# Newbie Smoker - Masterbuilt vertical propane smoker - first smoke



## awerking

Hi all,

Great forum!  Tons of great info here.

I'm new to smoking meat (just got my smoker), and just tried my new smoker for the first time this past weekend.  I picked up the MasterBuilt Pro dual fuel vertical smoker (model #20050412).  

The first run went pretty well considering I've never smoked meat before.  I smoked two racks of ribs and a bunch of sausages - they both turned out great.  I did identify several issues though, many of which I'm sure are due to my inexperience, and some that might be inherent to the design of my new smoker.

1) During break in I noticed that my wood chips were basically incinerating, even with the burner on the lowest setting.  Even though I soaked the chips for over an hour they still kept burning up during the break in run.  I ended up putting chips in a cast iron pan and setting it on the stock chip tray - no more fire and finally some actual smoke.

2) The upper door leaks smoke like crazy.  At first I thought the door latch might be misadjusted from the factory, but no amount of adjustment would result in any sort of improvement.

3) The lowest continuous temperature that I could achieve while still producing smoke was approx. 250 degrees F.  I had to continuously babysit the smoker, adjusting the burner to try to find that elusive sweet spot that would heat the chips enough to produce smoke without sending temperatures soaring.  I tried using just the burner valve, adjusting the tank valve, multiple combinations of both - nothing seemed to work...  Ambient temperature was in the 70's that day, so I'm concerned that this problem will be much worse in the summer.

I'd appreciate any advice or direction other folks might have to offer with respect to the above issues, especially as they relate specifically to Masterbuilt two-door vertical propane smokers.  Thanks in advance for the help!


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## SonnyE

Sounds a lot like what occurs in the electric versions as well.
I think something was lost in the design translation from Engirsh to Mandarin.

My fix was to do what many here have done before me, get an AMNPS and have a smoke maker that is independent of the ovens heat source.
But since I like smoking cheese and other delicate things, I made a mod so the smoke is cooled and I can do any temperature from Ambient to 275° in my Smoker oven.
(I could probably smoke a box of chocolates if I did them at night...) LOL!
I'd recommend you look at an AMNPS as a necessary accessory for your new smoker.


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## smokeymose

I have the same smoker and had the same "problems". You figured out the cast iron pan trick. I used a felt strip around the doors, but I found I had to keep the top door open a smidge to keep temps down anyway. So much for that. If I tried getting the flame low for low temps I had flame blowout problems. I ended up getting an offset wood burner and just use the MB for warm smoking sausage with a hotplate/mailbox setup with a pellet tube and cold smoking bacon and cheese with the same tube. Haven't had gas to it for over a year. 
That being said; If you can keep the temps to 250 to 280, that's OK. That's what my offset likes to run at and things turn out just fine. The whole 225 degree thing baffles me....


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## CFL Smoker

Hi,
New guy to the forum, but been smoking for about eight years now - almost exclusively with a Masterbuilt propane smoker.  I don't know the model number (forgot that about three years ago!) but it is a single door unit with a food area of about 2'x3' holding four racks.

All that being said, I haven't had a problem with the seal leaking along the top.  Seals just fine for me.  Is the gap wide?  May want to get some heat resistant sealer strip (the stuff lining the inside of your oven door) and replace the factory strip with the stuff for ovens.   Don't know the 'offical' name for it, but just take a picture of it and show the guy at Home Depot, he'll be able to point you in the right direction.

I can maintain my internal temp pretty good too - well within the 200-250 range.  Took me a while fiddling with it, but got it pretty much dialed in now.

This leads me to believe that quality may have decreased between the time I got mine and the current models that you are having issues with.   But, that being said, I do have problems with the chips burning vice simply smoking as they should.  I have soaked the chips over night, I have left them dry, and I have said prayers to the Great BBQ God in the Sky - to no avial.   So if folks have a suggestion about that, I'd be interested in hearing it!

Best of luck and sorry I couldn't be of more help.


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## Gwanger

CFL Smoker said:


> Hi,
> New guy to the forum, but been smoking for about eight years now - almost exclusively with a Masterbuilt propane smoker.  I don't know the model number (forgot that about three years ago!) but it is a single door unit with a food area of about 2'x3' holding four racks.
> 
> All that being said, I haven't had a problem with the seal leaking along the top.  Seals just fine for me.  Is the gap wide?  May want to get some heat resistant sealer strip (the stuff lining the inside of your oven door) and replace the factory strip with the stuff for ovens.   Don't know the 'offical' name for it, but just take a picture of it and show the guy at Home Depot, he'll be able to point you in the right direction.
> 
> I can maintain my internal temp pretty good too - well within the 200-250 range.  Took me a while fiddling with it, but got it pretty much dialed in now.
> 
> This leads me to believe that quality may have decreased between the time I got mine and the current models that you are having issues with.   But, that being said, I do have problems with the chips burning vice simply smoking as they should.  I have soaked the chips over night, I have left them dry, and I have said prayers to the Great BBQ God in the Sky - to no avial.   So if folks have a suggestion about that, I'd be interested in hearing it!
> 
> Best of luck and sorry I couldn't be of more help.


