I got a GREAT deal on this...

TentHunter

Moderator
Ever since I used my friend's Masterbuilt 30" Electric Smoker about five years ago for the Marching Band cookout, I've been wanting one.

One of the things I really like about this model is it's one of the few electric smokers that sports 4 cooking shelves (most only have 3). This makes it ideal for use as a portable oven to cook or heat up trays of Roasted Potatoes, Mac-N-Cheese, etc. for large cookouts.


And best of all because of the way wood is added from the side (without opening the smoker) I can use pellets in this one, if I want, instead of wood ships! :cool:


These normally go for $200, and I almost pulled the trigger on one at Amazon, but decided to take a quick look on Craigslist first. I'm sure glad I did! A guy literally blocks from my house had a brand new one, never used, still sealed in the box, listed for $130.


I got there and he let me have it for $120!!! 8)
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With the Marching Band cookout coming up in two weeks, the timing was perfect!
 

sptucker

New member
Nice score, Cliff! A guy at my work has one just like it and he loves it.

Give us an update later -- with pics?!
 

TentHunter

Moderator
Masterbuilt Electric Smoker - Update.

Just a quick update...

This MaterBuilt electric smoker worked great for exactly why I wanted it. For the Band Cookout I used it to bake 4 trays of Mac & Cheese and it worked perfectly! :)

The "Lasagna" size/style of foil trays fit into the shelves of this smoker perfectly leaving enough space in the front and back to allow the heat to flow through the unit properly. So if you're looking for an overflow cooker for doing this sort of thing, or to keep food hot until serving time, this is a great option!
 

TrickyDick

New member
I had one of these type, and brand smokers and I did not like it.
I did get some good food out of it, but it was my only smoker and I couldn't get it to do certain things.
If I knew then what I do now, I'd probably have been happier with it.

Congrats on the great deal, now here's what I didn't like.

Temperature (Assuming that its digital probe was accurate - I never cross checked against a calibrated thermometer) - had a hard time getting to 275 and good luck at anything higher than that. Mine could never hit the 350 mark.

Wood tray - the coil did not get hot enough to render chips or chunks into ash. Wish I had known about pellets! Also tray cannot be emptied easily and requires opening the door to do so. Though I believe you CAN leave the wood in the dosing plunger-like device.

Wish I knew about pellet smoking. I suspect that you could leave the pellets in the plunger tray and not invert it to dump them into the internal tray (Or even dose that with pellets at the start), then remove the dosing insert plunger device and replenish the pellets as needed.

I was having a hard time getting enough smoke for long enough. I tried a brisket in it following the instructions in Myron Mixon's book about about a few months before I stumbled onto this forum and had a very difficult time getting it hot enough or smoky enough for long enough. Knowing what I know now I could probably fare a little better.

I'm sure with a small power inverter you could probably do some portable cooking in this quite easily. Could be mine was defective or something. I'm not trying to poo-poo your shiny new smoker at all, and I sincerely do hope you like it. For short cooks it probably functions better. I ended up drilling a port into the side and plumbing a Bradley Smoke Generator into it, but it didn't solve the temperature problems I was having, which seemed to get worse. On the bright side, it did cause me to stumble onto this forum and learn about the MAK products.


TD
 

TentHunter

Moderator
Dick,

Yep, I definitely had the advantage of knowing exactly what I was getting before I got it, especially since I'd used my friend's a few times at past band cookouts. With a max temp of 275°, this unit isn't good for anything where you need higher temps.


I'm not sure if you caught where I was heading in my above posts, but I have no intention of using this as a main cooker anyway.

I wanted this for a specific task; for larger cookouts when I need extra cooking space for side dishes such as Mac & Cheese, Baked Beans, Mashed Potatoes, etc. In other words Stuff that doesn't require a high temp, or just needs to be kept hot. Since the food is in foil trays, there's no cleanup to speak of, and I have the option of applying a little smoke if I want.

All in all, it did exactly what I wanted at the Band Cookout we just did (it baked the Mac & Cheese), so for that purpose I am very happy with it!



Now, having said all that I MAY also use this some for smoking sausage (where I don't want high temps anyway). :rolleyes:
 

TrickyDick

New member
I bought mine on a spur of the moment at SAMs club and didn't really know what I was getting.
That said, it sounds like it should the bill for you!
Out of curiousity, I'd be interested in hearing if it can reduce the pellets to ash, and how long a full load of pellets will smoke.

TD
 
I have one of the MES 30's. Was not getting the operation that I hoped for so I got a GMG Daniel Boone. If you get a Amazen Products pellet smoker, you can use pellets instead of wood chips. Get long smoke times without having to babysit the smoker. I plan to use it for cold smoking bacon
 

TentHunter

Moderator
TrickyDick said:
I'd be interested in hearing if it can reduce the pellets to ash, and how long a full load of pellets will smoke.

No it will not. I don't know of any electric smoker that will reduce wood chips/pellets/sawdust to ash. You need combustion for that to happen. The best you will get with an electric smoker is carbonized wood (charcoal).

Even with a Bradley smoker, which uses pucks made from saw dust, the pucks are only carbonized, and they sit directly on a dedicated heat plate.

Bradley Smoker - YouTube ← Start watching at time 1:12.




I have one of the MES 30's. Was not getting the operation that I hoped for so I got a GMG Daniel Boone. If you get a Amazen Products pellet smoker, you can use pellets instead of wood chips. Get long smoke times without having to babysit the smoker. I plan to use it for cold smoking bacon

First, welcome to the forum! Stick around, join in the fun, and show us your GMG in action.

Yep, the A-Maze-N tubes work great. I have two (a 12" and 6"), plus I also have a smoking wedgie, which does the same basic thing.
 
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