20 Best Electric Smoker For Brisket (2022 Updated)

excellent smoker I just ordered the front loader I’ve had a small little Chief top loader I’ve had two big chief top-loaders excellent excellent excellent. I hear people talk about you have to cook the meat later.

No no no you need to learn how to barbecue you need to learn how to smoke please read into it. the smokers are designed for a hundred and thirty-five degrees give or take. Throw the box over to throw a box over and it gets even warmer inside depends on where you live.

I can smoke fish in 3 hours and Phoenix where I live and when I used to work in Washington state it took 24 hours. Enjoy they are really awesome smokers!.

For the price, I guess it’s ok. Very thin aluminum, maybe I overlooked the guage in the specs. I haven’t used it yet but judging from the thickness of the tabs holding the racks, I don’t see a way to put any meat on there that would weigh more than a few pounds.

For smaller pieces, it will probably work ok. Turkeys are out of the question along with bigger meats (venison roasts, ribs, etc). The small pan used for the wood must use small chips/pellets. I have many apple trees and have 2 huge burlap sacks full of cut apple wood for smoking.

No way to use it in this smoker. But I will keep it and will use it, it’s just not quite what I wanted. So I’m building my own aluminum smoker out of heavier weight metal and a large wood burning box on the bottom.

Like I said, I haven’t used it yet but these are my first observations. The good thing is: It’s aluminum and should never rust.

First time use was a great success. Thin fish fillets smoked with applewood, yum! Great instruction and recipe booklet. Follow the “brining” instructions and recommended “smoking” based on type of meat (fish, chicken, pork, etc.

) and cut sizes (thin, thick, strips, chunks, etc. ). Remember, this unit is intended as a “smoker”, not a cooker! So, be sure the meat you smoke is brought up to recommend standard temperatures for finish cooking by conventional methods (pan fry, baked, broiled, etc.

). If this is your first time eating “smoked” foods, be aware that the “smoke flavor” can be intense and some what over powering to the taste buds, even bitter. Initially, I would recommend a “light smoke” (a 1-pan smoke) in the early smoking experience with finish cooking by conventional methods.

As your tastes evolve using different woods, then increase smoking times to desire intensity. Keeping the smoker “clean” is a relative thing. For me, keeping the racks/grills and the drip pan clean is an absolute necessity.

I always line my drip pan with aluminum foil and coat (spray or brush) my racks with vegetable cooking oil before each use for ease of cleaning. Immediately after a smoking session, I put my drip pan and racks in hot soapy water, let soak for about 15 minutes, lightlyscrub with dish brush, rinse and let air dry.

Putting the pan and racks back in the smoker afterwards reduces prep time of next session. Keeping smoker box clean is another issue for me. Remember, the smoke box is sheet aluminum and this is a “smoker”.

So, the smoker box will show darkening around the openings and seams and especially the inside. Just as the smoke darkens the meat it darkens the box. As the use of the smoker increases so will the accumulation of smoke residue.

If the box gets unbearable to look at, then remove the electric heating element and clean inside and out as you would any “aluminum” grilling equipment. Be careful using “caustic” cleaners for ovens.

Use only those products intended for use on “aluminum”. Some oven cleaners will eat into the sheet aluminum. Enjoy “smoking as we are doing.

First time in my life I’ve ever entered a review, I was very excited to get this smoker unit and having read numerous reviews decided to order the accessory smoker box before even using the DES the first time.

The reason was reviews that said if you fed chips into the small standard tray, you would spend a lot of time feeding the pan along with a problem of the heating element shutting down when the smoker reaches temp thereby reducing the amount of smoke produced.

Believe what people say about the stability of the acc box with the single hook bolt that comes with it. Don’t know for sure but, much of that problem would go away if they simply gave you two bolts with the purchase.

It comes with 4 – 1 1/2″ long stabilizer bolts that thread into the bottom of the box which do you absolutely no good if the DES is mounted on the legs that it’s shipped with, they put the bottom of the acc box about 8″ off the ground.

I fabricated a plate that solved the problem but, I’m not sure what the engineering group was thinking when they reviewed that design. A simple on/off switch controls the acc smoke box and, it puts out a lot of smoke you might get a little over two hours of smoke per fill with dry chips.

Now to the DES. with the acc box we were able to get some very flavorful meat from our efforts, one of my major complaints is that this unit is very slow to get back up to temp after opening the door for treatment of the product.

The first time I used it on a pair of pork shoulder roasts, it’s winter in IL so I left it in the shop with the walk-in door open and a box fan set up to blow over the top to force the smoke outside.

The temp in the shop was about 40 degrees and it took us between 9-10 hours to get them to 165 degrees internal temp with the smoker set at 225 degrees. Don’t misunderstand, they were tasty but, my goodness, that’s just way more time commitment than I’m prepared to make.

The second time I went to use it I plugged it in, and nothing would light up. I registered the product so I could file a warranty claim and, as I went through the troubleshooting process, one of the steps was to look under the unit for possible damage to the circuit board cover.

It said nothing about removing the cover and checking connections inside which turned out to be the problem, none of the wires were off their spade posts but, something was going on because after removing and pushing them back on the unit powered up.

That allowed our second smoking adventure to begin two full chickens and two slabs of St Louis ribs. We decided to do the chickens beer can style, no cans, just a couple of can stands to keep the birds standing upright to insure smoke infusion.

