YES! Just go ahead and throw that "stock" piece pan away!!!!! Use a cast iron pan and set it directly on top of the ring! The stock pan that comes with it is in my opinion a way for the chip companies to make a killing. It flares up and catches fire and burns the chips up in 10 minutes no matter what you do. You have to get the flame away from wood(as we all know wood burns when in contact with an open flame). I figured this out with my second smoke using this unit and the cast iron pan has fixed my issues and now I can do as directed and stoke every hour and mop my meat when stoking and then forget about it! Thank you so much for your videos and spreading the word!!!!
Hello there, I have a question.. You mentioned you placed the cast iron pan right on top of the ring.. Doesnt that force the flame to the bottom since the pan would seal the ring if that makes sense.. So will it heat the smoker by heating up the pan?
When I placed the pan directly on the ring, it didn't allow for enough oxygen to get to the flame and it would suffocate it. The provided tray allows for enough air flow so this doesn't happen. If you place the pan on top of the tray, it seems to work out better.
@@TheSmokingBeard That's what I thought, thank you so much for replying I will place the pan on top of the tray as you advise along with finding that sweet spot to lower the flame just before you turn it off. Thanks again!
I tried this as well and the fire was oxygen starved and went out in seconds. Dangerous if you’re not aware the fire has gone out and you have propane collecting in an area
I have same smoker. I put the supplied chip tray uncovered and small skillet (exactly the one you are using) and I have no issues. Wood burns perfectly, heat stays consistent. Good luck!
I don't seem to get enough smoke with the method you pointed out. I tried it today on my ribs... And it gave me the blue smoke we're after for a bit, but then the chips just stopped doing anything. I pulled out the pan and many of the chips seemed untouched.
Love your videos. Thank you, they have been very helpful. I couldn't figure out why i couldn't control the heat in my smoker better. I kinda wish I had purchased the electric one now. Today is the first time I'm using the cast iron pan. I threw a few chips in it with the chunks of our dried up cherry tree wood. Then took the lighter to light the chips up. I haven't used my smoker at all in over a year since I've struggled with being a professional. I'm smoking a 7lb pork butt today. 🤞🐷🐖
You can get lower temperatures by starting it, then turning the gas knob BACK towards the off, but not all the way off. That gives a very small flame that allows much lower temperatures than 250.
I've got this exact same smoker with the exact same problem. Low is too high. My gas range has an adjustment screw in the landle to adjust the low burner setting. I was hoping for the same adjustment on my smoker, but I haven't found it yet. Low just ain't low enough. This being Sunday and my personal beliefs curtail going to Wally-World today. So the cast-iron pan will have to wait. But the cast-iron pan doesn't fix the 250° minimum issue for me. I'll have to try this adjusting the control towards off as a workaround. I've always wanted a smoker, and Memorial Day weekend was a great excuse this year for purchasing this one. Sorry for the interruption. The first hour alarm just went off. It's time to add more wood chips and spritz the brisket. After an hour, there weren't many wood chips left to produce smoke. Nixed the Wally-World trip on Monday. I remembered that I had a cast-iron skillet that I had saved from the landfill. I.e. my beautiful bride loves a clean house, but I couldn't imagine throwing out cast-iron! And to top it off, it's 8" too. According to the in door thermometer, after an hour, it was only 200°. I can work with that! Thanks for the cast-iron pan suggestion!
Thanx for that tip bro I have the exact smoker my Mom has a 7 inch cast iron pan without a handle that is designed as a baking dish for about the same price fits perfectly
Hey smoking I just want to say thank you for the info on that smoker I just got that smoker over Christmas and you just save me a bunch of headaches of figuring out some simple hacks and the cast Iron skillet actually is working great for me, 👍👍
I never use foil or the chip pan that it came with.. I put a brick on both sides of the burner ( about a inch and a half higher then the burner) with a heavy baking rack across an got two smoker boxes and lay them on top one at a time or I use a cast iron frying pan for chips.. I get lot’s of smoke
I have the exact same smoker. I like the cast iron idea. Going to try it. The one thing I do do that works well, is to soak the chips for 30 minutes before smoking. That keeps the chips from flaring up and temp lower. I also find smoking in the winter works extremely well at keeping the temp down. LOL
Now you know. The lowest temps I get where I live is 30 degrees. That is considered super cold for our area. Let's just say I won't be smoking any fish any time soon.
