My modded Masterbuilt bullet smoker

[Stasher1]

I was walking thru Home Depot a couple weeks ago and found a Masterbuilt bullet smoker on clearance for $19, so I figured i'd give it a shot. The employees couldn't find any of them still in the box (they supposedly had three in stock), so the manager agreed to sell me the display model for $15 since it had a few scratches and a minor ding. They also threw in a 17" Weber charcoal grate that was laying next to it, thinking that it was part of the smoker.

I started researching bullet smokers and mods as soon as I got it home, which led me here.

Here's what I've done so far:

Bought a 2nd incomplete unit (new, but missing grates and charcoal pan) for $13. I used the lid, a set of grate supports, and some 1/8" x 3/4" aluminum to create a base for the charcoal pan to sit in so I can reload it when necessary.

Drilled five 7/16" holes in the bottom of the charcoal pan and five more around the edge, just above the grates I added to increase air flow. One of the grates is the 17" Weber grate I got with my first smoker, cut down to ~11.5" and there's a 10.5" Weber grate below it, with the bars running perpendicular to the upper grate to minimize the amount of charcoal that falls thru.

I also added a set of handles on the base, a Weber thermometer in the lid, and BGE gasket felt around the base, lid, and door to eliminate any leaks.

Works great and the vent in the base allows for easy temp adjustment.

I still have the main body and a set of grate supports from the second smoker that I'm thinking about using to build a 2"-4" ring to hold a cooking grate so I can use the base of the smoker as a charcoal grill.
​

 

[motocrash]

Nice man.Sounds like you're gonna give that Rings guy a run for his money at modding inexpensive smokers.

 

[Stasher1]

Thanks. I have a couple more ideas for this one, like a draft vent from a BGE added to the side of the base pan so I don't have to get down on my hands and knees to adjust the airflow, and a probe pass-through so I can run a wireless thermometer and not have to go outside and check the temp every 15 minutes.

I bought the parts for the pass-through on my way home today, but I'm having trouble deciding which thermometer to go with. Right now i'm leaning towards the Thermopro TP08, but I'm seeing pretty good prices on the TP12 as well.

 

[motocrash]

I have a TP08,it works well for me.I didn't want or need any extra bells or whistles.They're all pretty good these days no matter what brand.

 

[Rings Я Us]

I was walking thru Home Depot a couple weeks ago and found a Masterbuilt bullet smoker on clearance for $19, so I figured i'd give it a shot. The employees couldn't find any of them still in the box (they supposedly had three in stock), so the manager agreed to sell me the display model for $15 since it had a few scratches and a minor ding. They also threw in a 17" Weber charcoal grate that was laying next to it, thinking that it was part of the smoker.

I started researching bullet smokers and mods as soon as I got it home, which led me here.

Here's what I've done so far:

Bought a 2nd incomplete unit (new, but missing grates and charcoal pan) for $13. I used the lid, a set of grate supports, and some 1/8" x 3/4" aluminum to create a base for the charcoal pan to sit in so I can reload it when necessary.

Drilled five 7/16" holes in the bottom of the charcoal pan and five more around the edge, just above the grates I added to increase air flow. One of the grates is the 17" Weber grate I got with my first smoker, cut down to ~11.5" and there's a 10.5" Weber grate below it, with the bars running perpendicular to the upper grate to minimize the amount of charcoal that falls thru.

I also added a set of handles on the base, a Weber thermometer in the lid, and BGE gasket felt around the base, lid, and door to eliminate any leaks.

Works great and the vent in the base allows for easy temp adjustment.

I still have the main body and a set of grate supports from the second smoker that I'm thinking about using to build a 2"-4" ring to hold a cooking grate so I can use the base of the smoker as a charcoal grill.
​

I forgot to ask back when you did this thread...
How much space is there for ash to fall between the lid and the pan bottom? Does it still clog up with ash after a few hours? You shake the ash out every so often during long cooks?

Oh... Nice job too!

 

[motocrash]

I forgot to ask back when you did this thread...
How much space is there for ash to fall between the lid and the pan bottom? Does it still clog up with ash after a few hours? You shake the ash out every so often during long cooks?

Don't be so cheap,go buy a Lang...:p

 

[hooked on smoke]

Ha, thanks for the share. My wife just grabbed me one of those on clearance for 19.00. Interesting modifications. I'll have to look into them.

 

[Rings Я Us]

Ha, thanks for the share. My wife just grabbed me one of those on clearance for 19.00. Interesting modifications. I'll have to look into them.

Just got the electric one for $29.

 

[Stasher1]

I forgot to ask back when you did this thread...
How much space is there for ash to fall between the lid and the pan bottom? Does it still clog up with ash after a few hours? You shake the ash out every so often during long cooks?

Oh... Nice job too!

