Electric smokers
-
I just picked up a Camp Chef XXL vertical pellet smoker for $500. I have been using a Bradley electric for years with no issues, but decided to make the switch to the XXL because of the bigger smoking chamber for sausage making. I think the pellet smoker will do a better job of getting up to temp when it’s Minnesota cold out. I plan on making some snack sticks in the next week or two. I will do a follow up review if anyone is interested?
-
My mater-built get went to the graveyard yesterday. After 12-15 years a couple of rewires it finally quit. In market for a new one I can hang some sausage in. It’s hard to get a low temp in my big smoker. The last couple years my old one wouldn’t hold temp’s very well at low settings so you had to stay and watch it. My wife gave me a copper Weber for Xmas to help get me by’( but I think she just wants that charcoal favor on grilled meets more that the gas grill. PKs are a little to pricey on my retirement budget but I guess I may need to bring more roses home to the wifey ,LOL
Happy New Year and don’t forget to eat your black eye pea’s so you’ll make more money in 2020tarp The other day I bought some black eyed peas at the store after seeing a curry recipe that sounded good. I’ve actually never had them before but figured, why not? I’ve never heard of them as a New Years Day good luck charm so with a quick recipe search I decided instead on a Black Eye Pea salad with citrus and garlic dressing, tomato, green pepper, cucumber, red onion and avocado. It was delicious! Thanks for the inspiration and Happy New Year!
-
Thanks for the info on the new masterbuilts, Looks like I’m going to look for something else to use. Will need to study more on them. Mine was so old there’s no reason to go to CS for help on it. I can make my big Boathouse smoker work at low temps but its hard to maintain, but at least I got something in the meantime
GT
-
Thanks for the info on the new masterbuilts, Looks like I’m going to look for something else to use. Will need to study more on them. Mine was so old there’s no reason to go to CS for help on it. I can make my big Boathouse smoker work at low temps but its hard to maintain, but at least I got something in the meantime
tarp
I know this post is about electric but have you considered gas? I have two MB LP smokers. Older MB 30 is very hard to control temps. More recent one is the Pro Temp XL. This is thermostat controlled. Will hold temp at +/- 2 deg no matter what temp it’s set at. I can get it as low as 120 in the winter months and 128-130 in warmer weather. Under $300. Just a thought. -
tarp
I know this post is about electric but have you considered gas? I have two MB LP smokers. Older MB 30 is very hard to control temps. More recent one is the Pro Temp XL. This is thermostat controlled. Will hold temp at +/- 2 deg no matter what temp it’s set at. I can get it as low as 120 in the winter months and 128-130 in warmer weather. Under $300. Just a thought. -
tarp
I know this post is about electric but have you considered gas? I have two MB LP smokers. Older MB 30 is very hard to control temps. More recent one is the Pro Temp XL. This is thermostat controlled. Will hold temp at +/- 2 deg no matter what temp it’s set at. I can get it as low as 120 in the winter months and 128-130 in warmer weather. Under $300. Just a thought.PapaSop Were you talking about the Masterbuilt MPS 340G ThermoTemp XL Propane Smoker It look good but had quite a few bad reviews about staying lit.
Or is there another brand ? All review I read about different Masterbuilt smokers seem to have lot of bad reviews, wondering if they let their quality go down.
ThanksGT
-
PapaSop Were you talking about the Masterbuilt MPS 340G ThermoTemp XL Propane Smoker It look good but had quite a few bad reviews about staying lit.
Or is there another brand ? All review I read about different Masterbuilt smokers seem to have lot of bad reviews, wondering if they let their quality go down.
Thankstarp
Yep. Never had an issue. Especially with staying lit. One time I had it blow out but that was under extreme windy conditions. Been using it for nearly 1 1/2 yrs. Just looked at a few reviews that all seemed positive. I’ve come to realize that reviews are subjectable. Some even petty. Just my take… -
A lot of people don’t install thing properly. Seems if you get a good one delivered people like it . Do you know if there’s much difference in the other models like 330 or should I just look at the newest.
thanks for the input. I just got a email from Jonathon look like I won the Dec. giveaway ,awaiting on a reply, but Yea to the new year so far… -
Stats77 If you’re looking for a cheap alternative I started with a used vertical gas unit, put the cast iron fire box right on top of the gas burner and gapped the door open and it worked great. Used it for years, you could pick something like that up on facebook marketplace for $50. I never got overly concerned about the temp initially but now that I can control it, I’m all over it. Use the smoker to get smoke on it then move sausage to the water bath to cook it and save up for the PK.
John C.
