Masterbuilt 40" propane smoker

[Adam10mm]

Anyone have this smoker or something similar? The price is in my budget range (sub $300) and propane is the heat source, which is convenient. Looking for mostly sausage smoking and possibly fish. I also want to try curing and smoking my own bacon from my farm raised pigs.

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Masterbuilt-40-Vertical-Propane-Smoker/1347064.uts?Ntk=AllProducts&searchPath=%2Fcatalog%2Fsearch.cmd%3Fform_state%3D searchForm%26N%3D0%26fsch%3Dtrue%26Ntk%3DAllProduc ts%26Ntt%3Dsmoker%26WTz_l%3DHeader%253BSearch-All%2BProducts&Ntt=smoker&WTz_l=Header%3BSearch-All+Products

http://images.cabelas.com/is/image/cabelas/s7_550885_999_02?rgn=0,0,1163,1680&scl=4.421052631578948&fmt=jpeg&id=2HqKSmWjrcEEwZEW3NqDn3

[Duckiller]

Have a similar smoker that works very good doing baby back ribs. Mine has a water pan between the fire and the meat. Makes it difficult to burn meat. Got mine from Wal Mart for about $80.00. Have done limited amounts of roasts and fowl. All came out quite good. Fruit tree wood,ie apple,plum and apricot work very good for a mild smoke.

[smokeywolf]

Cabela's generally carries good quality merchandise. However, I just can't see smoking meats, cheeses, vegetables, or anything else using propane. It's almost a contradiction in terms. Smoking has to be done with wood and maybe a little Mesquite charcoal (not briquettes).

smokeywolf

[Adam10mm]

Have a similar smoker that works very good doing baby back ribs. Mine has a water pan between the fire and the meat. Makes it difficult to burn meat. Got mine from Wal Mart for about $80.00. Have done limited amounts of roasts and fowl. All came out quite good. Fruit tree wood,ie apple,plum and apricot work very good for a mild smoke.
Good to hear. I want to try smoking pork with apple wood. We've got a few board from the farm I'd like to try out. Hickory is too overdone, IMO.


Cabela's generally carries good quality merchandise. However, I just can't see smoking meats, cheeses, vegetables, or anything else using propane. It's almost a contradiction in terms. Smoking has to be done with wood and maybe a little Mesquite charcoal (not briquettes).

smokeywolf
I was wondering about that. Propane heats the wood which provides the flavor. Does a fire heated wood taste different that propane fire heated wood? Wood smoke is wood smoke, right?

[Lloyd Smale]

Adam the first smoker i had was that model. It didnt work out for me. When making summer sausage or snack sticks you need to first cook at 120 degrees for a couple hours to open the pours of the meat up before you put smoke to them then slowly bring up the temp every two hours by 20 degrees until the meat is about 160 degrees. that gas smoker wouldnt thottle down below 180 degrees for me. I contacted masterbuilt and they told me my only option was there electric smoker. So i brought it back to gander mountain and traded for the electric model and it has no problem holding temps as low as 100 degrees. My buddy has that same propane smoker and we did his first batch of summer sausage in it this fall. to keep the temps down low enough we had to babby sit it and open and close the door to keep i low enough. Problem with that is you also let all the moisture out and the sausage ended up a bit to dry and it was a pain to baby sit it all day. It would work fine for jerky or turkeys or a roast but its just not the ticket for summer sausage or snack sticks. Even a roast or large piece of meat should really be brought up to temp slow though. You should idealy cook at 120 until the internal temp of the meat is 100 degrees then add smoke or you get a smudgy (for lack of better words) coating on the meat and that will block the smoke flavor from penetrating into the meat itself.

[smokeywolf]

I currently use an offset smoker; it's my second one. Yes, you are right, wood smoke is wood smoke. However I'm not sure I understand the concept of using a fuel source to heat a fuel source. The wood I use provides the smoke and the heat. Don't need a propane fire to heat a wood fire.
Generally, when you procure wood for smoking, you don't want wood that has been seasoning for 3, 4, or more years; too dry. The wood used for smokers is usually split and seasoned for a year or so. It burns well, but still has enough moisture to produce more than adequate amounts of smoke.