I found that if pile the chips and chunks up like your building a campfire in your skillet to let the air be drawn in to it it burns quickly and smokes much more efficiently.. It won't flare as long as you keep the door closed..
I would remove the original chip pan and put the cast iron pan directly over the fire, works for me and chips smoke much better. My smoker is basically like yours except I have two dampers at the bottom which also helps create more smoke.
Same smoker here took 6 months of playing around before I got it just right 19 dollar cast iron pan with no long handle from bass pro shops and couple fire brick to sit it over the fire and ONE chunk of wood at a time slow smoke 225 and put more water in the water pan and one more chunk of wood every 2.5 to 3 hours perfect blue smoke oh close one air intake damper and open the other up half that is key
Just making a suggestion - have you tested the temp at the different rack level on this smoker? As heat rises, I wonder if you are getting a higher temp on the top rack vs the bottom vs the middle rack. Let me know if you test it out.
Great video, Yesterday I put smoked some turkey wings on master built propane smoker had temp regulator on lowest setting temp went as high as 448 degrees, close side vents all the way, but I notice the wood chunks had caught on fire inside the 10" cast iron skillet. I will experiment with the back damper on top closing it to see if that will regulate better.
Did a test run with no meat, turn on smoker to lowest setting on regulator, and closed all vents; placed charcoal and few wood chunk inside skillet; After leaving on lowest setting the temp still went to 320 F in 1.5 hours Overall I am not a happy camper with the master built propane smoker; because it's extremely hard to control the temp unless you are doing burgers, or chicken. Just my opinion I have a UDS which is much easier to control the temperature.
Yes it can be very tricky... I tend to use my electric over the propane for normal uses. I have the propane smoker as a back up in case the lights go out.
@@TheSmokingBeard Tried my new Master Built smoker today using Lodge cast iron 10 inch pan with charcoal instead of chips. Temp 250 at lowest. Opened vent in back all the way dropped down around 200. Cracked door about one inch temp went down around 175. Need more vents at top of smoker. Tried just handful of charcoal in cast iron pan with propane off and temp stayed around 150. Considering adding two more vents at top. One on each side to control temp better.
Man the skillet is saving my life and money on chips thanks for the advice, but what type of Thermometer should I get to get an accurate reading of the temperature inside?
DUDE!!!! Thank you for posting your videos on this smoker. My neighbor tossed one out last week and the main box is in wonderful shape. I am missing the chip tray and the water basin but after watching this video I think I can get the chip tray under control. Any ideas you have for the water basin would be most helpful.
@@TheSmokingBeard COOL! I will give it a go. Thank you. In the meantime, I will be binge watching the rest of you stuff. Thank you so much for sharing your content!
I am so thankful for your video I just got my Smoker put together yesterday and seasoned it today . I was alarmed by the way the wood burned so quickly. I was not sure if it was supposed to do that or not. I was hesitant to use it until I was sure that I was doing it right or not. I will get myself that skillet. I do not understand why the wood plate has holes in it to allow the wood to quickly burn up.. I will watch your rib and brisket video so I can have a good peace of mind in what I am doing. Thanks so much!!!
Just forget the tray and use the skillet...I dont have many flare ups with mine. but have been thinking of using a pan. I like to check mine and sometimes if I check it too much the blocks catch on fire. Also chips soaked in water are better..
