Masterbuilt MB20071117 Digital Electric Smoker

I'm really happy about this purchase. I was using a homemade 55 gal drum smoker I made up until this purchase. I can't lie it is refreshing to have something I can set and walk away from. Works very well, I've smoked pork belly, venison, chicken and all kinds of things. I haven't had any issues. Temp holds very well and the smaller the wood chips the better the smoke. I gave it 4 starts just because it is hard to clean under the hood where you hold the wood chips and a bit tedious to clean inside. I ended up just buying a small portable pressure washer and have had no issues. I hear people complaining about the chipped paint and this has happened to me as well. But truly, who gives a damn about that, I need it to smoke good food, not look pretty while it's doing it. It's super light and not bulky so you can move anywhere you want. Even at full smoke it doesn't smoke up the entire place. I've even had it in the closed front porch area on rainy days and it's fine. It took me a bit to get over the eletric usage of this product as I live off grid and like things that don't need it. But as a busy person that doesn't have the time to tend the fire and smoke consistently this was a life saver. I literally can set it and walk away and not check it for hours before needing to change the chips.

It's really good item, just what we wanted and expected, to be able to use it as we want we still need to learn more about the smoked food, but the product is really good and easy if use and does the job very well, would definitely recommend, a lot of space for products, just as described by the seller,easy to assembly, light weight for transportation or move the place if needed. Heat is good, smell is perfect depends on pellets used,smoke locked in.

Received in good condition and yet to try it out.

I have purchased this smoker twice. The first one ran great for 3 years, but finally the heating element burned out. It's now in my garage awaiting warm weather so I can install the replacement element that I ordered online and will serve as a backup when the heating element burns out in my current smoker. The elements will burn out after a time, particularly when you use a smoker as often as I do (3 or 4 times a week year-round). Unboxing and doing the minor assembly required for this smoker is quick and easy. It took me less than 30 minutes. Spending more on an electric smoker with a window is a waste, in my view, because the glass quickly gets fogged with steam and smoke residue. Besides, you should be cooking to internal temperature with a good remote temperature probe instead of opening the door periodically (letting heat and smoke escape) to check on progress. Speaking of not opening the door while cooking, I'm a huge fan of this smoker's external smokewood loading feature that allows you to add wood without opening the door. Pre-heating the smoker is important in cold weather. Up to a 30 minutes may be necessary. Pre-heating is not so necessary during the warm/hot spring/summer/fall months if the outside temperature is above 60̊ F. In fact, there is a good reason to skip pre-heating entirely on really warm days (over 80̊ F.), as explained in the next paragraph. Of course, the Masterbuilt electric smokers rely on a electric heating element for heat. The element automatically turns off when the smoker reaches the target temperature you set. It then turns back on when the temperature in the cabinet drops several degrees below the target temperature. While the Masterbuilt smokers are pretty well insulated, they are affected by the outdoor temperature. You will find that the element stays on much longer during colder weather, so there is hardly ever a problem getting enough smoke in such weather. However, particularly when the outdoor temperature is over 80̊ F. or so, the element will not stay on as much, which can decrease the smoke production. I have two approaches to this problem: (1) In hot weather, I never pre-heat the smoker. I just put the meat in the smoker and start it "cold." This maximizes the initial smoke until the smoker gets to the target temperature, which can takes as little as 10 minutes in really hot weather if you're cooking at, say, 225̊. (2) Every once in a while if not enough smoke is being produced, I open the door for 30 to 60 seconds and let the temperature in the cabinet come down, forcing the heating element to come back on. This hardly ever results in extended cooking time because the temperature recovers pretty quickly, and if not enough smoke is being produced anyway, you're not letting out a lot of smoke. A lot of my meat smoking projects are under 3-4 hours, and I always use the Masterbuilt for those. I'm only tempted to fire up my Weber bullet charcoal smoker for longer smokes such as ribs and brisket. Tips for easier cleanup: Line the bottom tray of the smoker with foil and be sure to poke a hole in the foil to match the hole in the tray. Also, foil the water pan before every use of the smoker, which makes it super easy to clean. Try it just once without foil, and you'll be a dedicated water-pan-foiler thereafter! Also, get a protective heat-resistant mat to go under the smoker and protect your patio or deck because there will be occasional spills of grease no matter how careful you are. The photo shows my smoker in operation on Christmas Day 2020 -- doing a twice-smoked ham. If you look closely, you can see the clean smoke coming out the vent on the top right of the smoker.

Maybe I had a relatively low expectation for the smoker as I was about to smoke some Chinese sausages in the winter and salmon every fall. I don't want to break the bank for just a few occasions. This smoker met and even exceeded my expectation in many ways. Admitted I just want something to generate smoke in a closed chamber. And it did the job for me, also keep the temperature thanks to its decent insulation. It didn't generate heavy smoke but enough to infuse the flavour to my meat. I did find it's hard to keep smoking going when in low temperatures (100-160F). But I did a simple mod and solve the problem. The aluminum container housing the wood chips is supposed to be put on a bracket, which has a few centimeters distance to the heating elements. I just removed this bracket and put the container directly on the heating elements and smokes can be generated in low temp. So far I've had 3 sessions of smoking, and it's fun for me to use. I intend to use more than I was planning for in the near future.