There's about 3" or so between the bottom of the charcoal pan and the inverted lid. I slid a small aluminum baking dish in that space to catch any ashes that fall thru the holes in the bottom of the charcoal pan, just to minimize the likelihood of any lit coals making their way out thru the vent.

I banged the side of the base a couple times during my last run, but it didn't seem to do much. I've doubled the number of holes since then and switched from Kingsford briquettes to Stubbs, so the ash should (theoretically) be less of an issue next time. Even with the Kingsford though, I could easily do 4.5-5 hrs without adding any more coals.

 

[Rings Я Us]

There's about 3" or so between the bottom of the charcoal pan and the inverted lid. I slid a small aluminum baking dish in that space to catch any ashes that fall thru the holes in the bottom of the charcoal pan, just to minimize the likelihood of any lit coals making their way out thru the vent.

I banged the side of the base a couple times during my last run, but it didn't seem to do much. I've doubled the number of holes since then and switched from Kingsford briquettes to Stubbs, so the ash should (theoretically) be less of an issue next time. Even with the Kingsford though, I could easily do 4.5-5 hrs without adding any more coals.

Not bad at all..

Was going to say.. you could use lump and see what happens. Just not as evenly lit if you use a minion top down burn.

 

[Rings Я Us]

You could do a couple Weber air dampers on the bottom lid , couldn't you?

 

[Stasher1]

I probably could, but I'm thinking about doing a BGE damper on the side of the base instead. I dont like the fact that I have to kneel down and peer under it to see how open/closed the vent is.

The BGE gasket material around the base, lid, and door has done an excellent job of sealing everything (especially after the first couple runs) so the single vent gives me pretty good control over the temp. Replacing it with a BGE vent would allow me to remove the aluminum "ash pan" as the vent would be higher than the bottom of the charcoal pan...and I think it would look cool. :D

Right now, 1/2 chimney of unlit Kingsford around the perimeter of the pan and another 1/2 chimney of lit in the middle gives me an easy 275° almost right away. Closing the vent about 80% of the way gives me 235°-245° for hours with very minor adjustments. I'm sure this will change a bit due to the additional holes in the charcoal pan and different brand of briquettes, but I don't expect it to be too far off.

I also picked up a Thermopro TP08 so I don't have to run out on the deck every 10 minutes to check the temp.

 

[Rings Я Us]

You can smoke with no water pan and grill from the bottom rack..


Your Masterbuilt is a thinner metal compared to the Brinkmann charcoal ECB. I have both.. not sure how the cold and wind will effect the set up you have. Just remember you can raise that charcoal pan up to set in the bottom racks position and the water pan you can just toss it to the side if you need the space. You can use the bottom vents regardless of where your charcoal pan sits . You can grill like this with the charcoal pan at the top if you want.

 

[Stasher1]

I picked up an 18" Masterbuilt "Pro" kettle grill during the same sale for $18 and I have a pretty nice gas grill so I don't know if I'll ever try to grill in my little smoker...but it doesn't hurt to have more options.

I could always use the extra body to add a third level, but then I'd have to buy another grate...

Perhaps a project for after the first of the year when work slows down a bit.

As far as the cold temps go, it's only supposed to drop into the mid 50's here on Xmas Eve. Hopefully it won't be much of a problem.

 

[Stasher1]

Update:

Smoked three racks of baby backs on Xmas Eve using a slightly modified BRITU recipe (no MSG, hickory instead of oak and cherry, and Sweet Baby Ray's instead of KCM) and everything went perfect.

The combination of Stubb's briquettes and the Thermopro TP08 allowed me to run 5.5+ hrs @ 225°-255° without adding any additional charcoal. The only thing I wasn't prepared for was the amount of water that dripped out of the bottom vent. I'm assuming it's just condensation since it was kinda cool outside. No biggie, though. I just put a small bowl under it so it didn't leave a black spot on my deck.

All in all, I'm extremely pleased with its performance.

Future mods include a BGE draft door to make temp adjustment a bit more convenient (already ordered) and a second modified charcoal pan so I can simply swap them out when the coals burn down.

 

[Rings Я Us]

Masterbuilt had the 22.5 " kettle on sale $29.99
All the Weber stuff fits in or on it.

 

[Stasher1]

If I had seen a deal like that prior to buying the 18" I would've been all over it, but I haven't even assembled the 18" yet. It's still sitting on a shelf in the basement.

I have a tendency to toss all logic and reason aside when it comes to hobbies and invest entirely too much money and time in collecting misc crap, so I have to keep telling myself that my little ECM does everything I need it to do right now. Otherwise I'll wind up replacing it with something bigger/nicer that'll only get used a few times a year.

 

[Stasher1]

BGE vent finally showed up today, and I had it installed in about 20 minutes. Haven't had an opportunity to try it out, but it fit well after a bit of recontouring over my knee and a some BGE felt gasket material on the back.

 

[motocrash]

Man that fits great! And sexy too. Somebody's gonna be jealous!

 

[Rings Я Us]

Very nice..