Masterbuilt 44 Mod Ideas

[thebugman10]

I've been lurking around here for a little bit, and I've really enjoyed reading everyone's ideas for smoker modifications. I have a Kamado Joe classic and a Smoke Hollow 33 propane smoker. I recently bought a used Masterbuilt 44 propane smoker. I really love the size of this smoker. I'm able to fit whole packer briskets and whole racks of St Louis ribs without them touching the sides of the smoker. However, I think I'm going to have to make some modifications to this Masterbuilt to get it smoking like I want.
Over the weekend I broke it in doing some pork belly burnt ends one day and a few pork butts the next. I noticed when doing the burnt ends, the pieces on the edges got much more done than the pieces in the middle. The butts turned out great, but I also had trouble getting the smoke I want. I'm going to attach some photos and explain what modifications I plan on doing. Any feedback would be much appreciated.

1. Like many here, the lowest I was able to run the smoker was about 250f, with both burners on. I didn't try just turning on 1 burner, but I was worried it would heat unevenly that way. I'm going to install a needle valve like I've seen recommended here.

2. Here is a photo of the water pan (along with a stainless pan I purchased)

Compared to the Smokehollow 33, the waterpan is smaller in relation to the overall size of the grill. There are large gaps around the water pan for heat to get around. My idea is to keep the water pan where it is, and on the shelf above it, place two stainless pans like I have pictured here. I would place each pan on the far left and right sides of the grill grates and have a gap in the middle between them. The idea is that heat from the burner first hits the oval water pan and is deflected around it. Next the heat rises to the next level and hits the two stainless pans I have placed, with the idea that most of the heat would be deflected up into the middle between them. I'm hoping this would lead to more even heat throughout the smoker.

3. Here are a couple of photos of the oval water pan, heat deflector, and wood tray.

The wood chip tray that came with this smoker is a small rectangular steel tray with a lid that is too small for chunks. I removed it and took the wood tray from the Smokehollow 33 and placed it directly on the heat deflector for the cooks I did over the weekend. I still did not get quite enough smoke. I've seen other people use cast iron pans. My plan is to remove the heat deflector entirely and place another rectangular stainless pan (like the one I had sitting on the shelf in the photo above). The pan would sit on that lip above the burners so there would still be a gap for air, and I would hopefully get more smoke from my wood chunks.

4. I like the idea of closing up the top vent permanently and installing a tube on top of the smoker. I'm assuming this is done to improve airflow and leads to better smoke. Do you guys think that is worth it?

Any other ideas/thoughts/comments are much appreciated. Thanks!

 

[JLeonard]

Sounds like a good plan. Let us know how it works out.
Jim

 

[kilo charlie]

Here's photos of my Smoke Hollow 44 so you can reference.

There's a flange around the outside that the water pan sits in.. it's got holes around the perimeter to help even out the heat distribution.

I removed one of the wood boxes for the photo.. you see it sits on a bracket above the burner and not directly on it.

I used Lava Lock around the whole perimeter of the door to help seal it. (this is several years old)

Good luck with your project! Hopefully this will help you or give you some ideas on where to take yours

 

[thebugman10]

Here's photos of my Smoke Hollow 44 so you can reference.

There's a flange around the outside that the water pan sits in.. it's got holes around the perimeter to help even out the heat distribution.

View attachment 501034

I removed one of the wood boxes for the photo.. you see it sits on a bracket above the burner and not directly on it.

View attachment 501035


I used Lava Lock around the whole perimeter of the door to help seal it. (this is several years old)

View attachment 501036

Good luck with your project! Hopefully this will help you or give you some ideas on where to take yours

Thanks! That's very interesting that the Smoke Hollow cooking chamber is almost directly sealed off from the heating chamber by the water pan, except for those holes as you mentioned. As you can see in my photos, the gaps between the water pan and walls of the smoker are very large, which I think creates hot spots around the outside of the cooking area. My smoker doesn't actually have an issue of smoke coming out of the doors, but I order gaskets anyways because I figured it would make temperature control more reliable.

I actually just ordered a large hotel pan to replace the water pan with. It is almost the size of a cooking grate. I am going to try that first instead of the multi-level heat diffuser system I was talking about in my OP. I still think I am going to remove the heat deflector above the burner and set that smaller stainless pan at the bottom of the smoker and put my wood in. It won't sit directly on the burner, there will still be a gap between the burners and the bottom of the stainless pan.

 

[kilo charlie]

I actually did something ver similar on my smaller propane smoker... I use the black tray for pellets or wood chips and the small hotel pan as a water pan.. I also lined the inside with some mirror polished stainless steel that I had laying around the garage and it basically doubled the wall thickness.. it holds temps really well.

Not a fan of the "vent" on the top though so I don't use it a lot.

 

[OldSmoke]

To even out the heat, I have a small cookie sheet from Dollar Tree that fit perfectly on a rack with about an inch gap around the edges. I slide it all the way to the back to force the smoke and heat to spread out. Previously, the heat and smoke traveled straight up the back wall and out that back vent.

