New Groups to Help Everyone on Smokers
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I used to have a custom designed & custom built combination vertical/reverse flow horizontal from Pitts & Spits when we lived in Texas. I designed the thing for the most part with help from Pits & Spits & they built it. When I got transferred to Alabama we ended up having to leave it in Texas as at the last minute the buyers decided they wanted it. Margaret really ragged me about that & I felt it, then salt for the wound was I found out years later that it turned out that the basic design ended up being one of their top sellers. Life in the Big City. There was no way I could afford one of those like what I had years later after the transfer. So, for the longest time I used a “Hole in the Ground” that my two sons helped me dig. We could do some really, really, good stuff with that & we could really ruin some stuff. They bought me one of those basic Brinkman smokers after several years of “God only knows how it will be” & I still have it believe it or not after extensive use over 15 years later. I am really working to keep it going, but I really like stick burners. I also have a Smoke Hollow Pro 40 that I like a lot & it is easy to use & reliable. I did have some problems (similar to Joe’s) & initially warranty service was a joke, but they eventually got it right (it took longer than Joe) & I am very satisfied. I think they were going through some corporate merger issues based on what I could see with e-mails, etc. I would love to figure out a way to get another super high quality built for life reverse flow stick burners like a Mart Gallahger, Lane, or somebody & be able to afford it. However, that is a big wish list!
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I have the Masterbuilt 20077515 model. 30" with the digital display up front by the door. It has the glass door but it’s hard to see inside when smoking. Never had a problem with it.
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Joe, What problems were you having with yours? Mine Smoke Hollow Pro 40 (same as Masterbuilt 40)initially was all beat up I want to say by delivery service, but it could have been packed that way as there really was not a lot of damage to the box. The smoke chamber was beat up, the door hinge bent, & I think some other things that I fixed. Eventually after what must have been six months & what must have been the fourth person & second supervisor I got someone that was really, really good & she had good common sense too. Then the burner started not putting out sometimes. At first I thought it was the humidity & they tried to say the temperature, but it had worked fine in colder temps. She took care of that too, that is the fourth person. It works good now & I like it. I am satisfied with them once we got things right & as I said earlier, I think they were going through some corporate changes as the e-mail addresses & phone numbers changed. I still do wish I could get me another real good stick burner like I had before. That was nice. The only down side to it like my Dad used to say, was when I fired it up, you better be ready for Compton’s Army to come for dinner. I wonder about those Komodo grills too. Maybe that would be a more efficient & down to size stick burner.
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Austin is what IndianaJohn wants possible? I don’t see a way to do it. When you get back and we are done with the Livestream we should talk more about groups. Joe Hell Sorry they are being tough, odd that the son would cut off communication with you. Hopefully, that gets fixed for you. I don’t think it should matter but you migth point out you have a blog on a site with a large community of people who love to smoke all sorts of food?
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What about us diy’ers? I built a custom smoker from a commercial all stainless and aluminum refrigerator. Its 30+ cu.ft. At this time it works on 2 1000 watt hot plates which is my issue I am running short on getting it up to temp. Would like any thoughts
smokin greg I also built a smoker from a commercial refrigerator. I used a large electric stove burner in the bottom. It heats it with ease and it would be easy to add other if necessary.
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Joe, What problems were you having with yours? Mine Smoke Hollow Pro 40 (same as Masterbuilt 40)initially was all beat up I want to say by delivery service, but it could have been packed that way as there really was not a lot of damage to the box. The smoke chamber was beat up, the door hinge bent, & I think some other things that I fixed. Eventually after what must have been six months & what must have been the fourth person & second supervisor I got someone that was really, really good & she had good common sense too. Then the burner started not putting out sometimes. At first I thought it was the humidity & they tried to say the temperature, but it had worked fine in colder temps. She took care of that too, that is the fourth person. It works good now & I like it. I am satisfied with them once we got things right & as I said earlier, I think they were going through some corporate changes as the e-mail addresses & phone numbers changed. I still do wish I could get me another real good stick burner like I had before. That was nice. The only down side to it like my Dad used to say, was when I fired it up, you better be ready for Compton’s Army to come for dinner. I wonder about those Komodo grills too. Maybe that would be a more efficient & down to size stick burner.
calldoctoday I had problems with not coming to temp and stuff taking hours longer than usual. They replaced the control panel twice before sending a whole new cabinet. It worked fine for a while and then I didn’t use it for several months due to my work schedule. During a rib cook last November it spiked to over 500 degrees and completely destroyed everything in minutes.
