Initial Setup and Using the Masterbuilt Vertical Propane Smoker

tt ace · Nov 28, 2011

Hernando, you obviously get some loss when you open the door. However, the recovery time is very quick and hasn't caused me any problems. If you think the recovery time is taking a little too long, turn it up a little and then adjust when it gets back to the proper temp. I also have the single door. You will like your new smoker!

Scooter, it looks like you have hit the right combination. Once again I am happy that the foiled chip pan is working for you. Nothing like a smoke that comes out like you want it!!!!

bakerman · Nov 29, 2011

Okay so the good news is my chickens turned out great! I followed the instructions and brined them for 4 hours. Shoved the 1/2 can of soda up each chicken's cavity and oiled 'em up. Put a store bought rub on one and a self made dust on the other. Next time I will put the rub UNDER the skin. I've read that is even better tasting.

I couldn't believe how moist the meat was. Even after a day in the fridge it was still tender and smoky. I feel for my wife cause she had to listen to me obsess over the details of why I did all the prep. Her quote was " Seems like an awful lot of work for two chickens". Then last night she snatched a piece of meat while I was carving the birds up. Ultimate payoff for me she said " That tastes better than my turkey"

I really was happy after all the worry about following the recommendations on prep, smoke, temp and time. Next time I will plan better and start sooner. Had I brined the birds the day before and fired up the smoker at 10 am instead of 4 pm it would have made for a great day of football and food.

BTW I purchased a 8" skillet at Walmart for the apple chunks, (chips burn up too quick) and that worked out fine. I set it directly on top of the supplied chip pan an had no flare ups. I only replenished the water once and was able to adjust the temp after about an hour. The door thermometer was way off so I put an oven thermometer inside the cabinet. I may have to invest in one with a remote probe to stem the door opening to check. That most likely attributed to the length of the smoke.

My only complaint was the skin, very rubbery. I will try a few things next time to crisp it up a bit. Many thanks to T T Ace for this thread. As my freind the Monster said "Smoke Goooood"

L8r

B

tt ace · Nov 29, 2011

Thanks. The skillet should work well for you. I haven't needed one yet. Hope I don't!! There are a lot of great ideas and techniques for smoking chicken in the forum. The main thing is to smoke at higher temps if you want crispier skin.

sjsamson · Dec 23, 2011

Ace (and all!),

I can't thank you enough for the detail you laid out in your thread. I'm as green as it gets when it comes to smoking, just bought my 'rig' (leaning the lingo!) last week. I'm so green I had no idea where the wood chips went, Masterbuilt manual was fine for assembly but had nothing for use! I seasoned it then couldn't figure out why my chips burned out so fast, so when xmas morning comes around and I'm smoking a turkey for my in-laws I will do your foil trick. You saved my butt big time, ordering pizza would have been bad news!!

Thanks again for sharing your knowledge!

steve

tt ace · Dec 23, 2011

Thanks for the great comments. There is a lot of great help on this forum and I am glad I could provide some myself. A couple of hints/ideas when you smoke the turkey. I found a temp of around 290 works well. If you are not brining the turkey, do what I have been doing and go to the store and buy a bottle of Lemon Pepper Marinade. Use it on the turkey overnight and then put on a good rub in the morning. If you can, monitor the temperature of the turkey, rather than trying to do it by time. Good luck on the Christmas dinner!!

papagrizz · Apr 8, 2012

Great tutorial TT Ace!

brucec · Jul 6, 2012

I just recently received the Masterbuilt 20050611 as a gift, and this site is a godsend since Masterbuilt is so skimpy on their instructions.

Just one question on the foil in the chip pan: Is there a reason why you have to foil it the way you've described, as opposed to simply layering foil over the whole pan?

Thanks!

tt ace · Jul 8, 2012

You can foil the whole pan but you waste a lot of the space for the chunks/chips. Also I found that because the slots were not blocked the flames made the foil/pan too hot and still caused flareups. Hope this helps.

doyouloveit · Jul 29, 2012

To the original poster....I used your suggestion on the wood chip pan for the MasterBuilt vertical propane smoker I just purchased and it worked great. I also glued a gasket rope and it has done a great job as well.

