New Masterbuilt portable/camping smoker!

[rxhuskerx]

I picked up two of these at Sams a couple of weeks ago for $49 (one for me and one for my neighbor).  The first weekend I did two racks of baby back ribs and and a jalapeno stuffed pork tenderloin and they turned out great.  I normally use an offset smoker, and nobody could tell the difference. Last weekend I did 3 pounds of smoked salmon, and again, it turned out just like the offset.

Today I was at Sams to get some items for a pork loin smoke this weekend, and they had them marked down to $29, so of course, I grabbed the last one (other than the display).

They will both go on vacation this summer so we can do 4 pork butts at one time.

I'm very impressed by this little smoker.  It holds temps at 225 - 250 easily while hooked up to a 20 lb tank and can reach over 350 if you turn it on high.

Mike

 

[carol russo]

Just picked one of these up to use at our motorhome at the dog shows. We have two MES30's at home but thought this would be easier to transport.

We made ribs last weekend and with a bit of wiggling we were able to fit 4 racks of baby backs. The ones on the top rack were great but the ones on the bottom burned. That bottom rack is too close to the burner.

Anyone else move that rack higher?  Maybe I just need to learn the smoke better...

Thanks!

Carol

 

[severechase]

I have had the same problem with being unable to complete a smoke without the portion of the meat directly above the burner on the bottom rack getting burnt. 

 

[severechase]

Tried another pork butt today...was real careful to not let temp climb above 225 and I even placed foil across bottom to at least buffer flame, not that I had high expectations of that helping. However the result was the same, bottom portion of butt that sits over the burner got chrunchy black not even half way through the smoke.

Only solution I've found is to spend the time cutting away the burned portion once done, but this isn't ideal. Anyone have any tips or suggestions on how to avoid this?

 

[h8that4u]

I now have 3 of these, one I keep in the back of my work truck, one at the house for the wife to use while I am away, and a new one in the box (just in case). What I have done for all of them is at the local HD, they have a thin sheet of metal that fits perfectly just above the rack that holds the smoke box and water tray, it keeps grease flare ups down to nothing and helps with the burning of the meat on the lower rack. I also when doing ribs will rotate the upper and lower racks about 1/2 way through the cook.

I have found that pellets will give a longer and cleaner smoke than chips do. 

 

[carol russo]

 
I now have 3 of these, one I keep in the back of my work truck, one at the house for the wife to use while I am away, and a new one in the box (just in case). What I have done for all of them is at the local HD, they have a thin sheet of metal that fits perfectly just above the rack that holds the smoke box and water tray, it keeps grease flare ups down to nothing and helps with the burning of the meat on the lower rack. I also when doing ribs will rotate the upper and lower racks about 1/2 way through the cook.

I have found that pellets will give a longer and cleaner smoke than chips do. 

Where in Home Depot do you find this sheet of metal?

Thanks,

Carol

 

[h8that4u]

I dont remember the isle but they have small angle iron and small sheets of metal like diamond plate or smooth, the one  I am using is HD model #56032, if you put that in the search on their web site it should pull it right up for you.

 

[h8that4u]

Also, amazon is selling them now but the price is a lot higher than the Sams price, but amazon also sells a really nice looking canvas carry bag for the smokers. Also on amazon they have an electric model of the same size.

 

[jokensmoken]

Hi Carol,
I had the same issue with mine and devised an easy fix that helped.
I got a couple of those disposable aluminum flat sheet pans ( the ones that look like a cookie sheet), poked a bunch of holes in it with a screw driver...put a small bricks on the floor of the smoker in each corner that supported the pan above the burner and chip tray.
It dispersed the heat well.
It's a little bit of a pain to add chips too, but it did work.

 

[riverdick]

Just put mine together. I won it on the local radio show.
Anybody know what the chain and rod is used for.

 

[h8that4u]

It is used to hold a match( so you don't burn your fingers) to light the burner if the push button quits working. 

