The Victoria Day long weekend officially starts today (or as we so affectionately refer to it here in Ontario, May 2-4; presumably because of the vast quantity of 2-4′s of beer being consumed at cottages across the country).

It’s really considered the first long weekend of summer, and most people use it as their gauge for when to plant seedlings outside.  The Weather Network tells us that there is a frost warning on Monday, so I won’t be putting any of mine out just yet, but I do have something else in mind to occupy my time.

For years now I’ve been coveting and intending to purchase a home smoker to play around with, but it’s only been my recent efforts to start curing meats with increased frequency that has forced my hand.  While having lunch and checking emails at work this afternoon I noticed that the exact model I was most interested in purchasing was on sale today for 25% off.  Between that and the impending ‘nduja and csabai preparations (hopefully next Tuesday) I took it as a sign that perhaps today was the day to finally make the big purchase.

So, after work the Everyman and I hustled over to Canadian Tire and hauled away a Bradley electric smoker.  I know there are other options available that offer more flexibility and customization, but the Bradley combines easy of use with compact design, which are exactly the 2 things an amateur like me needs in a smoking machine.  Plus, those wacky Shopping Bag ladies recommended it as their favorite electric version.  You can’t really argue with that.  Pairing it with a variety pack of the wood chip pellets, I felt like I was ready to go.

Now that I have it, I intend to do a little experimenting this weekend, probably first with another batch or two of jerky for the Everyman – something I used to make using only a very low oven.  Because we have a gas oven it’s also somewhat of a dangerous proposition since the door needs to be slightly ajar to maintain a low enough temperature.  I’m definitely looking forward to making something without the lightheadedness that has typically accompanied the process.  The Everyman tells me he is most excited for smoked turkey breast (which could be sliced deli-style) while I, on the other hand am most intrigued by the thought of some authentic ribs and pulled pork sandwiches.

Something tells me it’s going to be a very fat summer.

Until next time…

Tags: Bradley Smoker, Canadian Tire, New Projects

This entry was posted on Friday, May 15th, 2009 at 11:21 pm and is filed under New Projects. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.