I have a masterbuilt  propane 2 door smoker and had problemd being too hot and I was referred to a utube video showing how to get temp lower and now get down to 150* I don't know if you have same gas valve as mine since it is older than yours but it would be worth looking at. Just do a utube search for controlling lower  temps on a Masterbuilt propane smoker. In short turn on smoker at low setting and go past hi and while going past hi I had to press knob in a little to alow me to go past high setting and then the flame lowered to 150* flame. I was so frustated by not being able to get lower than 285* that I went out and bought another smoker and another smoker.I was told to watch video by Indaswamp on forum another way to fix is to put screws into some of the holes in the burner that was my next step but did not need it Daveomak has info on closing off jets to get proped temp. don't give up there are solutions to any problem.The people on this forum are the best at having solutions.Just get you info out there
g


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## Gwanger

Gwanger said:


> I have a masterbuilt  propane 2 door smoker and had problemd being too hot and I was referred to a utube video showing how to get temp lower and now get down to 150* I don't know if you have same gas valve as mine since it is older than yours but it would be worth looking at. Just do a utube search for controlling lower  temps on a Masterbuilt propane smoker. In short turn on smoker at low setting and go past hi and while going past hi I had to press knob in a little to alow me to go past high setting and then the flame lowered to 150* flame. I was so frustated by not being able to get lower than 285* that I went out and bought another smoker and another smoker.I was told to watch video by Indaswamp on forum another way to fix is to put screws into some of the holes in the burner that was my next step but did not need it Daveomak has info on closing off jets to get proped temp. don't give up there are solutions to any problem.The people on this forum are the best at having solutions.Just get you info out there
> g


another fix to get lower temps is to get a regulator w/needle valve, if you go too low you will get blowouts. Just trying to help.


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## Gwanger

CFL Smoker said:


> Hi,
> New guy to the forum, but been smoking for about eight years now - almost exclusively with a Masterbuilt propane smoker.  I don't know the model number (forgot that about three years ago!) but it is a single door unit with a food area of about 2'x3' holding four racks.
> 
> All that being said, I haven't had a problem with the seal leaking along the top.  Seals just fine for me.  Is the gap wide?  May want to get some heat resistant sealer strip (the stuff lining the inside of your oven door) and replace the factory strip with the stuff for ovens.   Don't know the 'offical' name for it, but just take a picture of it and show the guy at Home Depot, he'll be able to point you in the right direction.
> 
> I can maintain my internal temp pretty good too - well within the 200-250 range.  Took me a while fiddling with it, but got it pretty much dialed in now.
> 
> This leads me to believe that quality may have decreased between the time I got mine and the current models that you are having issues with.   But, that being said, I do have problems with the chips burning vice simply smoking as they should.  I have soaked the chips over night, I have left them dry, and I have said prayers to the Great BBQ God in the Sky - to no avial.   So if folks have a suggestion about that, I'd be interested in hearing it!
> 
> Best of luck and sorry I couldn't be of more help.





CFL Smoker said:


> Hi,
> New guy to the forum, but been smoking for about eight years now - almost exclusively with a Masterbuilt propane smoker.  I don't know the model number (forgot that about three years ago!) but it is a single door unit with a food area of about 2'x3' holding four racks.
> 
> All that being said, I haven't had a problem with the seal leaking along the top.  Seals just fine for me.  Is the gap wide?  May want to get some heat resistant sealer strip (the stuff lining the inside of your oven door) and replace the factory strip with the stuff for ovens.   Don't know the 'offical' name for it, but just take a picture of it and show the guy at Home Depot, he'll be able to point you in the right direction.
> 
> I can maintain my internal temp pretty good too - well within the 200-250 range.  Took me a while fiddling with it, but got it pretty much dialed in now.
> Have you tried a small cast iron fry pan, it acts like a heat sink and keeps chips smoking
> This leads me to believe that quality may have decreased between the time I got mine and the current models that you are having issues with.   But, that being said, I do have problems with the chips burning vice simply smoking as they should.  I have soaked the chips over night, I have left them dry, and I have said prayers to the Great BBQ God in the Sky - to no avial.   So if folks have a suggestion about that, I'd be interested in hearing it!
> 
> Best of luck and sorry I couldn't be of more help.


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## EDizzle

awerking said:


> Hi all,
> 
> Great forum!  Tons of great info here.
> 
> I'm new to smoking meat (just got my smoker), and just tried my new smoker for the first time this past weekend.  I picked up the MasterBuilt Pro dual fuel vertical smoker (model #20050412).
> 
> The first run went pretty well considering I've never smoked meat before.  I smoked two racks of ribs and a bunch of sausages - they both turned out great.  I did identify several issues though, many of which I'm sure are due to my inexperience, and some that might be inherent to the design of my new smoker.
> 
> 1) During break in I noticed that my wood chips were basically incinerating, even with the burner on the lowest setting.  Even though I soaked the chips for over an hour they still kept burning up during the break in run.  I ended up putting chips in a cast iron pan and setting it on the stock chip tray - no more fire and finally some actual smoke.
> 
> 2) The upper door leaks smoke like crazy.  At first I thought the door latch might be misadjusted from the factory, but no amount of adjustment would result in any sort of improvement.
> 
> 3) The lowest continuous temperature that I could achieve while still producing smoke was approx. 250 degrees F.  I had to continuously babysit the smoker, adjusting the burner to try to find that elusive sweet spot that would heat the chips enough to produce smoke without sending temperatures soaring.  I tried using just the burner valve, adjusting the tank valve, multiple combinations of both - nothing seemed to work...  Ambient temperature was in the 70's that day, so I'm concerned that this problem will be much worse in the summer.
> 
> I'd appreciate any advice or direction other folks might have to offer with respect to the above issues, especially as they relate specifically to Masterbuilt two-door vertical propane smokers.  Thanks in advance for the help!



I actually just got rid of my Masterbuilt dual fuel smoker.  Loved it but it just took a lot of wear and tear over the years and I was ready to scale up.

What I would typically do is burn charcoal in the lower pan and put wood chunks in the water pan.  For longer smokes, I'd run the propane just long enough to maintain temps while swapping coals.  Always worked wonderfully.  Great tender ribs all the time.


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