# Masterbuilt Glass Door or Not?



## jusmejim (Sep 9, 2019)

I've had a Masterbuilt 30" and a 40" both with the glass doors.  I'm considering buying a new one and it seems like the ones with the solid doors are quite a bit cheaper.  Other than the obvious difference of being able to see your meat as it cooks are there any advantages or disadvantages to having one without the glass door?

Are there any other brands that I should be looking at?  Other than the cheap round type one you get at Walmart I've only used Masterbuilt, and only interested in an electric one.


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## Winterrider (Sep 9, 2019)

I personally like the glass. I realize about 1/2 way thru, you can't see anymore but that's just me.


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## Tomhusker (Sep 9, 2019)

I bought mine with the glass door. It's pretty much worthless for viewing, especially on a long smoke. After a couple of hours of smoke you can't see through it. 
You can clean the glass with alcohol between smokes, if you want. I did the first couple of times. I gave up and decided I didn't need to see it.


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## smokerjim (Sep 9, 2019)

mine has a solid door but I don't think there is any advantage either way other then seeing your meats. that's if you can keep the glass clean.


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## dr k (Sep 9, 2019)

With condesation without water in the pan in this insulated smoker, the smoke may be white and disipate quickly as it exits the smoker before TBS that lingers and floats away. But the window is your true smoke meter. If you can't see your food or is going that direction then you can correct before it's too late.


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## greatfx1959 (Sep 9, 2019)

i was told if you're lookin, you aint cookin'   lol just adding my 2 cents................ i know that was for opening up a smoker to see inside, just tying to be funny lol


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## JCAP (Sep 9, 2019)

Mine has a solid door and I don't feel like I'm missing much by not seeing the action. My probes let me see everything I need to until it's time to check on things!


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## cmayna (Sep 9, 2019)

My 40 has a glass door.  Never use it.  Wish it was solid.


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## siege (Sep 9, 2019)

I have a MES 40 with a glass door. After cleaning it a couple of times, I decided it just wasn't worth the effort. I don't spend a lot of time out by the smokers during a cook, except when I have to add chips to the MES, and once the TBS starts to roll, I fly by instruments ( remote thermometers ).


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## Steve H (Sep 10, 2019)

Pain to keep it clean. With the 4 probe inkbird I'm more then up to speed on what's going on inside my smoker.


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## mike243 (Sep 10, 2019)

my 40 has a window but I haven't looked thru it in a long time, time/therms let me know whats going on,also smoke coming out tells me when to add wood. I haven't used my tube in it yet but soon lol


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## dannylang (Sep 10, 2019)

I have owned both, it really doesn’t matter. Really, just open the door.make sure you put a thermometer in your meat you can see from the outside. Then why does it really matter.
dannylang


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## Cabo (Sep 10, 2019)

Agree with the above.  I used to clean mine after each use, but have not for a long time


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## HalfSmoked (Sep 10, 2019)

Here we go again my favorite saying it all comes down to personal preference.  

Warren


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## Murray (Sep 10, 2019)

Heat loss, one would think a solid door would have better insulation properties.


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## Tomhusker (Sep 10, 2019)

Murray said:


> Heat loss, one would think a solid door would have better insulation properties.


I did have an issue with smoke escaping around the glass once. I contacted their customer service and they sent me a new door at no cost. I never saw it leaking again so I never swapped them out. New door is still sitting in the box they shipped it in, if I ever need it.


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## HalfSmoked (Sep 11, 2019)

dr k Thanks for the like it is appreciated.

Warren


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## HalfSmoked (Sep 11, 2019)

Murray said:


> Heat loss, one would think a solid door would have better insulation properties.



This depends on the brand of smoker my 40" Master Built propane has a thin metal door so heat loss is probably greater than the glass.

Warren


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## tallbm (Sep 11, 2019)

jusmejim said:


> I've had a Masterbuilt 30" and a 40" both with the glass doors.  I'm considering buying a new one and it seems like the ones with the solid doors are quite a bit cheaper.  Other than the obvious difference of being able to see your meat as it cooks are there any advantages or disadvantages to having one without the glass door?
> 
> Are there any other brands that I should be looking at?  Other than the cheap round type one you get at Walmart I've only used Masterbuilt, and only interested in an electric one.



