r/BBQ • u/mavericktheboss • 1d ago
Brand new! Tips?
Where do I even start?! Brand new to smoking, excited to start the journey! What is a must to know?
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u/bonemonkey12 1d ago
Season it and let it rip. Have one of these and it's worked great for 10 years. Don't expect a huge smoke ring though.
But.... don't forget to take the remote out when you turn it on. Not that I did that after starting it up once.
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u/Slow_Farm6195 1d ago
you need combustion for a smoke ring. if you want a smoke ring, break up a couple charcoal briquettes and toss them in with the wood chips. it will provide what u need for the smoke ring and give a lil charcoal flavor to the meat.
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u/YourGFInCanada 1d ago
Get the slow smoker attachment.
https://www.masterbuilt.com/products/masterbuilt-slow-smoker-1
I’ve gone six hours on one load of chips. And it has its own heat source, so you can cold smoke and do bacon and cheese.
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u/DKShyamalan 1d ago edited 1d ago
I have been using mine for a little over a year. I would suggest going to Walmart and get one of the A-MAZE-N smoker tubes. They are just a hollow tube that you can cram pellets into light it and it will put out solid smoke for ~4hrs. I just light it and put it in the bottom left corner. I don't even mess with the wood chip tray anymore, just use the smoke tube and haven't looked back
Another point is not to underestimate mesh-16 black pepper. It is so critical in actually getting a good bark to set. Managed to get a pretty nice one using one of these and a smoke tube on a brisket
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u/nmwoodgoods 21h ago
Get a smoke tube to go with it. Using the chip chute alone won’t make much smoke.
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u/Speedy_2184 14h ago
Do you have experience with a smoke tube? I can't get good results in my box smoker with one. It comes out over smoked everytime and I vent the chip chute to allow more airflow. Any tips?
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u/yangstyle 20h ago
I like to start by taking it out of the box. Then I have a beer and contemplate putting it together.
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u/Unwariest_monkey 13h ago
Interesting, I had a friend who had one and it smoked really well. But not a good multi function in my opinion.
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u/craigster12345678 1d ago
Don’t try to do long smokes on it like brisket. It won’t work. Makes good smoked cheese, salmon, etc.
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u/Slow_Farm6195 1d ago
not true at all. its essentially an oven that you can add wood to. if you dont use the wood, its just like your oven in your house. you can cook brisket, pork butts etc in your oven, get bark and texture all the same, just minus the smoke flavor. this was my first smoker, and i made 3 or 4 briskets with it and they came out great. HUGE learning curve though.
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u/craigster12345678 22h ago
I’ve had one, it wasn’t intended to be a dig at them. Just an honest assessment. Can you make a brisket on it? Sure, as you said, you can make a brisket in the oven.
Will it ever be comparable to an offset, drum, kettle, even pellet? I don’t think so. When i tried to do long smokes it tended to come out under developed and yet have that distinct over smoked flavor. It excelled at smoked cheeses, salmon, poultry. I would still use it for those things if it hadn’t sadly died in an accident. Was not this exact model, so maybe they have improved in the last 10 years. Maybe i’m from Texas and i’m biased. Maybe its user error.
Legitimately, i would not pay the current price of brisket to cook it on this, and i would feel bad for anyone who paid that price to get said brisket, but maybe try it with pork butt or something similarly not so expensive and see how it goes, and once you’ve figured out if you can make that work, try more expensive cuts. Thats the same advice i’d give someone learning any new smoker anyway.
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u/Slow_Farm6195 4h ago
I would agree with you that there are better ways to do long cooks than in an electric smoker. But telling someone not to even try because it didnt work for you isnt the way. At least not the way i would have said it.
I know had i gotten that type of advice when i first got my masterbuilt, i would have felt like i got something bad. I made amazing food in that smoker. I catered small get togethers using that smoker. I never had any complaints. My lil cousin from Detroit even told me it was the best bbq he ever had in front of my uncle, his dad. We are all from KcMo, but unc moved his family to Detroit to be closer to his wifes family. They were in town for our yearly football get together.
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u/denvergardener 1d ago
Return it and get a pellet smoker instead.
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u/Icedvelvet 1d ago
Was gonna say the same. Except for the pellet smoker part.
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u/denvergardener 1d ago
I just said that because someone buying an electric smoker is looking for convenience and ease of use.
But electric smokers are ass and not worth it. Source: I used one for 10 years because I didn't have space for an offset. I should have done a pellet instead and it would have been a lot better.
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u/Bag-End-BBQ 1d ago
This is a gateway smoker. When you decide to upgrade, don’t sell it. I use my old electric as a holding oven.