# Window  or No Window?



## smokin sid (Jan 27, 2015)

Greetings Everyone!

    I am looking to buy a Masterbuilt 40 inch electric smoker. I have a few questions about the

windows in the doors. I understand that there may be some heat loss with the smokers with

the windows in the doors. I would love to hear any Pros/Cons from any one  in the forums on this subject.

                                                                                           Thankyou

                                                                                          Smokin Sid


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## tropics (Jan 27, 2015)

I have the window and I do not see any smoke, seeping out from around the glass. I do have a tiny leak at the top of the door.


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## carney (Jan 27, 2015)

I have a MES 30 with the window.  I the window is defiantly the least insulated of the box.  It gets up to temp and stays at temp fine, so I don;t see the loss of heat as a big deal.  If you open the door to look in you lose a whole lot more heat then looking threw the window.


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## wolfman1955 (Jan 27, 2015)

I have the 40" with window. IMHO the window is just a sales gimmic from Masterbuilt. I am sure there is some heat loss it does get hot. Mine is no longer see through cause I got tired of cleaning it and when the smoker is smoking you can't see anything in there anyway.
Keep Smokin!!!
Wolf


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## okie from muskogee (Jan 27, 2015)

My 30 inch has a window and it is alright but, it is just something to clean. When the smoke is heavy you can not see the meat and water condenses on the glass and messes with seeing the meat.


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## twoalpha (Jan 27, 2015)

The 30 MES that I have has the window and is another thing to clean. Easy to clean with the razor blade about every two times.

For the most part you can not see in during the smoke so it seems almost a waste.


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## daricksta (Jan 28, 2015)

I have the MES 30 Gen 1 without the window and it works fine for me. Whether you can see what's cooking or not you still have to open the door to foil/unfoil meat or to move whatever you're smoking around if that's what you've chosen to do. Otherwise, the lack of smoke coming out of the top vent lets me know if my AMNPS has gone out due to used up pellets or whatever so I don't need a window to monitor that.


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## Bearcarver (Jan 28, 2015)

Carney said:


> I have a MES 30 with the window.  I the window is defiantly the least insulated of the box.  It gets up to temp and stays at temp fine, so I don;t see the loss of heat as a big deal.  If you open the door to look in you lose a whole lot more heat then looking threw the window.


^^^^ Exactly,

I have my MES 40 with window for over 4 years & I love it. Any heat loss it gets I don't notice---Heats up fine & stays hot.

I can see if anything goes wrong without opening the door.

It's not hard to clean if you clean it before each use.

My first MES was without a window, and I would never want to go back to that one!!!

Bear


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## smokin sid (Feb 5, 2015)

Bear

   Thank you for taking the time to reply. I wanted to find a smoker with all the features that I want.

Well easier said than done. I came close. I found one at Cabela's that I really like, the only thing

is ,it dose not have a window. It has everything else though. It has the cooking space that I am looking for, plus a few more bells and whistles. I figure an electric smoker would be easier to operate.

 I am willing to give it a try.

                                                                                                      Thank you

                                                                                                      Smokin Sid


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## Bearcarver (Feb 5, 2015)

Wolfman1955 said:


> I have the 40" with window. IMHO the window is just a sales gimmic from Masterbuilt. I am sure there is some heat loss it does get hot. Mine is no longer see through cause I got tired of cleaning it and *when the smoker is smoking you can't see anything in there anyway.*
> Keep Smokin!!!
> Wolf





okie from muskogee said:


> My 30 inch has a window and it is alright but, it is just something to clean. *When the smoke is heavy you can not see the meat *and water condenses on the glass and messes with seeing the meat.


That's one of the things that's good about the window:

If your window is clean, and you can't see the meat inside, that tells you the smoke you are using is too heavy.

It's easy to see the meat through *TBS.*

Bear


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