So I got this same smoker as a Christmas gift from my wife. Took it out of the box and went to season it. I noticed before I put any meat on it, that it got super hot ( over 400*f by the built in door temp). I was super frustrated cause here it is 1am and I need to throw this brisket no later than 3am to have it ready for the Chiefs to kick off their Playoff "Run-it-Back" Campaign against the Browns at 2pm! Maybe it was a fluke, but I (out of desperation and not sure what else to try) turned the gas valve on the propane tank off. Then gave it ONE full turn open, lit the burner and waited saying prayers... By the time I re-lit the burner (having left both doors open the whole time on a frosty January night) it had cooled off to where I could rest my bare hand on the top of the smoker body. I watched and watched and the door thermometer held at 200*f on lowest setting. I could then use the control dail on the smoker itself to get the temp fine tuned to what looked like 225*f. 11 hours later & I had 19lbs of beautifully barked, tender & juicy brisket that didn't last to the end of the game!!! I am new to smokin' ,so I don't have the probes and all that fancy stuff like you do, but maybe it's something you could test out and do a video on if it REALLY did work...like I said, it might have been a fluke- but I got 2 racks of ribs I'm gonna give a try tomorrow morning, for the Chiefs vs Bills!!!
Pulling for the Bills since Beasley is with them now. He used to be with the Cowboys before he switched teams. KC will take it, but I like pulling for the underdogs.
@@TheSmokingBeard I hear that. It should be a good game. Of all the teams in the AFC the Bills I feel have the best chance to knock out KC. I grew up a Dolphins fan- I like the Chiefs, LOVE the Phins! The Chiefs have quite a few former Phins on their roster.
@@TheSmokingBeard just wanted to give a quick update. I was able to duplicate getting the temperature to hold steady by only opening the valve on the propane tank ONE full turn. I am running the smoker as sold with the chip tray as is, only foil wrapping the water pan (I filled it with apple cider to help with moisture & maybe help enhance the flavor of the meat) to make cleaning it easier. I used chunks and got nice amount of smoke, and really only had flare-ups when I opened the doors. Once I was done spritzing the ribs and closed the doors back up, the flames would go out in a couple minutes and it was back to business! This past Sunday, I smoked 2 racks of ribs using the 3-2-1 method, & they turned out very tender & full of flavor! When I wrapped the ribs in foil, I also smoked 2 whole salmon filets I picked up from my local Costco. The salmon was done when it was time to remove the ribs from the foil & sauce them, which worked out great so the ribs didn't pick up any of the fish flavor at all. Had it pretty loaded, but by the door thermometer, it held at a pretty constant 225*f, so we had some good eats by the start of the AFC Championship game this past Sunday!!! If it getting too hot is the major knock for this type of smoker, I might have stumbled onto the solution!!!
Take the aluminum foil off the old chip pan. I have absolutley no problem creating lots of smoke with mine. It does take a 20ish minutes to get hot enough to smoke though.
I did and it was not a good idea. Not enough oxygen was hitting the flame so it starved it out. All I could smell after that was the propane gas leaking out.
And to answer your question, yes! I do not put chips directly onto the provided chip tray. By doing this, it ignites the chips/Chunks and brings the temp too high up for smoking.
Looks like they re-designed the chip tray. My Masterbuilt has a stainless steel box that has a lid, the box is about 6" x 6" x 1" and sits on a ring that has 2 pieces of thin angle iron. The box is supposed to sit on those thin angle iron pieces and is probably 2" away from the burner. Of course the "chip box" warped in the first use, and the slotted lid doesn't fit flat any longer, not sure how important that even is. The other issue is that even with that chip tray design change the temp fluctuations are INCREDIBLE. I will have the flame set at the lowest setting and I've seen temps swing from 200F ~ 275F with a full propane tank. I usually start the smoker with the "line" of the temp control straight down. It heats and 'levels off" to about 230F, but it will swing wildly +/-40F EASY. It makes no sense. I'm really frustrated with temp control of the smoker because I really want to use it, but I don't want to sit there and play "adjust the flame" every 5 minutes. I've played with the back shutters, I've played with the bottom door....it's to the point that I just don't want to use it. We love smoking ribs, pork loin, chicken, etc., but I get frustrated because a 3 hour smoke is me running back and forth to the smoker and adjusting it all freaking day. :( I am going to try using a cast iron skillet as I have more than a few, maybe that will work.