Hi there and welcome!

This is a personal preference.

I personally don't think the glass is useful and I don't clean mine.

Now advantages of no glass door:

Cost is less for the MES unit with no glass door
No glass to accidentally break if you ever have to turn the unit on it's door to get to the bottom panel or do work on the unit which happens (replacing bad electrical connectors, PID conversion, etc.)
No glass door to clean... though I don't clean my anyways
Disadvantages:

You lose the option of ever being able to see into the smoker without opening the door

In all the lists are short so again it will mainly come down to your preference.  I hope this helps! :)


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## BuckeyeSteve (Sep 11, 2019)

I like that I can see what's cooking.  And with the mail box mod (or in my case popcorn tin) I don't get a huge build up on the glass. Sometimes I do two or three smokes before I clean it.


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## dr k (Sep 11, 2019)

BuckeyeSteve said:


> I like that I can see what's cooking.  And with the mail box mod (or in my case popcorn tin) I don't get a huge build up on the glass. Sometimes I do two or three smokes before I clean it.


After several smokes in the summer the humidity/heat makes for a quick 3 min razor blade cleaning. Winter takes longer. I ran a dedicated cord to the Gen 1 40 interior bulb. The ceramic socket is rated to 75 watts and the max wattage bulb that fits is 40 watts.  It's a smoking meat aquarium. I foil over the bulb housing glass and pull it for night smokes.


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## jusmejim (Sep 11, 2019)

I appreciate everyone's comments.  I found what I consider to be a reasonably priced MES40 (with glass) so have a new one on the way.  Should be here Friday.  Thanks again for all the input.


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## sigmo (Sep 24, 2019)

dr k said:


> With condesation without water in the pan in this insulated smoker, the smoke may be white and disipate quickly as it exits the smoker before TBS that lingers and floats away. But the window is your true smoke meter. If you can't see your food or is going that direction then you can correct before it's too late.



That is what I've observed, too.

Sometimes the smoke residue is fairly difficult to clean off of the window and the glass cover over the interior light.  So I like the idea of covering the light unless it's being used at night.

But, to me, it's worthwhile to have the window because as 

 dr k
 points out, it's difficult to judge the smoke once it leaves the smoker because what happens is that the moisture being driven out of the meat uses the smoke particles themselves as nucleation sites for condensation.  So as the smoke leaves the vent, the moisture in the air condenses onto the smoke particles and the resulting "cloud" looks white even though the smoke itself would be blue.

I've posted this before, but I'm not sure how many folks have seen it.  The color characteristics of light scattered by particles has to do with the size of the particles.  Larger particles scatter all colors somewhat equally (Mie scattering), while tiny particles scatter blue light more efficiently (Rayleigh scattering).

And this is why you can judge the character of smoke by its apparent color. Blue means tiny particles.  White means larger particles.

But if what you're actually seeing is small water droplets that have condensed onto the smoke particles after the smoke has left the smoker, then you're getting a bogus indication.  A steam cloud outside the smoker does not mean that the smoke inside of the smoker is not "thin and blue".

So you really need to judge the density and color of the smoke before it cools down and water vapor can condense onto the smoke particles, making them seem larger, and creating a deceptively white scattering of light.

To this end, it's nice to have the window.  I use a bright LED flashlight to shine into the window so I can see what's happening with the smoke inside of the smoker.  So I do like having the window.

Further, I can look in different places and use the movement of the smoke to show what the air movement patterns are inside of the smoker.  That helps me to adjust my baffles and place the meat or pans to try to get even smoke deposition as well as visualize how the heat itself is likely being distributed.

But you can also shine a light down into your smoker's vent to look inside, or if you use a "chimney", you can shine the light down into the chimney to judge the color of the smoke before it has a chance to cool down too much.

And I agree that once the window gets covered with smoke residue, it might as well not even be there.  So if you're not going to clean it, and not going to use it, you might as well not have it.

But for me, I'd miss it if I didn't have it.


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## Bamabww (Oct 2, 2019)

Thanks to everyone who responded to the original post and his question about the glass door or not. I’m consider the same thing and this has helped me a lot. 
I think I would fall in to the “probably wouldn’t clean” crowd.


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