I’ve only used it a handful of times and essentially on my 3rd smoker in less than a year. I picked up my first stick burner the other day. It’s not high end by any means but I the deal was too good to pass up. I’ll be christening it this weekend with pork butt and ribs…maybe a brisket if I’m lucky!
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Randyman I’ve had 3 of the 30" models fail on me and 2 of the 40". They work just fine…until they don’t.
Joe Hell I went for the model with the display up front by the door because the person I talked to at Masterbuilt was telling me the ones with the display in the rear by the exhaust was getting to hot and failing. I’ve had it for over 2 years with no problems so far-fingers crossed! I just smoked 10 lbs. of bacon in it yesterday-turned out great!
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Yikes Joe, That is scary! The whole idea of the gas burners is ease of use & not having to watch them all the time like the stick burners, even the flavor is not exactly the same. Less work for when we want to feel lazy or have other stuff going on at the same time we want to cook good food. I have the one with the gauge up front too.
Looks like we had the same initial problem more or less, but the spiking part is real scary! -
smokin greg I also built a smoker from a commercial refrigerator. I used a large electric stove burner in the bottom. It heats it with ease and it would be easy to add other if necessary.
Kmucker I had an uncle & a friend that did something like that about 40 years ago. They used a water heater burner & a real old heavy duty refer. I did something once with an old range & the smoke box. It was OK. If I had the welding equipment & a little time to develop my skills I would probably do one on my own.
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Yikes Joe, That is scary! The whole idea of the gas burners is ease of use & not having to watch them all the time like the stick burners, even the flavor is not exactly the same. Less work for when we want to feel lazy or have other stuff going on at the same time we want to cook good food. I have the one with the gauge up front too.
Looks like we had the same initial problem more or less, but the spiking part is real scary!calldoctoday Mine was the electric version so I didn’t have to worry about the flame up…just super intense heat. I’m looking forward to the stick burner in that it will keep me busy for hours. For some reason I like food projects that last hours and sometimes days. lol
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I really like the stick burners too. I like the flavor better & swear there is a difference. It does take a lot more work though & a few good friends to spend the night or day with & a few good things to drink really help. That seems harder to come by these days for some strange reason.
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Jonathon I just waited over 3 months for Masterbuilt to replace a warranty ridden MB40 only to have the replacement arrive damaged from FedEx. It took 3 months to get the first one fixed and a few months later it completely malfunctioned and fried about 8 racks of ribs in a matter of minutes. I even had the owner of the company’s son reach out and offer help and then he just quit communicating entirely. I am beyond fed up with Masterbuilt.
Joe Hell It is time to come over to the Smokin-It side Joe.
I used to have a couple of Masterbuilts and some others before finding the SI’s. Heck, I still have a propane Masterbuilt, but it hasn’t come out for several years. I probably should sell it.I have had my Smokin-It smoker since 2014 and haven’t had a single problem with it.
I use it in all kinds of weather and it never fails me. I smoked a pork butt on time in -20F weather and it maintained temp easily and I didn’t even have to check on anything until it was done.
Gregg - Fargo, ND
Smokin-It #3 Electric Smoker that replaced a Masterbuilt XL, Big Chief (still used for fish), and few others over the years, along with a variety of Weber Gas/Charcoal Grills, Anova Sous Vide, etc. devices. -
Joe Hell It is time to come over to the Smokin-It side Joe.
I used to have a couple of Masterbuilts and some others before finding the SI’s. Heck, I still have a propane Masterbuilt, but it hasn’t come out for several years. I probably should sell it.I have had my Smokin-It smoker since 2014 and haven’t had a single problem with it.
I use it in all kinds of weather and it never fails me. I smoked a pork butt on time in -20F weather and it maintained temp easily and I didn’t even have to check on anything until it was done.
