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Couple notes on the Masterbuilt Thermotemp XL

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    Couple notes on the Masterbuilt Thermotemp XL

    Picked one up last week and finally assembled it for a test run over the long weekend. Based on the trend in the reviews, I went to Home Depot to pick one up so I could carefully inspect the box for damage prior to purchase. Didn't help - bottom corner was smashed and I had a 90 min round trip back to Home Depot to open and inspect the only other unit they had in stock in the even more damaged box to ensure I was swapping it out for one in better shape. If you're buying one of these, save yourself some time and unpack it in the store - which is what I did for the replacement.

    That said, there's still a small gap/defect in the door weld which I may follow up with Masterbuilt about - there's a half inch gap in the top seam of the main door.

    Racks are fixed in place and there are 4 of them; no option to add another pair like I did on my smaller Masterbuilt smoker. The shelves also stick a bit sliding in and out, so I use a combination of extreme care and long tongs to add and remove meat without spilling it all over the driveway. It was nice not having to cut a brisket flat in half to fit, so I'll call that a net win.

    I was pleased with how well it held temperature, although the numbers on the dial are somewhat aspirational. I set my iGrill to a range of 215-235, and other than drops and spikes around the door opening, it held temp within the range pretty much perpetually, although I had to fiddle with it a bit at the beginning to hit the range I wanted since the dial isn't entirely on point.

    No clouds of smoke rolling out of this one like are on my smaller one, but the chips do char and burn, and the flavor is there. It was a change smelling brisket inside instead of wood smoke.

    All in all, I'm very happy with it and was confident enough to try an overnight brisket after an empty burn-out test run over a couple hours, a batch of vegetables for some smoked salsa and some smoked baked potatoes.

    #2
    Congrats.

    Comment


      #3
      Welcome to the club! I got mine from Home Depot also. I am really happy with mine, too. I've done a few more cooks on it since my last post and need to put them in the SUWYC thread! We should do a sticky Masterbuilt Thermotemp thread. What do you say, Moderators?

      Comment


        #4
        Thanks for the info on the Masterbuilt. Very good advice about checking for damage in the store. With all the advancements in commerce today it seems we are going in the opposite direction when it comes to packaging.

        Comment


        • BMStroh
          BMStroh commented
          Editing a comment
          I thought I was being clever checking the box on the first one, but it didn't help. When I was looking at reviews on ecommerce sites (vs. the pretty solid review on the actual product here) there was a pretty solid trend - all the bad reviews were talking about damage during shipment and the 1-2 hour assembly process. Figured I could avoid the first by carefully buying locally, and I wasn't too worried about the second. Very few negative points about the actual functionality of the smoker.

        #5
        I have had mine for almost a year now, I did not have the problem with dents or the door weld. Guess I was lucky as I had mine shipped to me. When I am down south it is 95 miles one way to Home Depot.

        Comment


          #6
          Try wood chunks instead of chips. I got good smoke with chunks.
          Last edited by Max Good; September 28, 2019, 08:58 AM.

          Comment


            #7
            The stainless steel propane cabinet smoker I have had at my shore vacation home since I bought the house finally had the burner unit rust to failure and the part is no longer available ANYWHERE!. I happened upon Max's review of the Thermatemp XL and was inspired to buy one as a replacement. I ordered online from Amazon. It came in 3 days. I got it this past Friday and assembled it Saturday morning then drove the 4 1/2 hours to my vacay home to set it up and test it out. A note on assembly: it was a royal PITA! But there's a YouTube assembly video done by Masterbuilt that is worth watching if you buy one of these. Build quality was a bit shabby - typical Chinese manufacture - but nothing major. As with comments above, mine has a dent in the door, but it isn't horrible and is only cosmetic, not functional. There were a few paint scratches, which concern me more due to the fact that it will be left outdoors in the salt air year around. When I got to Virginia (vacay home) I bought a can of high temp spray paint and sprayed the areas with scratches on them.

            After getting it set up where the smoker goes at my place (this smoker is quite a bit bigger than the one it's replacing so I had to move some stuff around to make room) I did a "pre-season" burn. I sprayed the inside with cooking spray and ran it at maximum (~350F) for a couple of hours then dropped it to 250F and added some wood and burned it for another 2 hours. I noticed there was a good amount of smoke leaking around both doors. After it had cooled down from the seasoning burn, I smoked up a few country style ribs. They came out tasting very good, but I wasn't happy with the amount of smoke being produced. I tried using chunks, as Max suggested, but they never really got going. Near the end of the cook, I tried adding a handful of chips around the chunks, and this worked well. The chips got going quickly and then, in turn, got the chunks smoking.

            Yesterday, I decided to do some chicken leg quarters. I used the chips and chunks combo from the start this time, and the unit produced plenty of smoke throughout. The chicken came out great.

            Due to the leakage around the doors, I ordered some nomex gasket from Amazon on Sunday with one day Prime delivery. I put it on today and it seems to have everything sealed up good. I also bought a cover in view of my concerns about the salt air here.

            As for function, the smoker holds temps quite well at various temp settings. As noted above, the temperature dial on the control isn't super accurate, but I used my fireboard's ambient probe to adjust the unit to where I wanted it. On mine, the fluctuations around the set point were pretty minimal for the most part, and they held until you changed the setting. I imagine it would do really well for an overnight cook, except for the need to add wood every hour or so for chunks, sooner for chips. I'm not thrilled with the integral rack holders which are molded into the interior walls of the unit. I'm not sure how I'm going to be able to hang ribs in it like I did in my old one, but I guess I'll figure that out. In Max's review he suggests that you might be able to hang ribs from the rack set in the top location, but they seem pretty flimsy. I'm not sure they will stand up to having 4 racks of SLC's hanging from them at once.

