better than masterbuilt? please?

susieqz said:

 
i think lady is right. men love to tinker. the majority of members seem to have MBs, they love them, but spend all their time modifying them.

i'm not a mechanic n actually hate trying to fix or modify things.

for my needs n general laziness i think i need an electric smoker that i can smoke on but otherwise ignore.

had i found this site before i bought the trager, i'd own a cookshack. only a few hundred more than traeger. equivalent in price to the big green egg.

now that i've seen the thread about MBs not working in the cold, i'm gonna save up for something like cookshack. i smoke weekly, year round.

i'll save up til i can afford something i'll be happy with.

rick, you are the only one i know here that doesn't run around adding various electrical components n hardware to his MB.

these other folks don't have lemons, just smokers that are sub optimum.

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susieqz said:

 
dave, that other smoker you mentioned? i'll save up n spend the thousand to get a smoker like that,  that works without hair driers, charcoal, new controlers, evil customer service  or anything else. i'll load pellets or chips n press a button.

that's my idea of fun smoking.

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daRicksta said:

 
I still think you should disregard all the guys who like or feel they have to modify it to make it work "better". A lot of guys like to work on cars, does that mean if you buy a new car you'd have to be out in the garage tinkering with it all the time to make it run "better"?

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susieqz said:

thanks joops. i read the thread but don't understand. you build it yourself? what's the advantage? how much are parts? you mentioned $150. the MES30 is on sale for $129.

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LadyGT said:

 
For some reason gearheads do. For example, many people buy brand new off the lot Ford Mustangs or other well known muscle cars and, as soon as they can, modify it, with high performance parts.

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daRicksta said:

 
You actually agreed with my point, LadyGT. I think that same "gearhead" mentality that enjoys adding mechanical steroids to muscle cars also enjoys increasing the muscle on an inexpensive, starter smoker, which is what a Masterbuilt is. And I've got no problem with people improving on the MB design if they choose to. But I don't want someone looking at the line of Masterbuilts to think that they'll be forced to spend time and money on mods to get it to work decently because that's not true at all.

I would love to see stats on how many people own and enjoy their MES--whatever generation they have--without any mods and how many have chosen to mod their MES  for what they feel is for better performance. Within the people who did the mods, I'd also like to know how many have technical backgrounds as electricians or mechanics, etc.

Someone who never smoked before but always wanted to can now get in on the action as either a hobby or as a new way of life, if they decide to really pursue it. The MES was never meant to be a ice cold weather smoker or a smoke ring producer or anything fancy because you can buy it for as low as $130. If you want a real cold weather smoker and you want to see smoke rings in your meat then you buy something a lot more expensive. I'm not aware of any SI or ST or CS smoker that's available for under $300.

I knew exactly what a MES was before I bought it and that's exactly why I bought it. No one is going to tell me that what I researched and purchased is a piece of junk as it came delivered from the factory. Mine works very well and because it works so well, and I've learned how to use it as it came from the factory, all the money I haven't spent on mods has been saved for spending on other things, smoking and non-smoking related.

We also don't have a decent BBQ place in town but with my MES and how much I've learned about smoking through using it, I don't need a BBQ place in my town because the Q I put on the table draws raves from family and friends. Why would I want to modify that?

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gathumper said:

 
Well said! There must be thousands of Masterbuilt smokers that were purchased at any number of big box (and small box) stores and online that are in use and providing great food and enjoyment to their owners. We won't hear anything from most of them. Granted there will be out of box failures and quality problems with some percentage of them as there are with any product where the price point has been pushed down, typically by manufacturing offshore.

And I also believe that in most cases, as the cost increases, features and quality can be expected to improve.

That leaves us with the internet forums, and the people who are posting. We are not the average consumer or user of these products.

There are the "gear heads" to borrow the analogy used in this thread. They like to disect and modify, they get satisfaction from the process and take pride in what they can do to "improve". I'm one of those. I took a brand new motorcycle with less than five hundred miles on it and ripped off the carburetor that the engineers had designed and installed a carburetor from another manufacturer's 4-wheeler!

There are the internet savvy consumers who have had a problem with the product under discussion, and gather together to discuss said problems, some to find solutions and make corrections, others to vent about the product or warn other consumers.

And there are the satisfied customers of one product or another, sharing their experiences and in some cases trying to convince the reader that their product is the best.

I'm going to go out on a limb here, and guess that the internet postings about a given product may represent less than 5-10% of the owners!

So, I take everything I read with a good old grain of salt, understanding that everyone has an opinion and there is truth on both sides of any debate. I learn all I can from my research online and really appreciate the opinions and advice that are freely shared on the forums. For me, it makes a better buying decision, and a better experience with the products I purchase.

And finally, although I'm about 90% decided to spend the extra money for a Smokin-It, I still haven't ruled out spending about 1/3 of the cost of the SI and getting a 40" Masterbuilt, knowing I can probably expect good service out of the box, and if I have a problem within the warranty period they will probably make it right. And yes, since I'm a "gear head", I'm already thinking about taking a brand new smoker into my secret lab and taking it apart and making a few "modifications"!

hmmm... replace the controller with an Auber, rewire with better quality wire, I'd still have only $500 in a pretty sweet "hot rod" smoker! :)

or use it just like it came out of the box for years, making lot's of great jerky, snack sticks, etc.

Thankfully we are not all the same, different strokes for differnet folks, and there are options out there for everyone!

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old sarge said:

 
Rick,

That figures. When folks are happy, they are silent.  When unhappy, well, misery loves company. 

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Smesh said:

 
The best thing I ever did was get the $59.99 cold smoker kit for my MES. I don't even use wood inside anymore even when hot smoking. I find that if I am hot smoking something like pork tenderloins at 225, the wood just burns up real fast and the smoke is too white. And running a cold smoke, even with ice is a pain burning wood inside. I just use the cold smoker, load it up and let it burn a bit before hooking up the duct. That way, it has a chance to get a good smoke going that's not so white. The other day I lit up three briquettes in my gas BBQ and then chucked them in the tray at the bottom of the MES cold smoker and put the wood on top. I didn't even use the element. I got a nice blue smoke after about 15 minutes and it lasted several hours.

This way I can control the smoke the way I want, don't have to load wood so often and when hot smoking, I can just adjust the main unit to the desired temperature without putting any wood inside. Works great.

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