Cooking times for Masterbuilt Sportsman

[_John_]

Hello all, my mother got one of these as a gift and of course is asking all kinds of questions. I have given her rub advice as well as dry brining and finish temps, but I know nothing about these grills so I am no help at all with cook times. I use a PBC primarily which cooks hot, so my times are likely even further off.

A few questions I would appreciate answers to if you have them

1. What temperature do these things run well at? Google tells me the max is 275, is this correct?
2. She mentions a lack of smoke, are you guys doing anything to help add some smokey flavor?
3. Please share some cooking times if you can for chicken, pork shoulder, loin and ribs.
4. Any tips for chicken specifically? She is unimpressed with what she has done, and 275 doesn't seem like it would do a lot for crispy skin.

Thanks, and if you have any other recommendations for this thing feel free to share.

[Dewesq55]

Is it electric? The Masterbuilt electrics do have a max temp of 275°F. They run well at the whole gamut of temps that they handle, but I like to go with around 250°F because with the temp fluctuations, I find that to be a good average. I get tons of smoke from mine. I put the chips in the chip loader, as much as it will hold, which is about 1/2 cup of chips, after it is mostly pre-heated. The vent, if ofpen, belches smoke and the box is filled. I put more in after 1 hour. The smokey flavor is excellent but there is no smoke ring. Dr. Blonder explains the science of that in his seminar.

The only chicken I have done is jerk thighs the other night and I finished them on the gasser at Warp 10.

As for shoulder/butt, I did 2 ~2lb butt pieces (the larger had the bone in it). The smaller, boneless one was done inn 7 hours. The larger was done in 9. I have done SLC ribs once so far and they were done as expected at about 5-6 hours. I wrapped the butts, but not the ribs. I haven't done a loin.

Any other questions, hit me up.

DEW

[_John_]

Thanks, if it runs well at all temps then the time won't be significantly far off from my PBC. Thanks also for the smoke tip, i'm not sure she has used the chip loader at all...

[Ray]

Ditto DEW's comments. I own the Masterbuilt 30" and it has worked well in terms of temp control and smoke generation. I've cooked BB ribs, several slabs at a time, 225F and it takes about 6 hours; small beef brisket (less than 5 lbs) at 225F for about 9 hours; salmon, about 1 1/2 lbs at 200F for about 1.5 to 2 hours; and turkey breasts at 275F for about 3 hours. I find that the cooking chamber is hotter at the higher level racks than the set temp but you'd expect that given the fact that it's a cabinet so if your Mom has the patience or inclination she can set a temp on the controls and measure the actual temp with a good thermometer.

But smoke can be plentiful and adds great flavor, but no smoke ring as DEW said.