SUGGESTIONS FOR A RELIABLE SMOKER TO REPLACE USELESS BROKEN MASTERBUILT DIGITAL ELECTRIC SMOKER THAT WORKED 2.5 TIMES?

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Helen Ivy

Newbie
Original poster
Oct 2, 2021
17
2
I hope to buy a replacement for my useless MES Masterbuilt smoker that worked 2.5 times and is now a useless hunk of metal.

What manufacturers and models do people recommend? NOT MASTERBUILT!! (I spent weeks with them via email and chat while they wasted my time, gave me the runaround, and refused to help me with my issue.) It is not my experience that they are AT ALL helpful.

I liked that the MES was very large, but I'm willing to go smaller. The MES had a horrible tiny hard to access wood tray. Would like something easier to access and not as dangerous.
 
No mention of budget. Sounds like a lemon. There are many here successfully using MES built units, buy hey things like this unfortunately happen. To start your search off, I'll point you to Req-Tec. I purposely picked this manufacturer as they are not on the low end but also reasonably affordable for many and have a very good reputation.
 
H Helen Ivy

Hello and welcome to SMF.
I see that you have posted about the Err 2 code with the MES40 and lack of support from Masterbuilt on another thread. It truly is unfortunate that a new unit quit working soon after purchase and the manufacturer has been no help.

It also sounds as if you don't want to perform the rewire for the PID controller as tallbm tallbm suggested which is totally understandable.
However, doing that would be the cost effective and permanent solution for the MES40 short of purchasing a new smoker.

With that said, what is your budget for a new electric smoker? Do you also have a stand alone gas or charcoal grill? If your answer to the second question is no, then schlotz schlotz has pointed you in the right direction with Rec-Teq since you would be able to use the unit for smoking and grilling.

Now, if you are only interested in a stand alone electric smoker, then take a look at Smokin-It and Smokin Tex. They are both quality and reliabe units and their cost reflects that.



P.S. I would recommend my particular smoker but it is no longer manufactured.
 
I have a hard time believing Masterbuilt would leave you in the lurch - contact their customer service and they will get you back up and running.

I had some issues with my Masterbuilt earlier this year and I now have a shelf full of spare parts that they sent me at no cost that should cover me for any failure for years.

The failures are definitely frustrating but Masterbuilt will support their products.
 
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I have a hard time believing Masterbuilt would leave you in the lurch - contact their customer service and they will get you back up and running.

I had some issues with my Masterbuilt earlier this year and I now have a shelf full of spare parts that they sent me at no cost that should cover me for any failure for years.

The failures are definitely frustrating but Masterbuilt will support their products.
I don't have FB so I went to their website, clicked on warrany or service,can't remember and boom got a response and parts on the way. Even thew in a couple of bags of charcoal for free
 
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I like that solution! Sounds excellent!

Can you give me a bit more info so I can figure out how exactly to do this and what to buy?

If you still have it just rip our the electronics and get you a heating element off amazon and controller from auberins and you are back in business.
 
I don't have FB so I went to their website, clicked on warrany or service,can't remember and boom got a response and parts on the way. Even thew in a couple of bags of charcoal for free
Yeah, my primary complaint was the amount of time it took to get replacement parts and the fact that I needed them at all on a six month old smoker... but nobody can say the support isn't there.
 
Not my experience. I went back and forth with customer service via email and the app and website bots both for WEEKS. They never wanted to help me. They just put me off and kept sending me the same two minute video over and over. Promised a call that never came.

I CAN SAY THE SUPPORT ISN'T THERE. Did they answer my emails and conversations with the bot? (BTW, u have to input the same huge amount of info every time u try to initiate a convo with the bot, to get the person behind the bot is EXTREMELY DIFFICULT AND TIME CONSUMING. Yes they responded. Did they offer support or actually help me. No.

You have your experience but that is not my experience. I went back and forth with Masturbuilt for WEEKS this summer.

Yeah, my primary complaint was the amount of time it took to get replacement parts and the fact that I needed them at all on a six month old smoker... but nobody can say the support isn't there.
 
I hope to buy a replacement for my useless MES Masterbuilt smoker that worked 2.5 times and is now a useless hunk of metal.

What manufacturers and models do people recommend? NOT MASTERBUILT!! (I spent weeks with them via email and chat while they wasted my time, gave me the runaround, and refused to help me with my issue.) It is not my experience that they are AT ALL helpful.

I liked that the MES was very large, but I'm willing to go smaller. The MES had a horrible tiny hard to access wood tray. Would like something easier to access and not as dangerous.
I would recommend a smoker from Smokin-it or Cookshack. All electric. All stainless steel inside and out with stainless steel racks (Cookshack are not stainless but are an option). 3 year warranty on Smokin-it and 2 years on Cookshack.
 
I too would go the PID route with the existing smoker ... I don't know what the problem with the smoker was... but a PID controller is all that would be needed if the heat element wasn't/isn't the original problem ...
 
I like that solution! Sounds excellent!

Can you give me a bit more info so I can figure out how exactly to do this and what to buy?

here is a plug n play unit from Auberins. They also have no. Wifi version. I used a previous model years ago when I removed propane burner in my smoker and replaced with coffee burner. Very easy to operator


You will need to find power/neutral cables from element and wire to 120v plug. Very simple to do. This will plug into back of controller. Then fine location to put the temp probe from controller and you are good to go. If element is problem you can find a 120v 1500watt element on amazon
 
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I had a MES40 for a year or so. When I did have issues luckily at that time they were easy to contact via phone and sent me all the replacement parts I needed even though I was a month out of warranty. They mentioned some of the parts were part of a claim and the settlement involved replacing parts for years. That said service for any company can change over time. I will say the more I read of electrical issues with many of the smokers the more I love mine that run off wood, coal or both :)
 
Helen, I know you are fed up with masterbuilt. But I just want to let you know what golfpro2301 golfpro2301 is telling you to do is about the exact same thing that tallbm tallbm has also been trying to explain to you. Only difference is that you might not even need a different element. We are all here trying to help you out. What golfpro said about auberins and tallbm talking about an auber pid are one in the same thing.

Ryan
 
Smokin-It has excellent support after the sale. And they are great smokers. I favor the analog #2 or #3. The Smokin-It #3 was my first buy after I quit using a MES30 and have been very happy since.
 
As others have mentioned a PID controller will make your MES one of the best smokers available. I and many others have taken the advise and direction from tallbm tallbm and done the easy conversion. I very rarely use my RT anymore. Many of us use this unit
 
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