I bought a black
masterbuilt Saturday at Academy sporting goods. After opening the box I found it was the old model without the improvements and was quite dissapointed. Price 199
I checked out the one at sams for 299 on Sunday and went ahead and bought it.
The sams one is much much larger. Its wider and taller I didnt check depth. They list the internal cook space in cubic inches. Conversions yields 3 cubic feet I believe.
The differences between old and new from sams:
1. There is a drain in the back and a removeable catch basin.
2. The ash pan is removeable and it already has the (updated) cover welded on to stop flareups.
3. Door seal is no longer magnetic and is rounded to allow it to slide easier I suppose.
4. There is an adjustable latch on the side to hold the door closed.
5. The adjustable smoke vent at the top.
6. There is something square sticking out of the bottom of the unit I have no idea what it is or what its for. Its pictured in the manual wich can be downloaded from
masterbuilt if anyone wants to try to figure it out.
7. The wood chip inserter is not removable when its inverted (dumping position) I thought the black one should have been that way but it came out easily enough.
I'm sure the size is the major factor with regard to the price differential.