-
Stats77 If you’re looking for a cheap alternative I started with a used vertical gas unit, put the cast iron fire box right on top of the gas burner and gapped the door open and it worked great. Used it for years, you could pick something like that up on facebook marketplace for $50. I never got overly concerned about the temp initially but now that I can control it, I’m all over it. Use the smoker to get smoke on it then move sausage to the water bath to cook it and save up for the PK.
-
A lot of people don’t install thing properly. Seems if you get a good one delivered people like it . Do you know if there’s much difference in the other models like 330 or should I just look at the newest.
thanks for the input. I just got a email from Jonathon look like I won the Dec. giveaway ,awaiting on a reply, but Yea to the new year so far…tarp
Really don’t know about the other models. I know I’ve had great success with this one. Been my go-to. Will be firing it up in the next couple weeks. Luv it.Congrats on winning
-
Stats77 If you’re looking for a cheap alternative I started with a used vertical gas unit, put the cast iron fire box right on top of the gas burner and gapped the door open and it worked great. Used it for years, you could pick something like that up on facebook marketplace for $50. I never got overly concerned about the temp initially but now that I can control it, I’m all over it. Use the smoker to get smoke on it then move sausage to the water bath to cook it and save up for the PK.
Parksider I agree with what you said I had a brinkman vertical gas smoker and it was fine for ribs, chicken and the normal things till I also got into sausage and it kind of worked out the burner went on it and I bought a mb30 so far no complaints !
-
,Parksider
Used to do the same with cast iron fire box. Now only use the the amazing smoker. -
tarp
Really don’t know about the other models. I know I’ve had great success with this one. Been my go-to. Will be firing it up in the next couple weeks. Luv it.Congrats on winning
-
Brianh mine was all over the place on temps too. Take as many photos of everything you have experienced with the smoker…serial numbers, receipts, display areas etc… CS won’t do much to help without it.
Joe Hell An update on my situation with the new Masterbuilt, still haven’t heard a word from them despite sending a ton of photos and descriptions. Not a single reply. Guess I’ll chalk it up to a $300 lesson and start saving money for a better unit. I should have done some research before buying the new one. I assumed since my original one was such a good unit they were a safe bet, buyer beware!
-
Joe Hell An update on my situation with the new Masterbuilt, still haven’t heard a word from them despite sending a ton of photos and descriptions. Not a single reply. Guess I’ll chalk it up to a $300 lesson and start saving money for a better unit. I should have done some research before buying the new one. I assumed since my original one was such a good unit they were a safe bet, buyer beware!
Brianh that really blows… . I hope they reply to you.and fix the problem . Did you purchase online or at a store? Possibly be Able to get assistance from where you bought it. I bought a gas grill for my work at Lowe’s . When I got it out of box the side burner was damaged. I called them up to see about getting me a new replacement part and they just repacked the whole grill. Worth a shot
-
Joe Hell An update on my situation with the new Masterbuilt, still haven’t heard a word from them despite sending a ton of photos and descriptions. Not a single reply. Guess I’ll chalk it up to a $300 lesson and start saving money for a better unit. I should have done some research before buying the new one. I assumed since my original one was such a good unit they were a safe bet, buyer beware!
Brianh The Masterbuilt rep from instagram reached out this morning and also contact the son of the owner. I’m sure they will eventually make it right but we will see. They said if I don’t hear by the warranty department by Monday at 5:00 to let them know. Despite my current and past issues with their products I have always spoke fondly of them. When they work I feel they are the best bang for the buck on the market.
Better Living Through BBQ!
-
Brianh that really blows… . I hope they reply to you.and fix the problem . Did you purchase online or at a store? Possibly be Able to get assistance from where you bought it. I bought a gas grill for my work at Lowe’s . When I got it out of box the side burner was damaged. I called them up to see about getting me a new replacement part and they just repacked the whole grill. Worth a shot
Stats77 I purchased this one online and had temp issues from day one but just chalked it up to winter temps being the culprit. As spring approached and the weather warmed I knew there was an issue. Customer support was again hard to connect with but they were happy to send out a new control panel. Well…that wasn’t it. They then sent me the entire cabinet as the wiring is embedded within the walls. That did the trick and I enjoyed many months of a perfectly functioning smoker. I hadn’t used the smoker from early August through November and ran 32 lbs of Canadian Bacon with zero issues. One week later I put 4 racks of pork ribs in the smoker set to 210 degrees and walked away for a couple hours. When I went to check on them there was an alarm going off that I never heard before and the temp had spiked to the point to where the ribs were burnt to a crisp.
Hello! It looks like you're interested in this conversation, but you don't have an account yet.
Getting fed up of having to scroll through the same posts each visit? When you register for an account, you'll always come back to exactly where you were before, and choose to be notified of new replies (either via email, or push notification). You'll also be able to save bookmarks and upvote posts to show your appreciation to other community members.
With your input, this post could be even better 💗
Register LoginSponsored By:
