Masterbuild XL Mods - Post your mods here!

  • Some of the links on this forum allow SMF, at no cost to you, to earn a small commission when you click through and make a purchase. Let me know if you have any questions about this.
SMF is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.
If you want to build a similar cart, for mine i built it to mirror closely the dimensions of the smoker so i could get a 60-65 inch standard grill cover and use it for the entire thing. so its pretty wide, and i had to use 6 casters to make it work otherwise the weight of the smoker bent the center boards on the base, i could probably have used 2x4's and avoided that, but i had a big pile of scrap wood from where i built my sister in law a crib, toddler bed, full size bed, and changing table/dresser for her newborn (I'm a woodworker) so i pretty much just built the cart from leftovers, its why i had the slats for around the propane tank, those are very thin and pretty much don't do anything but add looks. its a total of 60 inches wide x 44 inches tall.

The nice thing about this smoker is, if you need to spray something on the food inside it and you were thinking ahead when you put the food in it, you can just open the stock top vent and stick the tip of the spray bottle in it, so you don't have to open it to spray the food.

and for those that want to know the chimney is 2.5 inches dia, i ended up having to use a jigsaw with a metal blade to make the hole, a hole saw i got from home depot wouldn't do it, it just gave me a groove to work with. And i put the same RTV gasket maker under the chimney as i did around the door, more to give it a seal for water then anything else.
 
I wanted to add that stack to mine.  The cover I got from Amazon fits nice and snug.  Not sure If I should put on the stack and cut the cover to fit over it. 

I need to make a temp cart for mine too.
 
I ended up getting the charbroil cover that others on this site have said fit the smoker perfectly, and here is what it looks like fitting over the stack

I also included a photo of the stack so you can see it up close, mine came pretty quick, i ordered it on a Tuesday and it arrived on a Friday. the screws that held the handle to the baffle adjuster and the screw that sets the tension for the adjuster were loose, but after tightening them, it works great.

b956e266_IMAG0021.jpg
5e7f8820_IMAG0020.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: mangledremainz
If you want to build a similar cart, for mine i built it to mirror closely the dimensions of the smoker so i could get a 60-65 inch standard grill cover and use it for the entire thing. so its pretty wide, and i had to use 6 casters to make it work otherwise the weight of the smoker bent the center boards on the base, i could probably have used 2x4's and avoided that, but i had a big pile of scrap wood from where i built my sister in law a crib, toddler bed, full size bed, and changing table/dresser for her newborn (I'm a woodworker) so i pretty much just built the cart from leftovers, its why i had the slats for around the propane tank, those are very thin and pretty much don't do anything but add looks. its a total of 60 inches wide x 44 inches tall.

The nice thing about this smoker is, if you need to spray something on the food inside it and you were thinking ahead when you put the food in it, you can just open the stock top vent and stick the tip of the spray bottle in it, so you don't have to open it to spray the food.

and for those that want to know the chimney is 2.5 inches dia, i ended up having to use a jigsaw with a metal blade to make the hole, a hole saw i got from home depot wouldn't do it, it just gave me a groove to work with. And i put the same RTV gasket maker under the chimney as i did around the door, more to give it a seal for water then anything else.
Did you have any trouble getting the AMNPS to stay lit before you added the chimney? 
 
Not really, the only thing that i have found is, you can light it outside of the smoker, but once you move it, you have to re-light it. my guess is, that it has something to do with either the coals being moved around, or a difference in O2 once it is inside.

The one thing that i have noticed is, it has to be as far to the side as it can get to not ignite from the heat of the burner
 
 
FYI. Yesterday I emailed Masterbuilt through it's website.  I let them know that one of my screws for the handle wouldn't screw in.  The threads in the handle must have been bad.  I also read recently that some people question the durability of the burner.  I requested a replacement for the handle and asked for burner.  They responded today that they are going to ship tomorrow via Fed Ex or UPS ground.
 
  • Like
Reactions: kc jayhawk 78
I ended up getting the charbroil cover that others on this site have said fit the smoker perfectly, and here is what it looks like fitting over the stack

I also included a photo of the stack so you can see it up close, mine came pretty quick, i ordered it on a Tuesday and it arrived on a Friday. the screws that held the handle to the baffle adjuster and the screw that sets the tension for the adjuster were loose, but after tightening them, it works great.

b956e266_IMAG0021.jpg
5e7f8820_IMAG0020.jpg
Guess that's the ticket.  Thanks man.  Going to order the chimney.
 
  • Like
Reactions: kc jayhawk 78
I am about to start constructing my cart.  I bought some locking casters from Harbor Freight.  I'd actually like to add tires similar to the 10" tire below but I don't know where I could get or how I can add an axle.  I'd like to be able to move it to my back yard from the garage if possible.  It would be difficult to move over grass with casters.  If no one has any ideas, I'll continue with my original plan.   

image_11912.jpg
 
I am a newbie and would like to order a complete LPG hose assembly with needle valve already installed as I am concened with trying to splice my own hose assembly.

Below are some suggestions I have seen in previous threads.  I am not sure what PSI I need to get and whether the coupling (thread) on the end that screws to the burner assembly is universal or a particular size.

Any advice from Masterbuild XL owners will be greatly appreciated.  Also, if anyone has other suggestions please include them.