Thanks for your tips.

tt ace · Jul 30, 2012

Glad you found the tutorial helped you. The gasket seal works great to keep in the smoke. Happy smoking!!!

doyouloveit · Jul 30, 2012

TT Ace said:
Glad you found the tutorial helped you. The gasket seal works great to keep in the smoke. Happy smoking!!!

It did very much so.

I smoked a 7 pound boston pork shoulder over the weekend. Pretty good for the first try. I first had trouble keeping the temp (purchased a Maverick thermometer) but I was able to keep it between 240 and 250 for most of the smoke. I do think I got a little wood chunk happy and put too many on and too soon....there was some significant white smoke for the first several minutes after I stoked the wood chip tray. So that is something I need to work on.

Do I continue to put wood chips for the first several hours of the smoke when the smoke stops?

Also, when I first started the smoke I filled the water pan about half with hot water and it was empty by the end of the smoke. Do I refill during the smoke?

Thanks.

tt ace · Jul 31, 2012

I always fill the chip pan when I start the smoke. Do not worry about the amount of initial smoke. Keep refilling wood chunks for at least half the projected time of the smoke, adding more according to your taste. I like more smoke on my meat so I add more wood chunks well into the smoke. I recommend getting a pair of Ove Gloves. That allows you to handle the pan without worrying about getting burned. You can also rotate the pan while it is still in the smoker and add chips/chunks without removing the pan.

I fill the water pan to almost full when I start. You do not need to use hot water except when it is really cold outside. I refill the pan when I see it is getting low. I have a gallon pitcher which I use to add more water. Also consider using such things as a cup of wine, apple juice, rum, etc. in the water. This will help add a little more flavor to whatever you are smoking.

Try dropping your temp on to 225-230 degrees. It will take longer but will make for more moist meat. If you are just going to slice and eat the pork, take the internal temp to 145 degrees. If you are pulling the pork, take it to 185-190 degrees.

Keep smoking!!!

doyouloveit · Jul 31, 2012

TT Ace said:
I always fill the chip pan when I start the smoke. Do not worry about the amount of initial smoke. Keep refilling wood chunks for at least half the projected time of the smoke, adding more according to your taste. I like more smoke on my meat so I add more wood chunks well into the smoke. I recommend getting a pair of Ove Gloves. That allows you to handle the pan without worrying about getting burned. You can also rotate the pan while it is still in the smoker and add chips/chunks without removing the pan.

I fill the water pan to almost full when I start. You do not need to use hot water except when it is really cold outside. I refill the pan when I see it is getting low. I have a gallon pitcher which I use to add more water. Also consider using such things as a cup of wine, apple juice, rum, etc. in the water. This will help add a little more flavor to whatever you are smoking.

Try dropping your temp on to 225-230 degrees. It will take longer but will make for more moist meat. If you are just going to slice and eat the pork, take the internal temp to 145 degrees. If you are pulling the pork, take it to 185-190 degrees.

Keep smoking!!!

Thanks again for the tips. I did a pulled pork, pulled it @ 165, wrapped in foil and finished it in the oven @ 230 degrees until it reached 195 and let it set for an hour. I also spritzed the butt about every hour with apple juice which I think might have been too much.

Trying ribs this weekend.

I used Pecan and Apple wood chunks...do you recommend mixing the two or sticking with one type of wood?

tt ace · Jul 31, 2012

For pulled pork I do not wrap it in foil. That keeps a good bark on it. I take it to about 180-185 and let it sit. I also spritz about every hour to hour and a half. Sometimes I use straight apple juice, sometimes apple juice and rum, and sometimes wine. all make a good mop which will keep the moisture. I rarely use just one kind of wood. I like to mix regular hard wood (hickory, mesquite, oak, etc.) with some kind of fruit wood.

For the ribs, use one of two cooking methods. For Spareribs, use 3-2-1 (3 hours smoking, 2 hours in foil, 1 hour in the smoker with the foil opened). For baby backs, use 2-2-1.

I usually add some of my mop over the ribs when I foil them. You can use some BBQ sauce at that time also. Post some Q-view of your meats!!

Sounds like you are getting hooked on smoking like me!!!

doyouloveit · Jul 31, 2012

I'm a rib novice, so what would you recommend for my first rib smoke (i.e., type of rib, method, etc.)? I was going to do the Johhny Trigg method (parkay, brown surgar) for the 2 hour part of the smoke.

275 degrees for the 2-2-1?

What temp for the 3-2-1?

Are St. Louis ribs a good choice?

Thanks again.

tt ace · Jul 31, 2012

St. Louis ribs would be OK. I would recommend a rack of spareribs. The are the ones normally used in competitions as they smoke really well. You can't argue with Trigg's ribs. I recommend marinating the ribs the day before. You can either coat the ribs with the rub or go get a bottle of garlic/herb or lemon pepper marinade and marinate overnight. If you use the bottle marinade, wipe off the excess and put rub on the ribs before you put them in the smoker. Do not forget to remove the membrane!!!! You will fall in love with the taste.

Temp is still in the 225-240 range for either method. The reason for the different times is that baby backs cook faster than spareribs. Remember we are slow cooking.

schroomer · Nov 16, 2012

Just moved from Seattle to buy a retirement home in Maine. Since winter is some of my favorite time to smoke, cold temps will be the new norm for smoking. So, when my wife told me she just bought me a Masterbuilt Vertical Smoker to replace the Little Chief I left behind in Washington, I started looking for info on setup and usage. I was wicked happy when I found your posts. I have cut and pasted this setup info as well as the insulating blanket post into a booklet that I will continue to add to over time based on my own findings, and the great posts I am finding on this site. This is my first post and I look forward to sharing my experiences smoking in Downeast Maine. Can you say Applewood Smoked Lobster??? Thanks to all for sharing.

krullion · Dec 11, 2012

Hi, just got me the same Masterbuilt vertical gas smoker. It's seasoning now. I am glad I googled for info on this chip pan. When I lit it and saw the flames pouring in to it, I was thinking... how the h*ll? Anyway, I can do the foil, or the #8 skillet. Anyone have a preference? I assume I can just set the skillet right on the three tents of the chip pan??

---Edit---

I added the foil and notice that when we block the holes in the chip pan, the flames want to come up around and through different holes in the heat sheild. Just wanted to make sure this is OK. Looking at pics and reading above... we are totally blocking the flames from coming in to the chip pan, correct?

Also, why cover the bottom of the water pan? Just wondering. Thanks a lot.

Jason

pigalicious · Dec 17, 2012

I'd also like to know some of the "why's", Krullion. Just did my first smoke with my new Masterbuilt XL. Taste was pretty good but a bit too much smoke for my taste. I had one heck of a time achieving TBS, never fully got there...lucky I live out in the sticks or the fire department may have been called!!!

I spent a good part of last night searching this site and reading to figure out how to get better next time. The hints from TT Ace, amongst others are much appreciated. I'll be stopping off to pick up the next cut of meat, some chunks, and maybe a cast iron pan to test along with the foiling of the stock chip pan. I think I'll also pick up some stove gasket to seal up the door a bit. Also ordered a Taylor dual probe thermometer from Amazon that should be here tomorrow.

I'm willing to accept any other hints/direction I've not yet thought of or found via search. Thanks to all!

Best Regards, Bill

pigalicious · Dec 26, 2012

I followed the advice on foiling the pan and it was perfect for stopping the flames from catching the chips on fire. I was smoking a big batch of wings, it was ~24 F outside and I noticed I could not get the temperature over 210 F. I then realized that, on my unit anyway, blocking the flames from coming through the pan also blocked them from entering the firebox. Once I shifted the pan off center, the temperature jumped up and everything started to operate as expected...the wings werr great and thanks to all for the tips on injecting the Frank's buffalo sauce!

I then cut up a 1" thick patio block to act as a spacer for the pan. This solved the problem of blocking the flames/heat for the box and allowed the chips to be evenly heated and now I know what y'all mean by TBS!

With all your help (Bearcarver, Chef Jimmy J, TT Ace, S2K9K, to name a few) my third trip to the smoker was two six-pound prime ribs and baked spuds for the family Christmas dinner! Sorry about no pictures but this all turned out fantastic! Not a spec of left-overs...holy smokes (pun intended) the compliments were something else and I owe it to you guys. We're going to have to do this again soon as we've never tasted prime rib like this...fantastic! Thanks for all the guidance...I've still much to learn but we can't wait to figure out what to try next!

Merry Christmas to all...Pigalicious

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