As it turns out, two birds standing is about all the room there is in the smoker. I was going to remove the top rack but, alas the standard size grocery store birds would not fit. We started in mid-morning with the birds and didn’t get done with the ribs until 2:00 AM.

This was all done with the DES sitting outside on the deck most of the day with a doubled-up blanket draped over it to help it conserve heat. Loved the chicken and the ribs were outstanding but, once again what a time commitment.

When I made up my mind to return it to the vendor, I decided to clean it a bit, took the drip pan out and cleaned it, it had chunks of grease cooked to ash on it, there were burned/cooked dry ash grease dops on the shield over the heating element, and there is also a small trough on the back wall that is supposed to direct grease to the drain hole that runs right over the top of the heating element that was filling with cooked dry grease ash.

Did not have to clean the grease drip cup outside the drain as there never was a drip that came out of it. Honestly, most of the grease ends up in the water pan which needs cleaning after each use. Very high hopes with a huge let down.

Find it so frustrating to not be able to actually speak to someone when something doesn’t work and the fact that I waited from Sunday to Tuesday for response from CS and then it was without any direct response to my question.

I was able to use the smoker 3 times till it stopped working. While the smoking was great …. When it was working, spending that much money for 3 smokings is not worth it! Since i was still under warranty , i contacted the company and they sent me a new power supply cord.

We realized that the meat juices were directly dripping into the power wires! Masterbuild decided to put the wires of the smoker on the bottom of the machine and completely exposed!!! I complained that this was a design flaw on their part, but since they sent me a new part free of charge i kept quiet.

Well, guess what??? We installed the new part/wires and we were able to use the smoker for another 3 times. By our 4th smoke the machine stopped working for the exact same reason!!! I contacted the company again complaining that this is a problem where and how they placed the wires that supplies the power, they kindly informed me that since my warranty was up there was nothing they can do! Again, i tried to explain that the placement of the power box was to blame because of THEIR design flaw.

They wrote back “ we are sorry you are unhappy with the design of the product” and basically blew me off! Technically i could repurchase a power supply box and change it again, but considering the fact that it is a short term solution….

I will never buy a master build smoker again! And probably no one else should, untill they fix this issue! And as a side note the outside door rusts relatively quickly. You would expect something that is meant to be kept outdoors would fair better against the elements!.

My previous MB electric smoker finally gave up the ghost. It was a heavy, well-built unit, like a tank in construction, which worked incredibly well. I didn’t even look at other offerings when I went to buy my replacement.

Sadly, this was a real mistake. The new unit that I got as a replacement weighs in at less than half that of the old smoker (I weighed them) and came with the aluminum bottom buckled, as it is very thin aluminum.

The unit won’t get to temp. It won’t hold temp. The digital display disagrees with the actual temp. This was confirmed by two calibrated digital thermometers. The lack of a human customer service agent to speak with, the frustration of placing a warranty claim for parts, and the world’s most annoying chat-bot (I should test the impedance on the unit???) have convinced me to never buy another Masterbuilt product again – a company that I had recommended countless times to people in the past.

You can only go so cheap in your build quality before you lose customers. I understand the need to be price competitive and to be as profitable as possible, but you should never beat yourself. That is what MB is doing.

Without even looking at or comparing MB with a competing product, for me, they knocked themselves out of the running for any future purchase. And, I’m really disappointed in that. I liked Masterbuilt.

I liked their old customer service. And, I most certainly liked using my old MB electric smoker that worked.

I have had my smoker for 4 years. Haven’t used as much as I would like, maybe 20 times total. Gasket has begun falling off the door, bottom of the door has now cracked and the door doesn’t work properly anymore.

Told me I have to replace the whole door, and then the bottom panel that holds it on. Produces decent food, although it takes a really really long time to heat back up. Thought there was something wrong with the heating element, but learned that when you put food in that it cools the chamber significantly.

Have almost had more luck on my bbq with a smoke box than I have with the smoker. Not sure I would buy again.

I knew all of this when I ordered it. This is a pretty poor smoker, and the manufacturing and engineering is extremely poor. It is under powered and the workmanship is shoddy. It’s surprising that Bradley hasn’t addressed the well known heat problems or the workmanship.

I didn’t know Canada was so poor at manufacturing. I bought this because I like the smoke generator and a challenge. I can add enough tweaks to make it decent. This is my second purchase of a Bradley Original.

One of the online BBQ sites has an article about burning wood to ash, and the creosote flavor it causes. I’ve tasted that flavor with a side fire box. I like that it cycles the bisquettes after 20 minutes and the flavor is good.

The bisquettes are wonderful. The poor quality of the smoker has messed up several of my smokes. I like a challenge and like to tinker, and did a few tweaks to this one based on experience. I hardwired the power input to bypass the male plug to the heater.

It made poor contact and seemed to lose contact during a smoke. That was a serious weak point on my first BOS. I also checked all the electrical connections and reworked as needed. It’s easier to do when new and clean.

The heating element is seriously weak, keeping the temp from getting up to 200, even on hot, sunny, summer days in the South. Recovery from opening the door takes an hour or more. I added a second heater element, and since they are known to fail, I used ceramic wire nuts instead of the provided nuts so when an heat bar fails, it will be a quick easy repair.

Possible even during a smoke. To add the second element, I bought the proper ceramic insulators and a heat shield and added them directly above the first heat bar, and added the heat shield to the first to extend it upward.