A needle valve is a must have addition. I can get down to 150-170 without a fuss. Installing a gasket will also help a lot to maintain consistent temps. Install the gasket on the doors so drips don’t land on it.

Consider using a tube for smoke. Trays don’t seem to work as well in propane smokers. Once you install a needle valve, you may not get consistent smoke using a pan. It doesn’t get hot enough for hardwoods. The tube also introduces less heat. Try mixing some chips in with the pellets. I learned that on this forum and it works great.

 

[davebugs]

I've been lurking around here for a little bit, and I've really enjoyed reading everyone's ideas for smoker modifications. I have a Kamado Joe classic and a Smoke Hollow 33 propane smoker. I recently bought a used Masterbuilt 44 propane smoker. I really love the size of this smoker. I'm able to fit whole packer briskets and whole racks of St Louis ribs without them touching the sides of the smoker. However, I think I'm going to have to make some modifications to this Masterbuilt to get it smoking like I want.
Over the weekend I broke it in doing some pork belly burnt ends one day and a few pork butts the next. I noticed when doing the burnt ends, the pieces on the edges got much more done than the pieces in the middle. The butts turned out great, but I also had trouble getting the smoke I want. I'm going to attach some photos and explain what modifications I plan on doing. Any feedback would be much appreciated.

1. Like many here, the lowest I was able to run the smoker was about 250f, with both burners on. I didn't try just turning on 1 burner, but I was worried it would heat unevenly that way. I'm going to install a needle valve like I've seen recommended here.

2. Here is a photo of the water pan (along with a stainless pan I purchased)
View attachment 500950
Compared to the Smokehollow 33, the waterpan is smaller in relation to the overall size of the grill. There are large gaps around the water pan for heat to get around. My idea is to keep the water pan where it is, and on the shelf above it, place two stainless pans like I have pictured here. I would place each pan on the far left and right sides of the grill grates and have a gap in the middle between them. The idea is that heat from the burner first hits the oval water pan and is deflected around it. Next the heat rises to the next level and hits the two stainless pans I have placed, with the idea that most of the heat would be deflected up into the middle between them. I'm hoping this would lead to more even heat throughout the smoker.

3. Here are a couple of photos of the oval water pan, heat deflector, and wood tray.
View attachment 501007View attachment 501008
The wood chip tray that came with this smoker is a small rectangular steel tray with a lid that is too small for chunks. I removed it and took the wood tray from the Smokehollow 33 and placed it directly on the heat deflector for the cooks I did over the weekend. I still did not get quite enough smoke. I've seen other people use cast iron pans. My plan is to remove the heat deflector entirely and place another rectangular stainless pan (like the one I had sitting on the shelf in the photo above). The pan would sit on that lip above the burners so there would still be a gap for air, and I would hopefully get more smoke from my wood chunks.

4. I like the idea of closing up the top vent permanently and installing a tube on top of the smoker. I'm assuming this is done to improve airflow and leads to better smoke. Do you guys think that is worth it?

Any other ideas/thoughts/comments are much appreciated. Thanks!

I signed up just to reply!

I never actually used the stock parts. I tore out that diffuser and never used their stainless pan for chips.

I set a 12" skillet right on the bottom. Originally I had my body guy make me a frame for te pan but after 1 use I stopped using that. For a visual it was 2 " solid angle that he had laying around and ran a couple of rods between them to try and keep the cast iron pan off of the bottom of the smoker. Finally it's wearing/rusting on the bottom of the smoker, if I think about it I'll post a pic.

I also basically had an outhouse built around mine to aid in getting it up to temp to smoke bacon in the winter.


Am also going to have to have the hose cut and a high flow regulator installed in the interest of heat.


When I do meats(or a personal favorite of baked potatoes) I just smoke them, like brisket for 8 hours then pull and wrap and put into a commercial oven that doesn't move air at 200-250 usually overnight to tenderize.

 

[minden man]

I have the MB-XL40 propane smoker, single burner, and finally have come up with mods that really help.
I have a single door so my mods are likely different, but not so different, I put an old stainless grate on top of the burner and use a $1.00 cake pan covered with aluminum foil to hold my wood chunks. I poke a hole in the foil to vent smoke, with the hole being away from the flame. That way I can slide the pan closer or farther away from the burner, and I replaced the water pan with a 9x13x2 pan I use to hold water. Before I get flamed here for talking about partial open vent position my back vent is only 30% or so open; no I do not get the "icky" smoke flavor/taste. I am very cautious about not having too much wood smoking in the pan, and only produce a thin blue smoke.
My smoker would hold plus or minus 10 degrees the entire cook as long as there is water in the pan.
I took the advice of a few guys/gals to insulate my smoker with the bubble foil insulation.
Holy Cow, is this stuff amazing! I have to turn the burner almost off to get the temperature down where I want it; this makes it tricky to keep the wood smoking.
I have only used the smoker once since the foil addition so here comes a new learning curve...