And freakshow10mm, pork smokes wonderfully with apple wood. When I do a whole pork shoulder (an 11 to 12 hour smoke) I use a combination of hickory and apple woods. Oak, apricot and pear are also good choices.

If you ever smoke turkey, try to find one no bigger than 12 lbs.. Don't stuff it. I start with my smoke chamber at or above 280*, put my bird in, then let the chamber temp at grill level drift down to about 240*. Keep approx. that temp until using a reliable meat thermometer, my bird registers at least 135* where thigh meets body. Then I usually let my grill surface temp fall to around 220*. Because turkey builds bacteria quicker than most meats, they say it needs to be nursed through the 40 to 140 degree range without too much delay. Also, if you stretch a turkey smoking session beyond about 8 hours, the bird starts drying out.

Haven't done sausage yet. When the time comes, I hope you gents can walk me through it.

Two good sources for info:

www.smoking-meat.com
http://www.smoker-cooking.com/meatsmokers.html

smokeywolf

[MT Gianni]

A friend has a similar model that is powered by electricity. He smokes hams, turkeys and bacon. The convience factor of being able to set a temp and run the smoke independent of one another would make me lean towards that. I think the elec cost would be similar to running a casting pot, almost unnoticed when up to temp. The portability is another factor.
I worked on a commercial nat gas smoker that was 28'x 12' with a 10' high ceiling. the burner strips ran the length of the room. For home use the versatility of elec if you want to cold smoke would help. Gas fuel exhausts are all moisture laden, environment will add some more water but lp with a chemical formula of C3H8 mixes with O2 and you have a lot of Hydrogen and Oxygen mixed together. That is fine for a ham or roast but has to make a longer drying time for jerky and cured sausage.

[Adam10mm]

Thanks guys. I don't know very much about smokers and was attracted to the Masterbuilt one due to the price. I'm looking for something that's under $300 and is user friendly for a beginner to learn on before I upgrade to a more "big boy" smoker.

Lloyd, you think I'll be better off with the electric one like this: http://www.cabelas.com/product/Home-Cabin/Food-Processing/Smokers-Accessories%7C/pc/104798880/c/104723280/sc/104582880/Masterbuilt-Analog-Electric-Smoker/715300.uts?destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fbrowse.cmd%3FN %3D1101300%26WTz_l%3DSBC%253BBRprd1347064&WTz_l=SBC%3BBRprd1347064%3Bcat104582880

[Lloyd Smale]

My home built smoker is both propane and electric. the propane fire gets the wood burning and is a seperate chamber that allows you to cold smoke if you want. It has two electric elements in the main unit to control heat. to do stuff like summer sauage, slim jims ect you need to be able to control your heat and propane doesnt control it as well and charcoal smokers are even worse. Propane and charcoal smokers are more a smoke cooker then a true smoker. there great for turkeys or big cuts of meat or doing jerky but even with those meats youll do a better job if you bring the temp of the meat up to a 100 degrees first to open the pours of the meat to allow the smoke to get into the meat. Put smoke to cold meat and youll just build up a layer on top that wont allow the smoke flavor to penetrate the meat.

[Lloyd Smale]

Adam thats the exact smoker i had before I built the big one. It was a good smoker and i did lots of meat in it. I just wish you would have posted this a few months ago as one of the owners of the farm we shoot deer at was talking that he wanted to try smoking and i gave it to him. It sat in the garage for the last two years unused. If you would have been a bit quicker you could have had one for nothing. If you get it a hint for using it is to toss the little chip pan and get a pan about 6-8 inches in diameter and place the chip pan right on the burner. After youve warmed your meat to a 100 degrees place the chip pan on the burner and turn it up all the way till the chips get going good then throttle it back to the right temp. Dont worry about water pans when doing sausage there not needed. As a matter of fact a water pan isnt needed for most smoking.