The original heat controller sucks, so I am using an Auber PID Controller. The Auber PID rocks and keeps the temp almost perfect and makes recovery a snap. The Auber makes a huge difference. I mounted two wall mount temp probes on the back and side wall so I can choose which I need to use depending on the meat and placement.

That was an extra $25 and very little work, but is a nice tweak. I added angle aluminum between the racks to give more options for placement. This is not an original idea, and I got it off a forum. I like to smoke different meats together and I can put a pan under the top racks if I don’t want the drippings on the other meats below.

It may sound silly to do all of this to an inferior product, but this is the only device I know that doesn’t burn the wood to ash. I chose this over a Traeger, knowing what I was getting into. I don’t doubt I’ll run into other problems, but that’s half the fun.

I still have my 4 rack I can fire up to finish what this device leaves stranded. It’s amazing to me that Bradley doesn’t address these issues.

Changed the heating element within the first month. Changed again later on. Eventually the electrical connector ends to the heating rod burnt because they just used some cheap thin metal. I work electrical, so no issue.

Changed them which meant I have to remove the whole back panel to reach them. Heating rod went again not long after and the new one snapped at the end while installing. Used it maybe 15 times max. NOT WORTH IT! Trust me.

Close buddy bought one too and he struggled with his also.

This smoker worked just as advertised. I smoked chicken quarters for its maiden cook and the meat turned out good- not great. Electric smokers are notorious for the lack of smoke flavor infusion and soft, rubbery skin on poultry.

I understood this when I made the purchase and was not disappointed in that in any way. There are a couple of aspects of the smoker that make it bothersome; but, I don’t think it is something that should turn off the occasional smoker or newbie.

First, is that on low and medium, it doesn’t seem to get hot enough to burn the wood chips on the include chip tray. On high, it burns the chips sufficiently, but it gets to hot and the chicken cooks too fast and doesn’t have enough exposure to the smoke to infuse the smoke flavor.

Secondly, it would be nice to have a couple more cooking grate locations (one a bit lower to accommodate larger cuts and one higher to allow the hanging of whole racks of ribs. Summary: The smoker is high quality and is great for what it is intended for.

It is a convenient, efficient, and easy to operate machine. Just don’t have high expectations of being able to produce competition quality BBQ. Overall, I am pleased with the purchase and have no problem endorsing it for use.

I have owned many smokers over the years. Some were quite expensive ($600+ pellet smoker) and many other types. This Old Smoker has been the best I ever used. The 1750 watts makes at quite useful with the temperature controls.

You can go from 225F to 375F within minutes. No leaks, stays well sealed so meats stay moist without adding liquids. Also uses a little amount of chips as smoke also does not escape. I do recommend getting a wireless thermometer as a must to keep track of temperature.

I researched many electric smokers and many seemed overpriced considering issues users had with them. I stumbled upon this “cute” (can a smoker be cute) smoker and my husband loves it! Basic, easy to clean, light to move around, and does a great job!.

When my smoker arrived I noticed the side of the box was damaged and taped. I opened the box and saw the top of the smoker caved in. The sides of the smoker were fine. This makes me think the smoker was damaged prior to it being packaged and mailed to me since there was no damage on the smoker in the spot the box was damaged.

I expected more from Char-Broil. I returned the smoker. It was received by Char-Broil almost 2 weeks ago but I have NOT received a refund. I’ve spoken to several customer service agents who can see that I’m due a full refund but can’t tell if it has been processed.

I trusted the Char-Broil brand because my dad worked for the company almost 30 years before he retired and I grew up watching him use their products. I’m very disappointed with this transaction.

Bought as a gift for my son. Arrived dented and sent pictures. They send a replacement after numerous calls. The replacement was also dented and certainly looked used by the residual ash left inside.

Smoke escapes from door. Did a halfway decent job of smoking but feel like when paying full price, I should have received brand new, top notch product which this was not. twice!.

Pro: This is the only electric smoker that I have found that consistently will reach an internal temperature over 225 degrees Fahrenheit. However, the temperature will fluctuate wildly 50 to 75 degrees so you have to “babysit” it.

Cons: * No vents mean that creosote builds up fast and create a bitter flavor in the cooked food. If you don’t wash it out frequently, you will have a bitter creosote flavor that permeates the cooked food.

*Pulling out the wood chips container while the smoker is cooking is extremely dangerous as there is no handle. Thus you have to manuver it with tongs and and a hot pad. This is a skin burn waiting to happen.

* Heat does not remain constant. Temperatures fluctuate for no apparent reason. * Apparently, the interior is lead lined, which may or may not cause cancer. CharBroil is not forthcoming about this issue.

* Will not produce smoke at low temperature setting. *Drip pan container is tipsy and does NOT CATCH DRIPS! Sadly, other similarly priced brands are not much better.

I purchased from Amazon your electric smoker COS-330 this summer with reserves. It costs more than twice the price of those two I have bought here in Huntsville. I could no longer find them here. I followed directions, spraying and curing the inside.

Then I put the wet chips in their box and water in the water box. I placed four young whole chickens on the three shelves, and left them for less than 12 hours on a medium heat. They were delicious looking.

That is the best I can say for them. There was no smoke flavor because the chips never got to burn, only slightly brown. They tasted like any chicken cooked in a regular oven. The inside of the smoker was a disaster, burned looking and nasty with the juices from the meat falling to the floor of the smoker.