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calldoctoday Mine was the electric version so I didn’t have to worry about the flame up…just super intense heat. I’m looking forward to the stick burner in that it will keep me busy for hours. For some reason I like food projects that last hours and sometimes days. lol
Joe Hell I love the BBQ that comes off of a stick burner, but I hate having to manage them. I know to some people that is part of the fun, but I practice Lazy-Q. I prep my food, put it in the smoker set the temp, and then typically walk away until it is done, or if it is nice enough I’ll just sit next to the smoker with a beer and smell the wonderfulness.
Typically on long smokes like butts/briskets, I’ll start them at Midnight the night before and then go to bed knowing that everything will be good to go until the next day when they are done.
The one thing that I found different about the electric versus the propane and offset that I also have is that I can taste the nuances of the different woods that I use better than I can with my propane/offset. If I use cherry, I can really taste the cherry flavors, but when I use the propane and the offset it is more of a generic smoke smell although still really good.
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Masterbuilt - Saturday I did my first smoke in the the new Pro model that I bought. Jalapeno snack sticks came out great! I’m glad I only did a half batch instead of the 25 pounds the spices would make. I didn’t realize my smoker box was quite as small as it is, until my 12 lbs of sticks were hanging inside (and filling it up), but that’s not a problem, as 12 lbs. at a time is plenty for me to work with. I really had to play with the lowest propane settings to get and hold the 125 degree starting temp, then making and holding the incremental step temperatures every hour or two (sometimes I opened the door a crack, so the temps didn’t rocket way too high), but I will figure it out. If I smoke large chunks of meat, the racks should be plenty big, so I really don’t need a larger smoker than I bought. The price was right!
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Masterbuilt - Saturday I did my first smoke in the the new Pro model that I bought. Jalapeno snack sticks came out great! I’m glad I only did a half batch instead of the 25 pounds the spices would make. I didn’t realize my smoker box was quite as small as it is, until my 12 lbs of sticks were hanging inside (and filling it up), but that’s not a problem, as 12 lbs. at a time is plenty for me to work with. I really had to play with the lowest propane settings to get and hold the 125 degree starting temp, then making and holding the incremental step temperatures every hour or two (sometimes I opened the door a crack, so the temps didn’t rocket way too high), but I will figure it out. If I smoke large chunks of meat, the racks should be plenty big, so I really don’t need a larger smoker than I bought. The price was right!
IndianaJohn
Since there’s not many using LP as we are what unit do you have? I have the Pro Temp XL. This is thermostatically controlled and will hold whatever temp I set at +/- 2 deg. Does depend on outside air temp and wind. Great piece of equipment.
I don’t use the stock smoker tray. Went to the A Maze N Smoker Tube. Fantastic. -
IndianaJohn
Since there’s not many using LP as we are what unit do you have? I have the Pro Temp XL. This is thermostatically controlled and will hold whatever temp I set at +/- 2 deg. Does depend on outside air temp and wind. Great piece of equipment.
I don’t use the stock smoker tray. Went to the A Maze N Smoker Tube. Fantastic.PapaSop Hey Papa,I’m curious how you use the smoker tube with the Masterbuilt with out temperature runaway
By the way, mine is electricGive a man a fish and he eats for a day
Teach a man to fish and he drinks beer for a lifetime -
PapaSop Hey Papa,I’m curious how you use the smoker tube with the Masterbuilt with out temperature runaway
By the way, mine is electricglen
No temp variance with the tube. Just smoke. Put on lowest rack away from direct flame. I did have it flame up once but that was from raising temp above anything I’ve done before. Not sure how it’d work with electric but give it a try. Don’t test with meat inside…Just saying. -
glen
No temp variance with the tube. Just smoke. Put on lowest rack away from direct flame. I did have it flame up once but that was from raising temp above anything I’ve done before. Not sure how it’d work with electric but give it a try. Don’t test with meat inside…Just saying.PapaSop Thanks, I’ll try that. My 6" tube fit perfectly in the refill hole and I tried a trial run without meat, luckily I caught it as it was passing 500 deg!
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