Chip tray has a cover the chip tray has a cover where is it. Key part of your trip tray is the cover. With proper parts and equipment smoker works fine.
Hey Smokin, I use mine with a pellet smoking tube, they work great. You can also really adjust the flame on the burner by turning it past high, as if to turn it off, but not turning it off...you can really get the flame pretty low by doing this, just be careful if it's too windy, may blow it out. Here's a link of mine, go to 13:40 to see it if you're not into making Jalepeno Cheddar kielbasas....~Old School. ruclips.net/video/NJEKw74VlyM/видео.html
YES! Just go ahead and throw that "stock" piece pan away!!!!! Use a cast iron pan and set it directly on top of the ring! The stock pan that comes with it is in my opinion a way for the chip companies to make a killing. It flares up and catches fire and burns the chips up in 10 minutes no matter what you do. You have to get the flame away from wood(as we all know wood burns when in contact with an open flame). I figured this out with my second smoke using this unit and the cast iron pan has fixed my issues and now I can do as directed and stoke every hour and mop my meat when stoking and then forget about it! Thank you so much for your videos and spreading the word!!!!
Hello there, I have a question.. You mentioned you placed the cast iron pan right on top of the ring.. Doesnt that force the flame to the bottom since the pan would seal the ring if that makes sense.. So will it heat the smoker by heating up the pan?
When I placed the pan directly on the ring, it didn't allow for enough oxygen to get to the flame and it would suffocate it. The provided tray allows for enough air flow so this doesn't happen. If you place the pan on top of the tray, it seems to work out better.
@@TheSmokingBeard That's what I thought, thank you so much for replying I will place the pan on top of the tray as you advise along with finding that sweet spot to lower the flame just before you turn it off. Thanks again!
I tried this as well and the fire was oxygen starved and went out in seconds. Dangerous if you’re not aware the fire has gone out and you have propane collecting in an area
I have same smoker. I put the supplied chip tray uncovered and small skillet (exactly the one you are using) and I have no issues. Wood burns perfectly, heat stays consistent. Good luck!
I don't seem to get enough smoke with the method you pointed out. I tried it today on my ribs... And it gave me the blue smoke we're after for a bit, but then the chips just stopped doing anything. I pulled out the pan and many of the chips seemed untouched.
👍
Love your videos. Thank you, they have been very helpful. I couldn't figure out why i couldn't control the heat in my smoker better. I kinda wish I had purchased the electric one now. Today is the first time I'm using the cast iron pan. I threw a few chips in it with the chunks of our dried up cherry tree wood. Then took the lighter to light the chips up. I haven't used my smoker at all in over a year since I've struggled with being a professional. I'm smoking a 7lb pork butt today. 🤞🐷🐖
Good luck... it's like riding a bike... it'll come back to you
You can get lower temperatures by starting it, then turning the gas knob BACK towards the off, but not all the way off. That gives a very small flame that allows much lower temperatures than 250.
👍
Do the small chip work good in skillet.
Yes, but the wood Chunks last alot longer
I've got this exact same smoker with the exact same problem. Low is too high. My gas range has an adjustment screw in the landle to adjust the low burner setting. I was hoping for the same adjustment on my smoker, but I haven't found it yet. Low just ain't low enough. This being Sunday and my personal beliefs curtail going to Wally-World today. So the cast-iron pan will have to wait. But the cast-iron pan doesn't fix the 250° minimum issue for me. I'll have to try this adjusting the control towards off as a workaround. I've always wanted a smoker, and Memorial Day weekend was a great excuse this year for purchasing this one.
Sorry for the interruption. The first hour alarm just went off. It's time to add more wood chips and spritz the brisket. After an hour, there weren't many wood chips left to produce smoke.
Nixed the Wally-World trip on Monday. I remembered that I had a cast-iron skillet that I had saved from the landfill. I.e. my beautiful bride loves a clean house, but I couldn't imagine throwing out cast-iron! And to top it off, it's 8" too.
According to the in door thermometer, after an hour, it was only 200°. I can work with that!