I spent a good amount of time just trying to get the mess cleaned up. I have not used it since and consider it a failure for which it was designed to be used. In an email to Cuisinart, I asked for a rectangular pan to slide on the shelf holding the water and chip boxes.

It should cover the size of the floor of the smoker and be at least 2 inches high. I can put water in it and it will catch the juices as they fall. The chips can now rest on the floor and be slowly burned, giving smoke to the meat.

Someone who received my email agreed to furnish me a pan. I am grateful for this response. Without the pan, your smoker is useless and I recommend that it be removed from your product listings. I DO have a Cuisinart counter oven which makes the best toast I have ever eaten.

It is a winner.

Great for smoking newbies like me!! My first try was 2 racks of ribs and a brisket. The St. Louis ribs took way longer than expected, but the brisket came out perfect on a 20-hr cook. I use 3 chunks and fill the rest with chips (all soaked).

It lasts ~12 hours. The water will last that long ONLY if your meat is above 150 and you can cook on a lower setting (first yellow). So plan to add water more frequently for the first half of the cook and cook on high.

It will heat to 350F when empty but struggles to get to 225 when initially loaded with food. I put a muffin tin on top of the wood pan and a lasagna tin on top as a drip pan so that I can use all 3 racks and protect the element.

I knocked 1 star for a few reasons: 1. Too narrow (ribs / brisket touch the sides and sometimes have to be smushed slightly). 2. Grease escapes front door at the sticker and comes out at the legs rather than funnel to the drip pan.

3. Temp probe sits just above the top rack, interfering with food or being too close to cold meat. Smoke does leaks out of the door, but I’m ok with that. The door latch is awesome and the rack design to stop half way is very handy.

I let it sit for a month out side and covered with no issues.

This smoker was packaged well. It was very easy to assemble. It took longer to unpackaged then to assemble. It came out of the box in perfect condition. Once assembled I seasoned it per instructions.

Iset it around 375 and let it go for two hours. I bought a oven thermometer and placed it inside to test the accuracy of the door thermometer and pleasantly pleased by that the both matched. I played around a bit to tune in the temp I wanted.

The next day I smoked a corned beef brisket. I used cherry wood chips in the chip box. I preaheated around 275 and one up to temp I put the brisket in and turned the temp back to between 225 to 250. I played around with the temp dial until I got my temp.

I preaheated at 275 as I think a little higher heat helped get my wood chips going. The brisket was awesome with excellent taste. It takes a while at low temps but was well worth the wait. I checked it every hour and a half or so to make sure the water pan was full and added a few more wood chips once.

When I checked the water I would spritz the brisket with a water apple cider mixture in a spray bottle half and half to help with moisture. Tommorow a Boston butt. I am extremely happy with this purchase.

It seems well built a comes with a three year warranty from cuisinart.

Really wish this wasn’t the case but cannot advise against this unit strongly enough. I have been a long time Bradley supporter, with my initial 4 rack system working flawlessly for over 10 years (until it met its untimely death in a windstorm).

I took the opportunity to upgrade to the 6-rack unit at a fairly hefty price tag, big mistake. I will preface this by clarifying, the unit has always been appropriately cleaned and in my covered garage (WITH factory cover).

Within the first 5 uses the door trim completely broke apart resulting in me having to tear it down and repair, another few uses, and it happened again. I have since had to completely replace the door and hinges (as another trim set fell apart, obviously something wrong geometrically), replaced the burner twice, the fuse once, and most recently (and the point where I have finally cut my losses) had a failure in the control module that is leaving me with an E1 error that cannot be cleared.

I have gone through troubleshooting with technical support (as well as extensive electrical testing/continuity checks) and none of the standard repairs have worked, I have been told either the power supply or the control board have failed, and I will need to pay to replace.

Considering the cost of the unit and how much time and money I have already put into this smoker I have made the difficult decision to cut my losses and move on to another brand. I truly hope I just got a lemon and mine was a one-off issue but they have officially lost my business, don’t buy this thing without doing your research.

To be clear, the troubleshooting/customer support has been helpful and responsive but the quality of the smoker they were trying to support just fell way short.

I recently was cleaning my vent dapper and the vent was melted onto my smoker and the paint was melted and peeling off. I then realized that my smoked food had drips of dark black that looked like ink and did not think much of it but now I believe it was melted paint that I was eating and feeding to my family.

I reached out to Bradley smokers and I will post there response. Basically told me that they use high temp paint but and it probably melted because I always keep my vent closed and to just scrape the paint off and I should be good or go buy some more paint.

So obviously the paint is not high temp because it’s melting, they just assume I have the vent closed which I don’t and even if I did, shouldn’t it be high temp paint that does not melt and then to tell me just scrape it off go get some paint is not ok with me.

For all those who have purchased this smoker, please take a look at your vent and paint and see what I’m talking about. Bradley Smokers stated they will not resolve this issue with me. I am going to find out if there are any health issues with eating melted paint.

There should be a recall on this product for melting paint on your food.

I used the 4 rack for about 3 years and was amazed by the flavor results. I was constantly cooking something on this smoker and had fantastic results with simple items such as 3-2-1 pork ribs, the dinosaur bone beef ribs, to the infamously dreaded brisket (not sure why people are scared of the brisket, easily seasoned, use a meat probe and cook to the right temp it is super easy).