[Roosters]

We use one of these to smoke about everything that swims, fly’s or walks. Apple wood and a fresh picnic shoulder is my favorite .Depending on the outside temp it takes about 45 min. a pound. Cheap enough to mess with and see if you like it.


http://www.walmart.com/ip/Brinkmann-Gourmet-Electric-Smoker-Black/11050750

[Adam10mm]

Adam thats the exact smoker i had before I built the big one. It was a good smoker and i did lots of meat in it. I just wish you would have posted this a few months ago as one of the owners of the farm we shoot deer at was talking that he wanted to try smoking and i gave it to him. It sat in the garage for the last two years unused. If you would have been a bit quicker you could have had one for nothing. If you get it a hint for using it is to toss the little chip pan and get a pan about 6-8 inches in diameter and place the chip pan right on the burner. After youve warmed your meat to a 100 degrees place the chip pan on the burner and turn it up all the way till the chips get going good then throttle it back to the right temp. Dont worry about water pans when doing sausage there not needed. As a matter of fact a water pan isnt needed for most smoking.
That's always my luck! Day late and a dollar short. :) I didn't get serious into meat processing and cooking until the last year. The venison I got from you this year really pushed me over the edge to get setup, then butchering my pig got me hooked. On my list is a smoker, meat grinder, sausage stuffer, and definitely a bigger grill than my 2 burner.

[Moonie]

I have an offset smoker that uses wood or charcoal as fuel, it works and it works very well but it is a lot of work. I am planning on getting a gas smoker in addition.

[Lloyd Smale]

when you go to buy a meat mixer and stuffer dont make my mistake and go to small. Ive got a 5lb verticle stuffer and its kind of a pain with summer sausage. You have to stop and fill it after doing each stick. Same goes for my 20lb manual meat mixer. When i do summer sausage it do it in either 12 or 16 stick batches and the mixer will only mix enough meat for about 4 at a time. Id love to have a 15 lb stuffer and a 50lb mixer that hooks to my grinder for power. Maybe next year.

[Adam10mm]

I was looking at this 1HP #22 grinder:

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Home-Cabin/Food-Processing/Food-Grinders%7C/pc/104798880/c/104723280/sc/104364180/Cabelas-Commercial-Grade-Electric-Grinders/744936.uts?destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fbrowse%2F_%2FN-1101293%3FWTz_l%3DSBC%253BMMcat104798880&WTz_l=SBC%3BMMcat104798880%3Bcat104364180

and this 11lb stuffer:

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Home-Cabin/Food-Processing/Food-Grinders%7C/pc/104798880/c/104723280/sc/104364180/Cabelas-Commercial-Grade-Electric-Grinders/744936.uts?destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fbrowse%2F_%2FN-1101293%3FWTz_l%3DSBC%253BMMcat104798880&WTz_l=SBC%3BMMcat104798880%3Bcat104364180

Of course both are on sale right now and I'm broke as usual.

[Bodydoc447]

I was looking at this 1HP #22 grinder:

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Home-Cabin/Food-Processing/Food-Grinders%7C/pc/104798880/c/104723280/sc/104364180/Cabelas-Commercial-Grade-Electric-Grinders/744936.uts?destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fbrowse%2F_%2FN-1101293%3FWTz_l%3DSBC%253BMMcat104798880&WTz_l=SBC%3BMMcat104798880%3Bcat104364180

and this 11lb stuffer:

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Home-Cabin/Food-Processing/Food-Grinders%7C/pc/104798880/c/104723280/sc/104364180/Cabelas-Commercial-Grade-Electric-Grinders/744936.uts?destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fbrowse%2F_%2FN-1101293%3FWTz_l%3DSBC%253BMMcat104798880&WTz_l=SBC%3BMMcat104798880%3Bcat104364180

Of course both are on sale right now and I'm broke as usual.

Those are the models I use. We (my dad and brother) went through three deer and forty pounds of pork, making hamburger, breakfast sausage, chorizo and snack sticks in one afternoon. Getting good equipment is hard up front but pays dividends for a long time. I wish I could have afforded an even larger stuffer as we have to reload the 11 pounder several times making 25 pounds of snack sticks or summer sausage. We also use it to stuff those plastic bags for breakfast sausage and hamburger. They are real convenient for the freezer.

Doc

[Lloyd Smale]

Thats a nice sized grinder. Be careful though i dont know about right now but cabellas and and gander mountain were dealing a brand of overseas grinders that werent that great and could be bought under a differnt name on line for half the money. I bought a weston after doing some research. Most guys recomended either a weston or an lem. It was about a toss up between those two brands. A #22 grinder will take care of about anyone short of a butcher though.