 

[travisty]

Man, I wish I could have gotten in on that $49.99 at Sams. Still haven't been able to convince the wife that $100 is worth it. Amazon has them as low as $88, but that's still a bit too high. Ill keep my fingers crossed for a $50 one. Also I don't have a Sams membership, so that wont work for me.

 

[h8that4u]

 
Man, I wish I could have gotten in on that $49.99 at Sams. Still haven't been able to convince the wife that $100 is worth it. Amazon has them as low as $88, but that's still a bit too high. Ill keep my fingers crossed for a $50 one. Also I don't have a Sams membership, so that wont work for me.

I still have a brand new one in the box down in the basement , I should be heading to Elk Ridge in a month to a month and a half, if you really want one I can bring you one.

 

[travisty]

I still have a brand new one in the box down in the basement , I should be heading to Elk Ridge in a month to a month and a half, if you really want one I can bring you one.

Wow, that would be awesome! Will you be going through Salt Lake at all on your way to Elk Ridge? What could I buy it from you for?

 

[h8that4u]

Wow, that would be awesome! Will you be going through Salt Lake at all on your way to Elk Ridge? What could I buy it from you for?
My personal email is removed if you would like to contact me that way.

I am sure I will be there several times (in Salt Lake), I should be in Elk Ridge for a month or two, and will have to run for parts and other stuff several times. I would take 55 for it to cover taxes that I paid when I bought it.

Also I would remove your email from the open forum as you could become flooded with spam.

Just pm me your contact info when you have time and I will stay in contact with you as I know more on dates.

 

[drunkenmeatfist]

This doesn't cause any issues with heat distribution? I bought one of these smokers a couple of months ago because I live alone and am new to smoking. Also I have only used wood chips because the manual said not to use pellets and I can be a dork that follows rules. The chips usually last 30-40 minutes max, but you say the pellets are better? 

 

[travisty]

Anyone still interested in these, WalMart just clearanced them out for only $45!! Picked one up myself the other day.  

 

[tmoosetrax]

For you guys that have one of these smokers thinking of getting on at lowes (72.00) . What kind of time do you get out of each fill of the wood chip box i've read different people and they range anywhere from 15 minutes to 1 hr. I see h8that4u got about 45 minutes. Im guessing that the time could not be that bad or you guys would be mentioning that in your post. It's always good to get a answer from guys who usually smoke compared to other review site where someone has never used a smoker before and you have no idea what they were doing. Thanks for any input may just pick one up this weekend.

 

[drunkenmeatfist]

 
For you guys that have one of these smokers thinking of getting on at lowes (72.00) . What kind of time do you get out of each fill of the wood chip box i've read different people and they range anywhere from 15 minutes to 1 hr. I see h8that4u got about 45 minutes. Im guessing that the time could not be that bad or you guys would be mentioning that in your post. It's always good to get a answer from guys who usually smoke compared to other review site where someone has never used a smoker before and you have no idea what they were doing. Thanks for any input may just pick one up this weekend.

I think it was usually around 30 minutes worth out of that little tray. I liked that little smoker, but it is more convenient to have a normal sized smoker. If you are planning on using this thing strictly because of its portability then the short time of smoke production is fine. If not, then it would be a pain to refill the chip tray so often. Let me know if you have any other questions, I did a bunch of smoking on that little guy. 

 

[h8that4u]

I have been in Texas for the last few weeks and using mine again about every other day. I had some pellets that I had in a 5 gallon bucket. Well they got wet and are now saw dust.

When I load the small tray with the dust it will last just under an hour. I picked up a new bag of pellets for different flavor and the pellets will last 30- 45 mins. The biggest thing I have noticed

is that the pellets tend to catch fire and cause a big spike in temp and then I have to hit with some water to kick down the flames. Even with the thin sheet of metal over the trays.

With the saw dust I can use the water pan(filled with the saw dust) and chip pan and get 4-5 hours of smoke with out having to reload, The water pan starts on the side close to the chip pan and burns nice and slow.