Anyways, back to my review. The pros of this smoker are as follows;#1 I always got sufficient wonderful smoke flavor from this thing. I like a lot of smoke, I got it, it wasn’t bitter. Sure there wasn’t a beautiful smoke ring like i’ve gotten from my pellet grills, but the flavor was definite.

#2 The ease of this unit. Fill the hopper with the biscuits, throw some juice in the pan, follow your Temps (I use instant read Bluetooth thermometers, not naming names but there are plenty out there).

#3 Cleaning. Everything is open, accessible, not complicated at all. Scrape the build upper off the walls, wash your racks and bowl in the dishwasher. easy peasy. The cons of this unit#1 The price. It’s a plastic mini fridge that is modified.

There is no reason for this thing to cost $500. It’s so simple and they make plenty of profit on the biscuits. Many other companies out there use much better and more costly materials to build a better unit for less.

#2 Biscuits: As far as I know this is a proprietary thing. They cost a lot for a single smoke. For a brisket (12-18 hour smoke) I’m spending about 25% of the cost of the meat on these biscuits alone.

I like how (from what I’m told) it is 100% wood. But at $16 a box (retail) and I go through 1. 5 boxes for a long smoke, it hurts the wallet. (Again they make their money from these biscuits, the unit should be cheeper)#3 The durability: No where to grab to move it.

No wheels. Simple, plain, easy! But, it’s a plastic fridge. Hinges broke, seal trim peels off, the smoker unit fails (shuts off because you have to wiggle multiple plugs). #4 Fire! This is my biggest factor, the red hot flaming coals (which feed faster than they need to) drop into your 1qt bowl filled with juice.

In a way it is innovative because every 15 minutes or so your mear is steamed with fluid. But if you don’t check it every 4 hours your unit starts on fire. Still burning biscuits in a metal bowl. They don’t burn completely, if you run out of juice or what ever liquid, it heats up.

This bowl also catches your drippings. So you can’t nap on this, 4+ hours = grease fire. I think overall it’s a good unit. It has unaddressed flaws. Their prices are absurd. It is a fire hazard. But it as close to getting that dedicated smoke flavor as you can get without using a stick burner.

First of all Great Service from Tractor Supply. Easy to set up; easiest electric smoker I’ve ever had to season for use (fill wood box don’t dampen) smoke on high for 3 hours and it’s all seasoned and ready to use.

Very easy to operate (dampen wood chips fill water container plug in and turn on) there is a little tweaking to get the temperature you want to smoke at however that is true for every analogy (not the digital type where you set time and temperature) Every part including the grates are quality heavy duty.

I purchased this online through Amazon. Ordered it on Sunday, received it on Wednesday. I was excited to get it put together and start using it. I put it together by myself. Two people would be easier.

The Oklahoma Joe’s emblem was broken off the lid when i opened the box, not a big deal. just used high temp silicone to hold it on. The major problems with this smoker are; The main compartment lid and the firebox lid are not even close to fitting correctly, the firebox is held together by 4 bolts, 2 on the left side and two on the right side.

after assembly there was a 1/4″ gap in the front and rear of the firebox. The Longhorn smoker leaks smoke like a sieve. I purchased gasket sealers for the main compartment and firebox. both lids still have major leaks.

added two after market clamps to the main compartment, still leaks. i have ordered extra clamps for both firebox and the main compartment. hopefully this will correct that. The firebox half, I sealed with a half tube of high temp sealer.

On the burn in, it is recommended for a temp of 250-300 degrees. Well, the paint on the firebox was bubbling up and burning off. I have had this for just over a week. the firebox now droops down on the right side.

the heat seems to weaken the metal on the right side of the main compartment where the firebox is attached. I bought an automotive jack stand to hold it up. Also you will need to seal the exhaust pipe and cap for leaks.

You would think for the amount of money these cost, the tolerances would be much better. how hard should it be to match a lid to the smoker and have it fit? The temperature across the cooking surface was not as even as Oklahoma Joe’s claims.

So I purchased an after market solid steel baffIe. This helped with two things, one, it helped keep the temperature even and 2, I had to remove the inside mount for the factory baffle plate and drill holes in the new baffle and use the top 2 bolts for the firebox, but what it did was help the firebox from drooping by reenforcing the main compartment.

I very tired of sending thing back so I just decided to make this work. But by the time you spend Time and the money you need to to make this smoker preform correctly, you would be better off just buying a higher quality one to begin with.

I could have had a 1/4″ thick steel smoker that was all welded and ready to go for the same amount I have spent on this Oklahoma Joe’s reverse longhorn smoker, this is half the thickness. Bottom line, this smoker is not ready to go out of the box.

you need to spend time and money to make it work correctly.

I have had this grill for a few years now and it works fine, I don’t have most of the issues other people are complaining about. However I have one issue that bothers me greatly, the poor application of the paint inside the smoker, particularly the lid.

When I heated it up really high, the paint inside the lid began to run, not good. It has run every where. I have tried brushing it off and grinding it off. I am slowly making progress. I know powder coating is more expensive but I also know it is more durable than paint and less susceptible to run at high temperature >400 F.

Other than this one manufacturing process flaw, the smoker is great. I don’t expect the paint to stand up to the temperatures in the fire box, so I have no complaints there. Just increase your quality control and paint application process and I think you would get less complaints about your paint.

I’m a professional chef and I’ve made some delicious food with the highland. I taught myself how to smoke using it. But it has issues. A lot of them. The materials are low quality and the parts are poorly fitting.

