Masterbuilt Smokers (Bear’s Thoughts & Findings)

mummel · May 12, 2016

NEVER GET A WINDOW! The Cabelas MES is the way to go, 100%. Bear and I will always differ on this, but seriously, I dont have to do a thing to mine. Never cleaned it. Never had to bother scrubbing the window after every smoke etc. NO WINDOW ALL THE WAY HAHA!

link · May 12, 2016

Hey REMSR, Yes you can seal an freeze. I buy chicken quarters in 10 lbs packages as well and smoke them. I then package and freeze and put in the freezer at work so I have lunches if I need them (makes all the guys jealous).

Link

remsr · May 12, 2016

If I had it to do over again I would have a window. I once had a grill with a glass front that you could't see through after grilling a cupel times. I thought the smoker would be the same. I should have checked the forms befor I bought, but at the time I was most interested in getting one that worked.

remsr · May 12, 2016

Hey mummel! I do like my smoker even without the window now you make me think I made the right decision. I would not like cleaning the window aver every smoke.

Bearcarver · May 12, 2016

Like I said----Once I had a car with Air Conditioning, I would never again buy one without.

Once I had an MES smoker with a window in the door, I will never get one without one.

If you never had either of those things, you would not miss them as much.

Like Mummel, before I ever had Air Conditioning in a car, I used to say, "I don't need air conditioning, I can open the windows".

Same thing with missing the Window in the door. Cleaning the Window isn't difficult.

That should be enough on the Window topic.

Bear

Bearcarver · May 12, 2016

link said:
Hey REMSR, Yes you can seal an freeze. I buy chicken quarters in 10 lbs packages as well and smoke them. I then package and freeze and put in the freezer at work so I have lunches if I need them (makes all the guys jealous).

Link

Thank You Link!!

Bear

mummel · May 12, 2016

REMSR said:
Hey mummel! I do like my smoker even without the window now you make me think I made the right decision. I would not like cleaning the window aver every smoke.

Sometimes I finish my smokes late at night like 11pm, sometimes early morning like 4am. You need to clean your window while its hot. THE LAST THING I WANT TO DO is scrub my window at 4am!!!!

But each to his own. Bear is the guru and I respect his opinion. All I know is that my Cabelas model is zero to low maintenance. Thats what I care about. Thats what works for me. Less work = more smoking more often!!!

One thing though, is my vent remains jammed with creosote. I know I've asked before but have never followed through on cleaning it. I need to get some sort of degreaser and get that stuff off so I can open and close the vent again. What degreaser shall I use?

Bearcarver · May 12, 2016

mummel said:
Sometimes I finish my smokes late at night like 11pm, sometimes early morning like 4am. You need to clean your window while its hot. THE LAST THING I WANT TO DO is scrub my window at 4am!!!!

But each to his own. Bear is the guru and I respect his opinion. All I know is that my Cabelas model is zero to low maintenance. Thats what I care about. Thats what works for me. Less work = more smoking more often!!!

One thing though, is my vent remains jammed with creosote. I know I've asked before but have never followed through on cleaning it. I need to get some sort of degreaser and get that stuff off so I can open and close the vent again. What degreaser shall I use?

Just about any kind of Oven Cleaner would work on & around that vent.

Just get it all wiped up, so there's none hanging there to fall on your next batch of smoked goodies!!

Bear

remsr · May 13, 2016

I should think any dish soap would work and I'm wondering if peanut oil would be a good lube because of its high flash point. I am just using logic hear and telling you what I might try.
More logic about the Window.
After carful thought here is what I think.
I also have a WSM and a Holland grill, the Holland cooks by time, there is no heat adjustment, you just turn it on put your food on the grill, close the lid and wait. Holland says " if your look' your not cook'n" the WSM is pretty much the same, only in that if you lift the lid it take time to recover the heat you loose.
Looking at the food through a window wouldn't do me much good as I can't tell by looking what the internal temp it. I have learned to use remote probes to monitor that, which is more accurate then looking through a window of pushing and poking the food and I kind of like the build up on the door that adds to the seasoning of my Masterbuilt, I can see everything I need to know about that is going on in the smoker on my iPhone and my remote meat probe monitor.
For these reasons I can't justify the added cost of a window just for the conveince of looking.
But when it's hot and muggy I can justify air conditioning in my vehicles and a whole lot more extras. I have a 2013 ML350 and a 2015 Ram 1500 Limited both are loaded with options some I can live without but most I would miss. Hear in Minnesota in the winter heated seats and steering wheel are really nice and I like the fact that I can start my truck from anywhere with my phone and depending on the temp either the heated seat and steering wheel will come on or the cooled seats and air will come on. Just saying I do appreciate comfort and convenience. Ok I'm done with the window now. Anything else Bear says about smoking you can take to the bank, he is indeed a guru. [emoji]129303[/emoji]

gary s · May 13, 2016

I don't own a MES or any Electric or gas smoker, Mine is an RF. We have thought about putting a high temp glass in one of our builds. Probably not many people sit and stare through the glass at what they are smoking. But I think if would be neat to take a peak without opening the lid or door. Now I'm not one of those guys who looks every few min. The only time I open my lid is when I need to do something. Now in saying that, I think it is totally up you and what you like, or what you can spend. If I was going to buy a MES I would go with the glass.