[Adam10mm]

This might progress toward a butcher type situation. Brother in law and I have been talking about making the move. He's got the ranching skills and resources and I've got the butchering skills and more business knowledge (yes, we do learn a great deal from failures). We are thinking of starting slow next year and taking advantage of the "custom slaughterhouse" exemption for USDA inspections, just to gauge the interest locally for a year. We'll just slaughter and butcher for people, so they bring their animals to us, we butcher them, and they get their meat back and pay us a butchering/processing fee. If it looks like we can outgrow that, then we'll think about bringing on investors or a bank loan to get a building in town, become USDA certified and inspected, then provide both butchering services as as well as sell meat, like the local butcher used to do before supermarkets came about.

I'm trying to get into the "pro-sumer" grade equipment, at least for grinding and sausage making. The Hobart slicer I just got really tipped us over the edge to start talking seriously about it. We'll start off with pigs, goats, and chickens. Leave the beef for a while yet because that's really a lot of work and this will be done on a part time basis to start out. 2013 deer season we'll be processing deer too.

[MT Gianni]

A friend does exactly that at a home based business. Look around at auctions, he has a grinder that is old but with a 2 horse motor will turn out 25 lbs of ground in 2 minutes or less. It takes longer to change discs than to do the second grind.

[Adam10mm]

There are some pretty decent size grinders out there that can grind pretty fast. We were thinking of trying to find two used grinders of the same model and have one setup for coarse grind and one for fine grind. That would eliminate setup time switching out the plates. Just move from one grinder to the other. Worst case we could just use one if the other broke and was being repaired. Having two setup like that from the start would also eliminate a possible bottleneck in processing.

[Lloyd Smale]

Problem with doing it that way is you have two grinders to clean and it takes alot longer to clean another one then it does to change plates. Dont know about all brands of grinders but the two i had the plates can be changed in about one minute.

[Adam10mm]

I thought about having to clean two grinders as opposed to one as well. Trying to figure out what would work out best. I like the thought of a back up grinder.

I know for deer processing the customers will get their own animal ground and back. We won't mix animals together. For the pork grind, we may mix animals from the same source/owner brought in for slaughter at the same time.

[Adam10mm]

Well, it turns out my grandfather has a smoker he doesn't use anymore. Talked with him at Christmas down in WI and he said I could have it. Couldn't bring it back with me because my truck was filled with presents and duffle bags for the trip. Said to stop by next time I'm down and have room to take it home.

[Lloyd Smale]

what kind is it?

[Adam10mm]

I have no idea. He said it was in the attic above the garage. I didn't bother to take a look at it. I remember him using it a few times for smoking catfish and bullheads. It might be a propane smoker. I don't think he's used it in 10 years. I should have gotten more details but Christmas at their house is complete chaos. Picture 40-50 people crammed into a ranch style home that's about 1,000 sq ft.

[Boz330]

Anyone have this smoker or something similar? The price is in my budget range (sub $300) and propane is the heat source, which is convenient. Looking for mostly sausage smoking and possibly fish. I also want to try curing and smoking my own bacon from my farm raised pigs.

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Masterbuilt-40-Vertical-Propane-Smoker/1347064.uts?Ntk=AllProducts&searchPath=%2Fcatalog%2Fsearch.cmd%3Fform_state%3D searchForm%26N%3D0%26fsch%3Dtrue%26Ntk%3DAllProduc ts%26Ntt%3Dsmoker%26WTz_l%3DHeader%253BSearch-All%2BProducts&Ntt=smoker&WTz_l=Header%3BSearch-All+Products

http://images.cabelas.com/is/image/cabelas/s7_550885_999_02?rgn=0,0,1163,1680&scl=4.421052631578948&fmt=jpeg&id=2HqKSmWjrcEEwZEW3NqDn3

I have used one of the electric ones and it is really slick. Digital temp control so is great for cold smoking. I will have one after using this one.

Bob

[shadowdog]

I have several charcoal and electric smokers and have used a propane smoker. On big cooks I fire up all of my smokers and IMHO when tasted side by side you can definately taste the difference on meat smoked over charcoal/wood vs meat smoked on propane or electric.

I always recommend getting a Weber Smokey Mountain cooker. Once you get it up to temp and get the air vent adjusted and temp stabilized, it will maintain temperature all day long. You could also add an aftermarket digital temperature regulator like an IQ for "set it and forget it" smoking.