I’m assuming they’re using some of the cheapest steel they can get their hands on. Not durable. The bottom grate has broken off from the legs and I need to prop the whole thing on blocks now. It leaks terribly and temperature control is very difficult.

I need to check the fire every 15 minutes to make sure it hasn’t gone out or isn’t blazing hot. I find smoking meat to be more of a chore than anything with this smoker even though the results are usually great if you put the work in.

I shouldn’t have to also be a welder for my smoker to work properly though. Overall it’s not a bad entry point for someone to learn on especially because you have to really learn temperature control to get good results.

I am so excited to let my friends here know that if you’re an amateur outdoor grillsman or grillswoman, this smoker will make you a pro by the time you’re done smoking! This was my first time using a smoker and I LOVE IT! The ribs, the chicken breasts, chicken tenders, cheeseburgers and CORN were all amazing in this thing! All the meat fell off the bone and the little tenders were full of flavor and JUICY! I felt like a pro and EVERYONE at my even enjoyed the rich hickory flavor this grill offered! Thank you Masterbuilt for making this cooking ordeal painless and food taste amazing! Cons: It was very hard to read the digital controller outside! I literally cuffed my hands, put a towel over to block the sun, but the light got through every time and made it extremely difficult to read the display.

I recommend placing this smoker outside over an overhead covering like a well vented carport etc. Also I expected there to be a mess when cooking, but all the drippings makes for a mess in the smoker, my recommendation, which I didn’t read in the instructions is the wrap all trays, even the water pan, in heavy duty aluminum foil, you won’t be disappointed! Cleanup will be much simpler! I also feel ALL these types of smokers should come with a stand! Unless you’re short and don’t mind bending over, it will get very aggravating to bend over on this short smoker.

I do recommend purchasing the stand and cover! You will find value in it especially this quality smoker! If it weren’t for the hard to read display and short stature of this smoker, it would get a 5 star rating! Maybe the future ones will have these features.

This thing was worth every penny and my family wants me to cook every other week! You don’t know, but that made me feel great and I walked away with my head up knowing I can smoke!.

This is a very nice smoker, easy to use and clean. Everything taste amazingly delicious in this smoker. It heats up to temp. fast too. I really love the front glass door to watch your food getting smoked.

The timer is awesome and can all be controlled by your phone, through BluetoothWiFi. This company also backs up their product with their warranty or any defects. Great company and awesome smokers. I highly recommend and endorse this smoker.

I use mine on my houseboat and no issues at all as it’s electric and it doesn’t omit that much smoke at all. It goes into the food. Delish!.

I bought this smoker because I did not need a large unit, and didn’t want to consume a lot of storage space. I got started with ribs and brisket – they turned out good but I am somewhat disappointed with the smoker.

Here are the issues: door doen’t seal well (I improved it somewhat by removing the door and modifying the hinges); built from flimsy materials; difficult to clean as drippings go many places in addition to the collection pan intended for the purpose; and set temperature display varies up and down plus or minus 15 degrees (what to believe?).

When I attempted to register this product on the website – model number could not be found.

I’ve had this for a little over a year, it smokled a little in the beginning but now it produces no smoke. The wood chips are barely burnt aftere 6-8 hours set at 250 degree or higher. It is impossoble to smoke at 225.

design looks good but that all you get, looks. I’m really irritated. It is obvious the chip tray sits way to high off the heating element. Wasted my money and time on this smoker. The bluetooth is enitrely worthless.

I am selling taking a sledge hammer to this piece of crap.

If a 1958 kitchen stove that was sitting rusting away in a scrap pile full of chicken wire and pink insulation had sex with a wet campfire covered in half melted wonder bread bags this smoker would be their aborted child.

What a piece of junk. I used mine for a rack of ribs and the element kicked the bucket 4 hours into cooking a brisket. Save your money and go out to dinner instead.

Bought this for my husband for Father’s Day! Was not sure how he would like it at first. He had been talking of getting a smoker, but wanted a big expensive one. Caught this while there was a sale! Have to assemble, which was not a big deal, he was happy that I was there to help him read the instructions! Lol.

Very easy to use. Will need to buy a cover if keeping it outdoors. Got one from camping world online. For some reason Walmart didn’t carry that one.

Arrived in good shape, packaged pretty well. I had No instructions enclosed in box. Called company and all they said they could do was email me pdf copy of them. Found it online so I was able to put it together.

Haven’t used it yet. Will update later. Not a good start to not have any paperwork included in box. I hope there are no problems later if I have already had issues as simple as not having everything in box and they can’t mail me a real copy of the 31 page manual?.

This is a great, quality made product including the cart but beware that the oven temperature varies 40 to 50 degrees. I bought a digital oven thermometer (Square DOT) to monitor the oven temp. I’ve done several batches of ribs, a pork roast that all came out delicious.

On the other hand, I did both chicken wings and and whole, spatchcocked chicken that were disasters. The skin on both were tough and rubbery. The 5 pounds of wings went directly into the garbage. I was able to salvage the breast meat from the whole chicken which was pretty good but the rest of it was not due to her tough, rubbery skin.

I like my pro smoker however the grill racks (all three) are not made very well, Several of the spot welds have separated and the grill racks themselves are made out of some kind of base metal and only chrome plated.

This plating has worn off on all of them so disappointed and wondering if over time the missing chrome plating has wound up on the meat surface and thereby ingested? Other than that the unit is well made and I have had no other issues.

