Masterbuilt Sportsman Elite 40" Extra-Wide Two-Door Propane Smoker

[solman]

i had a brinkmann gourmet smoker i modded (link) and it worked well for years. i wanted more space, so i just bought this new masterbuilt propane smoker from cabela's for $180 with next day delivery: link

anyone else have this specific smoker? it looks like it's only sold through cabelas or bass pro shops.

i plan to use it out of the box for the first smoke and see how it goes. anyway, i don't see this specific model being mentioned (or my search game is off). here's a video, actually the only video i could find of it:

 

[rexster314]

I have the previous model with one door, not two. Looks identical. Do yourself a favor. Get a 10-12" cast iron skillet and place on top of the flame tamer over the burner. Put your wood chunks on the skillet and it will alleviate any flame ups. If you want a smoke ring on your meat, put 3-4 charcoal briquettes or lump charcoal. The AMAZN smoking tube works really well in the rig if you're doing a cold smoke

 

[solman]

thanks for the tips. i tried to read as much as i could about mods, and picked up a few ideas. i plan to ditch the entire wood chip box assembly and put a burner grate (link) directly over the propane burner and use a 14" cast iron pizza pan (link) sitting on top of the burner grate to help distribute the heat better.

i'm not sure if the 14" pan will fit, i just happen to have it lying around so i figured i'd give it a shot. the internal dimensions are advertised as "23.63"W x 15.93"D" so it should fit.

would wood chunks burn easily if just placed on top of the iron pizza pan? or would i need to get it started by taking a torch to it?

 

[solman]

the smoker arrived early this morning. unfortunately the doors and box frame are misaligned. i was able to take a rubber mallet to the hinge and straight it out so the sides line up, but then that causes the top to be misaligned. i didn't expect perfection, but wow what sh!tty quality. it's like a drunk guy at the factory put the thing together.

 

[buzzy]

WOW! I think I'd be making some phone calls to get what I paid for not bent & twisted junk. Don't use chunkS of wood just 1 piece. It helps to keep the wood from catching on fire

 

[solman]

i tried the cast iron mod everyone talks about but it didn't work for me. the only way to get wood chunks to smoke was to keep the regulator on high. and at 230F, there was no way the iron pan would stay hot enough.

i decided to use a wok ring to hold up an aluminum pizza pan. at 230F, wood chunks smoke the entire time. it eventually turns the wood chunks to wood charcoal. the ring is 1.5" tall.

to heat up the smoker, i remove the pizza pan and turn the regulator on high, and it only takes a few minutes to get over 200F. once it starts getting close to 200F, i slide the pan with wood chunk into place and turn down the heat.

here's the original equipment that covers the entire burner. the chip tray (not shown) sits on top. i think they call this a heat diffuser. it takes a LOT longer to heat up, which i thought was incredibly inefficient.