Masterbuilt XL for Jerky?

[dougmays]

hey all,

i've been making jerky for awhile now on my WSM 22.5" and have had great results but the setup is a little tedious to get such a low temp.  i was thinking about getting a propane smoker to ease this burden.  i've been looking at the Masterbuilt XL (which i think is 30" wide)

my questions are:

1) does anyone have this and have they been able to get temps low, between 120-150? and maintain that heat?

2) if i can maintain that low of a heat, will the flame product enough flame/heat to get woodchips burning?

if anyone can shed some light or maybe give this a try on there MB XL that'd be great! i'll even mail you some jerky as a thank you!

thanks

 

[pops6927]

I couldn't tell you but I'm sure someone will be along who could!

 

[dougmays]

must not be alot of people with this smoker LOL

 

[drrill4hire]

Been making jerky w my 30" electric without any problems so you should be good to go w gas

 

[msaunders]

I just got my MBXL a couple of weeks ago and haven't tried jerky in it yet.  I'm going to be trying some this week and can let you know.  I can tell you that I was able to maintain 180 degrees at no problem, with plenty of room to turn it down more, but I didn't try to maintain any lower temperature.

As to keeping it smoking, I think it might depend on what you're using for a chip pan and wood.  I built a chip pan out of a cast iron skillet and used 3" SS bolts to stand it over the burner.  I did have trouble keeping the wood smoking well below 180.  I think if I had the pan closer to the burner I might have been able to get better smoke at a lower temperature, but I haven't played around with this yet.

The smoker feels rock solid and kept my temps spot on throughout.  I was able to hold temps steady at 180, 195, and 205 with no problems at all.

-Mike
 

my questions are:

1) does anyone have this and have they been able to get temps low, between 120-150? and maintain that heat?

2) if i can maintain that low of a heat, will the flame product enough flame/heat to get woodchips burning?

if anyone can shed some light or maybe give this a try on there MB XL that'd be great! i'll even mail you some jerky as a thank you!

thanks

 

[dougmays]

hey mike!

thanks for the info that makes me feel alot better about the smoker for jery as the primary use!  i look forward to hearing you experiences with it this weekend making jerky!

as for the cast iron pan...do you drill holes in it to let flame through to ignite the chips? or does the heat alone do it?

 

[dewetha]

i have not made Jerky but here is a thread with lots of xl mods.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/99373/masterbuild-xl-mods-post-your-mods-here

 

[msaunders]

Definitely check out the thread dewetha posted, has a bunch of great mods for the MB XL listed.  On about the 4th page or so you can see some pictures from Grinder showing a cast iron pan using bolts.  Yes, you'd definitely need to drill through.  I didn't have a drill press, just used a smaller bit first with a little oil, and then stepped up to the large bit after I had my pilot holes.  Definitely check out the thread, though, as there are a number of great options for putting in a chip pan demonstrated there.

-Mike
 

as for the cast iron pan...do you drill holes in it to let flame through to ignite the chips? or does the heat alone do it?

 

[dougmays]

awesome! thanks guys

 

[msaunders]

Made some jerky in my MBXL last night.  Maintained temps around 200 and the jerky turned out fine.  Was holding temps around 170 for a bit but then bumped it up.  Never tried to hold it as low as you're looking for it, though.

-MS

 

[dougmays]

thanks for the update! how low was your heat setting on the smoker between low and high? was there room to decrease temp or was it at the lowest

 

[msaunders]

Had it at about 170 for about 20 minutes before I noticed it wasn't where I wanted (I was shooting for 200).  I definitely had some room to turn it down.  I turned it up and got it a little too hot and it hit 230, dropped it back down and got it to sit at 210 for the last hour and a half.

-Mike