I have owned this unit for over 10 years but don`t use it a lot and that is why I am disappointed in the racks deterioration. Thanks, Collin.

Outstanding smoker. Holds heat in cold weather. Only needs one small load of wood for complete 14hr brisket smoke. Lots of flavor. Retains moisture in meat. Ive had 2 Masterbuilt insulated smokers that don’t compare.

I love this smoker.

I got this smoker as a gift and am thrilled! Set up on the DGU951SDE-D was straightforward and the directions were easy to follow. I got started quickly and it found ample room to fit all my food. Everything I cooked came out well, especially for a first time smoker user.

I started with ribs, chicken, pork and even corn on the cob. Highly recommend and would purchase another.

Bought this smoker so I could remote smoke meats. I am reading 30 foot bluetooth range. It is 18 feet and one wall from my smoker to my family room, and the signal can not be reached at that distance.

After failing to find any smokers, I stumbled across 40 “Digital Smoker on Home Depot website. Ordered and received March 2nd, 2021. This is my fifth smoker, so I feel confident about my statement. Assembly took about an hour.

Burn off had some problems, so called C/S. Talked it through, and I ended up bending my heating element about about 1/2 inch. Success. Burn off complete. while finishing unwrapping rib/sausage rack one of the hooks fell off.

Called C/S and a different associate to me no problem, that the were back ordered, but they would send me a replacement when the came in. Received it today. Have had wonderful results with the smoker and Customer Service.

Masterbuilt had no Service Reps when I purchased a new smoker from then in December, and it failed to work. Returned to Fleet Farm and will be sticking to Dyna-Glo from now on. SEMPER FI.

DONT waste your money. it came out of the box with 2 big dents, it did not effect the function so we still used it. super thin aluminum walls. the inside of the smoker never got above 125 degrees (we used it for 7 hours straight).

the wood chip pan is so small you have to reload the chips every 45 minutes. the handle to the lid kept falling off every time we opened the top and being top loading is a huge hassle. you can make a smoker for $25 that would be much better than this one.

we are returning this today and getting a better one.

Living in Alaska, we have access to a lot of fresh salmon. King, red, silver and even pink salmon are abundant and fill our freezer. A few years ago we decided to purchase a smoker so we could make our own smoked salmon, and the two types we purchased were made by Big Chief, which is a brand that nearly every store in Alaska sells First off, this product is made in the USA, something I always look for.

It isn’t too large, measuring about 2 feet in height, 1 1/2 feet wide and a foot in depth. It does come with a recipe book and instructions, but I found a recipe that was taken from a fishing magazine to be even better.

I was always intimidated by friends who could smoke their own fish, but this is actually very easy to do. You need to buy bags of wood chips, which come in a variety of flavors, and I like the hickory the best.

There is a small door at the bottom where you place your pan of wood chips, you plug it in and a heating element under the pan burns the wood and causes smoke to fill the container. The unit is made of silver colored aluminum, and the only thing I don’t like about it is how the fish are loaded into the smoker.

There are five grills that hold the fish. I spray mine with Pam non-stick spray before adding the salmon, which helps the fish release easily after smoking. The piece that holds the grills is tall and fits down inside the case or body of the smoker.

You remove the lid, place the trays into the smoker, and the four feet will stop it when it has reached the bottom. Place the lid on and let it start working. In a few hours I am ready to start testing my smokes salmon.

Some people like it almost raw, while others like it well done. I like it somewhere in the middle as I like my smoked salmon still moist and not dried out. These can be expensive smokers, but if you smoke a lot of salmon or game they really pay off and are well worth the cost.

— Durable, Embossed Aluminum Construction — 5 Easy-Slide Chrome Plated Grills hold up to 50 pounds of meat or fish — Guaranteed to be free from manufacturing or component defects for a period of 2 years — 220V 450 Watt 2 Amp Export model also available.

please contact Customer Service.

We have had a Big Chief for over thirty years. Still works like a charm. We needed a second smoker. Bought one of the digitalis one works fine but when you have a Big Chief you can control the heat so much better.

We ended up buying a second Big Chief. We are so glad we did. We smoke everything. Ketchup, fresh basil, red peppers for red pepper jelly just this week. I think we have tried almost everything. So much fun experimenting.

FYI: keep the box it comes in. We put it over the smoker on rainy or snowy. First one still going strong. Hoping this one last forever too.

I was so excited about this because I have a friend that loves his and has had it for 10 years. I took his advise and bought it, but have had several issues with it that for me give me serious regrets about purchase.

I don’t like writing negative reviews because I’m sure this is a great company trying to keep things going, but for me I don’t even want to use it and I’ve only had three months and used 3 times. I live in Texas so it gets warm, but it I didn’t use this for the first time until mid September and halfway through a 12 hour brisket smoke it shut off.

None of the buttons would turn it back on. I finally had to unplug it to reset it. I called Customer Support for Cookshack and they told me the controller will over heat if its in direct sunlight too long.

Well, I have no where to put it that it won’t be getting direct sunlight for part of the day and for sure during use on long smokes. The second thing that really bothers me about this exact model is its a little too narrow for a big brisket and a rack of ribs rubs on both sides of the oven so you really can’t put them in parallel to the door.

If you want to season them or sauce them during a cook you have to slide the whole shelf out (which btw drips a huge mess all over the ground in front of the smoker) requiring two hands and lots of hassle.

