradley came up to temperature but overshot the target. It then settled in at about 8 degrees above the target. This is very accurate. Most ovens don’t maintain a temperature this close to the target. You’ll note that after the initial heating the top and bottom probes gave almost idetn

Then, I turned the heat up to 220 F.







Again, the temperature in the chamber was steady and accurate.

Finally, I turned it up to its maximum, 320 F.







Again, it held the temperature like a champion.

Of course, tests are fine and dandy. How did the food turn out.

I got the Bradley for low heat sausage cooks. I made Pizza Pepperoni and OFG Andouille.













These were cooked by slowly cooking from 140 F to 180 F using the heat probes. Both turned out great. The texture was perfect because of the excellent heat control. The smoke taste was just what I wanted and not off at all. Perfect result.

I did a hot smoked salmon at 180 F and it came out perfect as well and the heat probe isn’t so big I couldn’t use it on a salmon fillet. Another great result







I did a high heat cook at 320 F with the probe to make Country Style Ribs. The high heat even gave some browning and the smoke goes so well with pork. Another home run.







Jerky is another item that cooks well at lower temperatures. I did some Chili Lime Jerky at 200 F and got a perfect consistency.







My overall rating is excellent. This is a mid priced smoker that has a lot of features and makes great food. The difficulties I ran into were minor and I can recommend this smoker for all low and slow applications.

I have done a video review as well.



Disco


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## Steve H (Aug 31, 2020)

I was really hoping you'd do a review on this. Thanks for your thoughts Disco!


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## disco (Aug 31, 2020)

Steve H said:


> I was really hoping you'd do a review on this. Thanks for your thoughts Disco!


No problem. Let me know if you have any questions.


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## Winterrider (Aug 31, 2020)

Excellent review, I'm sure it will help many.


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## TNJAKE (Aug 31, 2020)

I plan to dive into sausage making this fall. Would this be a better option than an MES?


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## sawhorseray (Aug 31, 2020)

Nice review and write up Disco, well done! RAY


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## disco (Aug 31, 2020)

Winterrider said:


> Excellent review, I'm sure it will help many.



Thank you!



TNJAKE said:


> I plan to dive into sausage making this fall. Would this be a better option than an MES?



Better? I wouldn't say better. It is more do you like a Ford or Chevy better. I have never used an MES but many have had great success with them. Just look at all the great dishes Bearcarver created in his.

The MES uses chips so you aren't stuck with having to buy Bradley pucks for smoke. However, you will be filling the chip feeder often. Of course, you can use and A-Maze-N smoke generator to get your smoke in either.

Each has their own features and an MES is considerably cheaper than this.

I would look at the features of each and decide which one you want based on those. As long as you can get temperatures as low as 140 F that are fairly steady, you are golden.


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## disco (Aug 31, 2020)

sawhorseray said:


> Nice review and write up Disco, well done! RAY


Thanks, Ray!


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## jcam222 (Aug 31, 2020)

TNJAKE said:


> I plan to dive into sausage making this fall. Would this be a better option than an MES?


Same thing here Jake. This seems like a great option with precise low temp control without having to use smoke tubes. That’s likely all I would use it for but seems it would really shine for that. Think I might get one in the fall. Thanks for the review JJ


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## smokerjim (Aug 31, 2020)

nice review Disco!


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## disco (Aug 31, 2020)

jcam222 said:


> Same thing here Jake. This seems like a great option with precise low temp control without having to use smoke tubes. That’s likely all I would use it for but seems it would really shine for that. Think I might get one in the fall. Thanks for the review JJ


It does do sausage great!


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## disco (Aug 31, 2020)

smokerjim said:


> nice review Disco!



Thanks!


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## SmokinAl (Sep 1, 2020)

Looks like you have a winner there Disco!
Al


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