Masterbuilt XL 44" Propane Smoker

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demech73

Newbie
Original poster
Apr 12, 2016
3
10
Hello Guys, I'm a newbie to the smoker world. Just bought the masterbuilt XL 44" smoker with dual burners. I have a couple questions.

Is a cast iron pan better for wood chip then the small tin pan it comes with. I smoked hamburgers and just did not seem like there was a lot of smoke in them.

When smoking, should smoke be rolling out of the exhaust vent in the back or will you not see it. I can smell the hickory chips but did not see smoke coming out the exhaust vent.

Is there any mods I can to do to make it a better smoker. I seen some people where removing the v shaped plate above the burners.

Anything will help, I'm going to smoke some chicken legs today and try it.

Thanks You,

Sean
 
Hey Sean, I just bought the XL 44" 5 rack, Propane Smoker from Sam's. I have had electric smokers, but this is my first propane. Please let me know anything you hear about the quirks and mods for our machines.
Thanks.

JD
 
I added a chimney to the top of my masterbuilt gas smoker for more exhaust and use a cast iron pan for chips and i use chunks with the gas as they smolder sbetter with the gas and dont just burn up like the chips do.
 
Ispencer23, can you send me a pic or two of the chimney? I think I can figger out the pan part. [emoji]128518[/emoji]

JD
 
I dont have a picture of mine off hand but here is a picture of what i did. I ordered a chimney exactly like this one from any grill or smoker amd cut a 2 inch hole in top of my smoker and screwed it o the top. Amd there it is more ventilation with a nice baffle for around $20
 
No problem. I had to just find a parts catalog for the ine i wanted and called the company and ordered it
 
i have the masterbuilt xl 44 as well. first mod i did was not installing the heat shield or the wood pan. I took 2 bricks, broke in half, and an old grill rack to elevate my cast iron skillet on. You may want to put foil in the skillet to keep the chunks from flaring on you, as they can with this method if you have to run both burners for an extended time. I have found after initial warm ups you can hold 225-230 easily with one burner on medium (depending on outside temp) I dont have a picture but i will get you one tonight of what i have done. hope this helps
 
I ran both burners on medium high to get to temp, and to get the wood going. Then I was on medium for the rest of the time and had no flare ups.
 
Having never seen a Masterbuilt 44 XL with one burner, all I can do is guess. Either more heat or more control or both. With it being 35 degrees outside and water in the pan, it took about thirty minutes to get up to 225 with both burners on high.

Best

JD
 
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