The IQ 110 temp controller is hanging from my Weber Performer, and has a hose running into the bottom of the smoker.http://i527.photobucket.com/albums/cc353/shadowdog500/7a6caeb5f1b1c6e0ac3e5c4b512408ce_zpsd056cb6d.jpg

You won't get a smoke ring with gas or electric.

http://i527.photobucket.com/albums/cc353/shadowdog500/3a8cbcdd.jpg

Chris

[Moonie]

You won't get a smoke ring with gas or electric.


Chris

I use a charcoal smoker and I beg to differ, you most certainly will get a smoke ring with a gas or electric smoker, it is caused by the wood smoke not by the charcoal, gas and electric smokers are still just that, smokers, and use hardwood smoke that creates the smoke ring.

[Lloyd Smale]

have to agree. I sure get a smoke ring with mine which is a gas smoker. Cant see why it would make a differnce in that your charcoal is basicaly there to burn your chips and cause smoke just like the propane does. Now if your talking just grilling between propane and charcoal the charcoal defineatly tastes better.
I use a charcoal smoker and I beg to differ, you most certainly will get a smoke ring with a gas or electric smoker, it is caused by the wood smoke not by the charcoal, gas and electric smokers are still just that, smokers, and use hardwood smoke that creates the smoke ring.

[Case Stuffer]

I started out just using hickory in my smoker but got tired of trying to maintain 225F for 12 to 16 hours so I put a cheap propane grill burner in it and now the temperature stay withing 20 degrees for hours on end. I use hickory in the charcoal pan and smoked pulled pork (hams) come out just as good as with hickory only but no where near as much work.
FYI You only need to maintain the wood smoke for around 4 hours.

[Lloyd Smale]

i maintain my temp in my smoker box with an electric element. I have a seperate unit that produces the smoke that uses a gas burner. The gas burner will add some to the temp if cranked wide open but is primarily used to keep the wood smoking. It would be awful tough to maintain a constant temp with just wood or charcoal. Especially with something like summer sausages that needs to start at 120 and brought up in temp every couple hours. If you dont control it right you end up with a dried wrinkly hunk of meat.

[dudits]

i prefer wood smokers even though they are alot more work. there are plenty of plans available online for building a 2 stage smoker.

as for woods, i use apple and pear the most as i have both available on my property.
hickory and mesquite i buy. a really good soak helps a lot. i add a bit of brandy or whiskey too.
a good smoke ring can be had with any kind of smoker, provided ya use enough wood to produce it. i am also fond o f a thick bark on pork butts. when shredding it makes such a huge flavor boost.
bone in porkbutt is also the way to go. so much flavor in the bone. it is also a good indicator to doneness. if the bone slides out with a slight pull it is done.

with a bundt cake pan and a dish and some ice you can make your own liquid smoke while smoking.
it is nice to have in the fridge and tastes a ton better then store bought stuff.

most of my venison gets turned into sausage especially beer sticks.
i found a place in central wisconsin that mixes pepper jack right into the sticks and i have not looked back since.

i have a cement canning cellar that i rarely use for it's intended purpose and am wanting to turn it into a curing room
to make my own capicola's and procuitto's and soppressata if any of yall are into that sort of thing i would love to hear about it :)

jandjagger is also on the list if any of yall do that?

[Gliden07]

I think for the best product wood is the best but it is a lot of work to keep the fire constant. I'm not fond of propane, when it burns one of the biggest by products is water. I've had good results with electric and its almost a set it, and forget it! I have done a lot of research and do have an uninsulated electric smoker (tough to regulate the temp when its cool out). I've also had wood smokers with straight wood and charcoal, produced some of my best product out of them. But I am single and have things to do so the next smoker I get will probably be this one:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00104WRCY/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Its the same company you picked the quality is good. Again just an opinion, and depending what you want to do is really up to you?? No matter what way you go its a lot fun!!

[smokeywolf]

I like the offset smokers pretty well. I don't think they are the be-all end-all for smoking, but if it is one of the better quality offsets maintaining temps is not much of a chore. The better ones do cost upwards of $1800.00. I have a low cost Char Broiler offset that I modified and it will maintain +/- 5 degs. for a couple of hours at a time.
This website has some pretty good info.: http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/

smokeywolf