            So far, I like it a lot. Let's hope it holds up.


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            • holehogg
              holehogg commented
              Editing a comment
              Great excuse to get to the vacay house☺. Glad everything is sorted and you like it a lot.

            • Dewesq55
              Dewesq55 commented
              Editing a comment
              Hey, thanks! I don't need much of an excuse to drive down here. I just need to clear a couple of days on one side of the weekend or the other as it's a bit of a long drive to do for just 2 days, although I have done that. I'm still here (vacay home) but leaving back for home this afternoon.

            #8
            Looks like a fun time at your place Dewesq55 . Nice post!

            Comment


              #9
              I've had mine since March. Mine was in great condition. No scratches, bumps or lumps. The temperature knob on mine is woefully inaccurate. If I run the flame as low as it will go, I can maintain a steady 220°. Nothing lower. Masterbuilt told me the flame sensor is probably out of adjustment told me how to adjust it. I'm not disassembling anything on this because it was such a pain to assemble in the first place. I will make due. Frankly, I've never once had the desire to cold smoke anything so I'm happy to be able to maintain temps in the 220° - 300° range.

              I use 2 inch wood chunks in the chip pan and get a nice amount of smoke. Depending on the wood, I'll add pellets to a smoker tube to augment.

              Except for the assembly, I'm pretty happy with it.

              Comment


                #10
                I need some advice. I purchased my MB on line and put it together. I've had no problems with keeping the temp for smoking and the ribs, pork, and chicken wings have all turned out to the family's satisfaction. The problem is that once lit, I need to maintain pressure on the control to keep the flame going. I've had to tape it in place to maintain the flame. The tank is full and there are no issues with the ignition. What might be the problem?

                Comment


                  #11
                  mlumwa The flame sensor (copper tube with a brass fitting that threads into the control unit) is not tightened down sufficiently. Best advice is to disconnect it then reconnect, taking care to get it fully seated and quite tight with an adjustable crescent wrench. This issue is widely reported and discussed on other forums (fora?)
                  Last edited by Dewesq55; September 27, 2019, 07:12 PM.

                  Comment


                    #12
                    Originally posted by lumbuy View Post
                    I need some advice. I purchased my MB on line and put it together. I've had no problems with keeping the temp for smoking and the ribs, pork, and chicken wings have all turned out to the family's satisfaction. The problem is that once lit, I need to maintain pressure on the control to keep the flame going. I've had to tape it in place to maintain the flame. The tank is full and there are no issues with the ignition. What might be the problem?
                    I don't have one of these, but I'll share an opinion based on other gas equipment I have worked on.
                    If the instructions call for you to press it in when lighting it, then it is most likely the flame sensor. You should give Masterbuilt a call and they can advise you on possible adjustments, or a replacement.

                    Comment


                      #13
                      I had the same issue, adjusted the flame sensor more snugly with a crescent wrench, and that took care of it. I had Home Depot assemble and deliver mine, the assembler only finger tightened the flame sensor connection. Works great now, just hold it in for 5 seconds and then it cooks away!

                      Comment


                      • BMStroh
                        BMStroh commented
                        Editing a comment
                        That’s exactly why I paid for assembly in time, not dollars. I don’t trust anyone else to take the same care with my stuff that I do. Glad you got it figured out, though.

                      #14
                      Since this thread just got bumped, I’ll follow up here.

                      Did some smoking yesterday in the Thermotemp. I could smell smoke from the pecan chunks and chips, but never really saw any. This was driven home when my wife surprised me with some burgers to smoke when the shelves were all full and I dragged my old smaller Masterbuilt out next to it. I’d replaced the chip pan with a cast iron skillet on carriage bolt feet. Within minutes, clouds of smoke were rolling out of it.

                      The Thermotemp was happy to put out some smoke when I opened the door to add 50-60 wings so I couldn’t see what I was doing, which make me realize the lack of smoke is either a lack of heat or a lack of air - I assume the thermostat panics when the door is open and things cool off, and adds fire.

                      Today, before I dragged the shelves in for a quick dishwasher ride, I fired it back up on maximum heat for a bit and spun it back down to 225 after a short while. That seemed to be enough to sustain smoke once it got going at a higher temp.

                      Figured this might be useful to someone, or someone can tell me why I’m wrong and offer a better plan. 😄

                      Edit: Should also add that 4 wheels vs 2 on the smaller one is great - much less chance of slopping whatever is left in the water pan all over my driveway and garage. Having the propane tank along for the ride is another small convenience I’ve grown to appreciate as I use this more.
                      Last edited by BMStroh; September 29, 2019, 11:28 AM.

                      Comment


                      • Dewesq55
                        Dewesq55 commented
                        Editing a comment
                        BMStroh - I'm not sure if you tried this, you probably did, but when I put the wood in the pan before I fired it up, so it was in there while the unit was doing it's initial heat up, I thought the chips and chunks got going better without having to turn it way up to get them started.

                      #15
                      Any looking into buying masterbuilt MPS 340G. Look at master built site. Freebies and discounts Click image for larger version

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