Gary

Bearcarver · May 13, 2016

REMSR said:
I should think any dish soap would work and I'm wondering if peanut oil would be a good lube because of its high flash point. I am just using logic hear and telling you what I might try.
More logic about the Window.
After carful thought here is what I think.
I also have a WSM and a Holland grill, the Holland cooks by time, there is no heat adjustment, you just turn it on put your food on the grill, close the lid and wait. Holland says " if your look' your not cook'n" the WSM is pretty much the same, only in that if you lift the lid it take time to recover the heat you loose.
Looking at the food through a window wouldn't do me much good as I can't tell by looking what the internal temp it. I have learned to use remote probes to monitor that, which is more accurate then looking through a window of pushing and poking the food and I kind of like the build up on the door that adds to the seasoning of my Masterbuilt, I can see everything I need to know about that is going on in the smoker on my iPhone and my remote meat probe monitor.
For these reasons I can't justify the added cost of a window just for the conveince of looking.
But when it's hot and muggy I can justify air conditioning in my vehicles and a whole lot more extras. I have a 2013 ML350 and a 2015 Ram 1500 Limited both are loaded with options some I can live without but most I would miss. Hear in Minnesota in the winter heated seats and steering wheel are really nice and I like the fact that I can start my truck from anywhere with my phone and depending on the temp either the heated seat and steering wheel will come on or the cooled seats and air will come on. Just saying I do appreciate comfort and convenience. Ok I'm done with the window now. Anything else Bear says about smoking you can take to the bank, he is indeed a guru. [emoji]129303[/emoji]

Thank You Sir!! I Appreciate the compliment.

Now I'll add a few things. There are more important things to be able to see through the glass, other than the meat.

#1 I can tell how heavy my smoke is by looking at the smoke through the glass. The smoke coming out of the top vent is misleading, because you can't tell how much of it is actually smoke & how much is condensation due to the hot humid air leaving the smoker & hitting the colder air outside the smoker. In other words, the smoke could be too heavy, and you could not know that by watching the smoke coming out of the top vent. Then you could throw the meat away, because it would be bitter from too heavy a smoke.

#2 I can tell if my smoker probe slipped & is now not in the position I wanted it to be in.

You could also see anything else that might be going wrong, before it's too late to do anything about it.

Also: I never noticed what the difference in price is between "Window" and "No Window", because usually there are other differences between the models being compared.

FYI: I don't really care if someone gets a Window or not. I just like to tell people how much nicer it is to have the Window, because I have experienced the "With" and the "Without", and I know a little more about it than someone who has only had the one "Without" the window. In other words I like to keep people from having to say "I wish I would have gotten the Window in mine".

Later Guys,

Bear

remsr · May 13, 2016

Hopefully I won't need to replace the one I have for a long time, but if I run across a good deal on a 2.5 gen. 40" I would jump on it. I wouldn't mind at all having another one to load up for those yard parties we have every year and if it has a window in it, so much the better.
I still like smoking my Briskets and butts in my WSM to about 165 itt then transferring them to the Masterbuilt to finish. I need to baby set the WSM a bit where I can walk away from the Masterbuilt or even go to sleep with my prob monitor and phone by my bed side to alert me.
I am still thinking about buying the IQ 130 temp controller from Pitmaster for my WSM that will give me the same freedom that my Masterbuilt does. But just haven't decided yet because I am wating to see if they come up with an app for my iPhone, they have one for some smart phones but not mine yet. when they do it will have a 700 foot blue tooth range.
Don't know if I ever mentioned it but I have been smoking meats for around 20 years and have turned out some really good food offer the years and some not so good nothing was ever consistsnt until I joined SMF a cupple years ago. Now my smokes are consistsntly good because of all the great advice I get from all of you on how to and equipment. Thanks everyone.

remsr · May 20, 2016

Mummel,
Just discovered another difference between the Masterbuilt 2.5 gen. 40" with a window and the one we have without a window. The one with s window has 4 racks and the one without has 6 racks.

Bearcarver · May 21, 2016

REMSR said:
Mummel,
Just discovered another difference between the Masterbuilt 2.5 gen. 40" with a window and the one we have without a window. The one with s window has 4 racks and the one without has 6 racks.

Not true. You can't accurately say those kind of things.

I only listed the things that are normally on each model.

Some things that are known to be on one model can be found on another.

Such as There are some Gen #2 smokers that have the top vent in the back left corner of the top, instead of on the left side wall.

Also my MES 40 Gen #2.5 has a window & 6 racks, which is the opposite of what you found.

These types of things are intermingled among various models of different Generations.

Bear

Bearcarver · May 21, 2016

mummel said:
Sometimes I finish my smokes late at night like 11pm, sometimes early morning like 4am. You need to clean your window while its hot. THE LAST THING I WANT TO DO is scrub my window at 4am!!!!

Not So----I clean my window before I start, when it's cold. No Big deal whatsoever.

And I'm not big on cleaning & polishing things. My Ram 1500 is 8 years old & never been washed or waxed----Still looks brand new, and looks like it was just washed.

Bear

gary s · May 21, 2016

Yeah and probably like most things the make them a little different depending on where they are going, Bass Pro,Cabals, Wally World etc

Gary

Bearcarver · May 21, 2016

gary s said:
Yeah and probably like most things they make them a little different depending on where they are going, Bass Pro,Cabals, Wally World etc

Gary

Exactly !!!

That makes it hard to compare prices from store to store & from model to model.

Bear

remsr · May 21, 2016

Darn! I should have just ask you hoe many racks were in yours. I could be real interested in one with a window but it has to be a 2.5 gen. 40" with 6 racks. I can't find one with a window and 6 racks. And there are at l

remsr · May 21, 2016

Ieast 10 places that sell Masterbuilt within a mile of my house.

brickguy221 · May 21, 2016

Bass Pro Shops carries what you are looking for.

Masterbuilt Smokers (Bear’s Thoughts & Findings)

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