The third (and major for me) issue is somehow liquid/moisture is escaping and doesn’t make it to the drip pan, but instead makes its way to the wheels so it leaves big black stains where the wheels are.

I have a stained concrete patio that new has black circles on it that have taken lots of work to try and remove. So in order for me to use this thing it has to be in the right amount of shade and I have to cover the surface its on to keep from staining of just not worry about the mess.

Again, I know its a great company with highly rated products, but for someone like me trying to get into smoking on occasion this one is not for me! I regret this purchase!!!.

The unit I bought was a 120v, but had a 240v heating element in it, installed at the factory by accident. I realized something was wrong when it took forever to heat up. I called Cookshack and they said that they may have inadvertently installed a 240v element.

They sent me a new 110v element to install. While installing the element, I noticed that several welds were really sloppy, and they had welded the area closed that was needed to access the heating element.

I managed to bend the sheet metal back and install the element, and it works okay now. I’m not real happy about having ruined a cook, with lots of expensive meat, or the fact that I had to do the repair work myself.

After I was done, I realized that setting my tools on top of the unit had caused some minor scratching on a smoker that I hadn’t used successfully yet. It’s irritating, but no fault of the BBQGuys. Cookshack never offered any sort of apology or compensation for my work or frustration.

In fact, they ignored my last email offering to return the 240v element, and making them aware of the sloppy workmanship. I’m afraid I could not recommend this smoker, mainly because of the quality issues.

The unit was shipped fast and arrived via FedEx in 2 days in great condition. The smoker was easy to assemble and then season the unit. My first smoke came out excellent and was some of the best smoked meat I’ve ever eaten.

The unit once up to temp maintained the temperature very good and definitely put out a lot of smoke for only 2 small chunks of hickory. I cooked 2 thick pork chops bone in ,a pound of jalapeno sausage and 3 brats for 21/2 hours and they all came out perfect.

This smoker is so easy to use and smokes the tastiest meats I’ve ever cooked. I highly recommend this smoker. Maintains temperature, produces plenty of smoke and is to use. Holds plenty of meat for a small party at least a dozen people.

Works exactly as advertised and the results are amazing. Smoked beef short ribs yesterday. Requires very few wood chips.

Love our new smoker. Love the legs, the digital interface, the racks, the look, the price, the pull-out wood chip tray, the way it works… We’re pleased with everything about it except a few tiny nits, as follows: While unpacking, the packing tape on the door took off the paint (we bought high heat paint and did an ugly touch up).

Door leaked a little smoke on the top left corner (hubby modified hinges to tighten it up). The temperature setting only goes up to 350 degrees and the actual temperature won’t get above 320 degrees.

So, they need to fix the burnout instructions and the claims to reach 400 degrees. I don’t need the high temps just get real with your customers. I would buy this same smoker again but I’d use a hair dryer on the packing tape to soften up the glue.

First time owner of a BB smoker. Reading the reviews and specifications, I chose this model specifically because it was electric and would allow me to gain experience cooking variety of meats under controlled temperatures.

I recieved unit via delivery and assembly was flawless. The long awaited weekend has arrived. I was excited about using my brand new Pit Boss smoker and was planning to entertain guest with a variety of smoked meats.

I read cooking tips and perpared meats as per directions. Unit performed well on heat startup and cooking meats “slow and low”. However, it failed to increase temperature above 245° to finish off meats and cooking other meats at higher temperature.

Was disappointed and embarrassed on overall performance. The unit specifications states temperature range from 100°- 400°. Im unable to cook meats at higher temperatures nor finish off certain meats with a crispy skin.

I read the troubleshooting section and revealed after illuminating possiblities, the fault is a defective control board. I contacted support for help. NO answer nor call back. I contacted technical support via email, explaining step by step the performance and troubleshooting process of my unit.

They responsed that my unit is operating fine although HIGHER temperatures is difficult to reach with this model. Really!!. Didn’t read this nor find it anywhere in the operating manual. I read the unit’s specifications, owner’s reviews, the sales pitch and they all on point.

Technical support said it was difficult for the unit to reach higher temperatures but failed to give advice under conditions to reach higher temperatures. I got better technical advice reading troubleshooting chart in the owner’s manual.

I have over 40 years repairing electrical & electronic equipment and this is simple electrical troubleshooting “101”. Either the temperature probe or the control board is defective. Highly likely control board is defective.

Honor my Warranty and replace defective part!.

Purchased this in September and have used it 5 or six times. We have smoked sausages, chicken wings, bone in ham and brisket. This smoker uses chips not pellets, which is fine but the tray burns in about 2 hours so you need a bucket to empty the tray when changing chips for long cook times.

The first time I used the smoker everything was good, but every time after that the unit will not turn on when I plug it in. It is plugged into a dedicated plug on our deck with a gfi breaker and I have to reset the breaker, unplug the cord over and over to get the electronic circuit board to turn on the Blue power indicator and it eventually does.

The manual tells you to check the fuse inside(which I did, was ok and not replaceable)This almost ruined our Christmas ham dinner plans as it took almost an hour for me to get the unit to turn on. It is too bad as once the unit works it cooks pretty good, Good thing I registered the unit with Pit Boss as I will have to get warranty on the unit in the spring.

Hopefully they will ship me a new electronic board assembly to fix the problem. Bought the electric as we did not want more propane tanks on our deck but now maybe the propane model is the way to go.

Would be happy with it if I knew it was going to turn on when I need it to! Happy smokin.