Thanks in advance.

http://bayouclassicdepot.com/propane_regulator_kit.htm

http://www.amazon.com/Bayou-Classic-5HPR-30-Pressure-Regulator/dp/B0043DHJKY/ref=pd_sbs_ol_5
ir
 
You could check home depot or lowe's for a pipe of the right diameter for the wheels at least if the wheels are just as pictured and have the barrings in the center.

For that matter if you can find a bolt of the right dia you could just bolt the wheels directly to your cart by drilling holes in the wood
 
Hello everyone, I am new to this forum and fairly new to smoking. I am selling some stuff so I can get a XL which hopefully will be by the end of the week. My question is I have a POS Brinkman which is lightly used. Will the water bowl from that work on this smoker? I figure it won't be good for placing over the burner to put wood because the sides are too high but I thought maybe this might work as a water bowl, has anyone tried it? If not I can be the guinea pig. I am not opposed to buying something better if need be but if this works I am all about saving the money for the next experiment. Thanks for any advice. 
 
Nothing wrong with a Brinkman gas smoker.  It smoked better and cooked faster than my Master Built.  Going to buy another one when they go on sale soon at Home Depot for end of summer sale.  Worst decision I ever made was to get this Master Built as far as cooking butts goes.  Now ribs and shoulders are a different story and it works great as an oven but the butts I cooked on my little Brinky were way better tasting and cooked way faster and were still moist and tender.
 
Latest mods, holes to run my temp probes through. I used 1/8" ip thread zinc plated steel nipples with brass nuts and "roughly" cut them to fit. If you go short enough like I did, the probes will slide right on through the bend. I have the Maverick ET-73, and ET-7, I've heard the newer ET-732 has a thicker probe, so ymmv. I need to buy another 73 since i really dont care for my 7 and the 73 is quite a bit cheaper than the newer one and has served me well the last 4 years (still working fine actually). If they leak too bad when not in use, I'll just stuff some fireplace gasket in them as a plug.


 
With my t-stat mod, I am able to get 145 pretty easily with 70 or less ambient. If you want to cold smoke, just get an AMZN tube smoker. Just did some BBB with mine. Didn't even turn the smoker on.
 
I just got my Masterbuilt XL yesterday and have already changed the temp gauge out and plan on doing a few more mods to it. I definitely want to build a cart for it to move it around and so it sits a little higher than it is. I may order a stack for the top of it too, my mind will be made up on ordering a stack this weekend when I'm able to smoke something with it and see how it does. I just got done preseasoning it this afternoon.

Has anybody ever hooked one of these Masterbuilt XL's up to natural gas? The house we are moving to has a pole sticking out of the ground close to the shop in the back yard and it has a natural gas line in it. I've had thoughts of hooking the smoker up to it so I won't have to go get propane all the time. I don't know what mods I would need to do in order to hook it up, not even sure if it is possible.
 
I just answered my own question by searching Google. Converting the smoker to natural gas is going to be a breeze.
Honestly, the easiest thing to do is to remove the regulator and hose from the valve assembly, and plumb the NG line to it. You will find alot of people drilling out their orifices, but in my experience, the Masterbuilt burner burns too hot anyway. The NG will not burn as hot as the propane, but we are talking about smoking low and slow, 325* tops.If I were to do mine again, I would not drill the orifice.
 
To anyone looking for a ready made smoke stack for your smoker, that has a adjustable baffle and rain shield. Read on.

My new masterbuilt XL is coming tomorrow, I'm upgrading from a Lowe's master forge dual door, and the master forge has a smoke stack on the top, that has 3 bolt holes and a flange for surface mounting on top of the smoker, because i still want to use my master forge later i called the service department for the master forge and found out that you can order that stack for $12 with $9 shipping, so for $21 you can have a nice 2.5" dia stack and the only mod you have to do to mount it is drill some holes, and put some high temp gasket sealer under it.

I was also thinking that if you wanted to put the durarock that some people have inside the smoker as well, you can cut the piece to fit the top so that its edges set on the durarock you have running up the sides, and drill the holes for the stack through the durarock as well as the top of the smoker, get some large dia washers to use when you bolt the stack to the top, and it will help support the durarock in the center so no other reinforcement should be needed.

Least that is what i am going to try when the stack i ordered comes in, they said 7-10 days for delivery.

If you want to see what the stack looks like, look for the master forge double door smoker at lowes, you can zoom in on the photo to get a better view, and as far as i know the 2 different models of the smoker both use the same stack

Ordering information for the stack

Service Dept # (800) 963-0211 hrs 8am-6pm M-T 8am-5pm F EST

The lowes model number is 0190449

They said that they didnt use the model number for the part but used the item description but here are both

Smoker Stack - 302-02009-00

On the assembly instructions its reference id is H
Where did you order your chimney? I have looked for one of these but no luck finding one.
From the last page. I still need to figure out what I'm going to do for a chimney, I just dont like having it right on the top after getting so used to setting things up there. From a design point, it's the perfect spot, and much better than the stock rear exit one. I get a real nasty draft through mine as it is.
 
SmokingMeatForums.com is reader supported and as an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases.

Latest posts

Hot Threads

Clicky