Thanks for the cast-iron pan suggestion!
👍
Thanx for that tip bro I have the exact smoker my Mom has a 7 inch cast iron pan without a handle that is designed as a baking dish for about the same price fits perfectly
Sounds great!
Hey smoking I just want to say thank you for the info on that smoker I just got that smoker over Christmas and you just save me a bunch of headaches of figuring out some simple hacks and the cast Iron skillet actually is working great for me, 👍👍
I'm glad you found my videos helpful. Happy smoking
I never use foil or the chip pan that it came with.. I put a brick on both sides of the burner ( about a inch and a half higher then the burner) with a heavy baking rack across an got two smoker boxes and lay them on top one at a time or I use a cast iron frying pan for chips.. I get lot’s of smoke
Which smoker boxes are you using?
👍
Did you put the fire bricks on top of the burner and place the skillet on top of the fire bricks for better temperature control?
I have the exact same smoker. I like the cast iron idea. Going to try it. The one thing I do do that works well, is to soak the chips for 30 minutes before smoking. That keeps the chips from flaring up and temp lower. I also find smoking in the winter works extremely well at keeping the temp down. LOL
LOL
@@TheSmokingBeard Just smoked some Salmon while it was -20 degrees outside. First time that I was able to keep my smoker at 150
Now you know. The lowest temps I get where I live is 30 degrees. That is considered super cold for our area. Let's just say I won't be smoking any fish any time soon.
I found that if pile the chips and chunks up like your building a campfire in your skillet to let the air be drawn in to it it burns quickly and smokes much more efficiently..
It won't flare as long as you keep the door closed..
👍
I would remove the original chip pan and put the cast iron pan directly over the fire, works for me and chips smoke much better. My smoker is basically like yours except I have two dampers at the bottom which also helps create more smoke.
👍
Same smoker here took 6 months of playing around before I got it just right 19 dollar cast iron pan with no long handle from bass pro shops and couple fire brick to sit it over the fire and ONE chunk of wood at a time slow smoke 225 and put more water in the water pan and one more chunk of wood every 2.5 to 3 hours perfect blue smoke oh close one air intake damper and open the other up half that is key
Nice
Thanks for video man! I just got that same smoker and am having problems with temps also. I will definitely try this out.
Good luck!
Looks like a trip to wallyworld for me. What's that temperature gauge you're using?
Check out my links. I have one I would recommend, but it's not cheap. The thermoworks system works great.
Just making a suggestion - have you tested the temp at the different rack level on this smoker? As heat rises, I wonder if you are getting a higher temp on the top rack vs the bottom vs the middle rack. Let me know if you test it out.
👍
Great video, Yesterday I put smoked some turkey wings on master built propane smoker had temp regulator on lowest setting temp went as high as 448 degrees, close side vents all the way, but I notice the wood chunks had caught on fire inside the 10" cast iron skillet. I will experiment with the back damper on top closing it to see if that will regulate better.
Let me know how that goes. Thanks for your support!
Turn on smoker
Did a test run with no meat, turn on smoker to lowest setting on regulator, and closed all vents; placed charcoal and few wood chunk inside skillet; After leaving on lowest setting the temp still went to 320 F in 1.5 hours Overall I am not a happy camper with the master built propane smoker; because it's extremely hard to control the temp unless you are doing burgers, or chicken. Just my opinion I have a UDS which is much easier to control the temperature.
Yes it can be very tricky... I tend to use my electric over the propane for normal uses. I have the propane smoker as a back up in case the lights go out.
@@TheSmokingBeard Tried my new Master Built smoker today using Lodge cast iron 10 inch pan with charcoal instead of chips. Temp 250 at lowest. Opened vent in back all the way dropped down around 200. Cracked door about one inch temp went down around 175. Need more vents at top of smoker. Tried just handful of charcoal in cast iron pan with propane off and temp stayed around 150. Considering adding two more vents at top. One on each side to control temp better.
I got that smoker and for every time I use it I go through lot of chips and chunks. I bought a cast iron pan and now I’m gonna use it for this.
Nice
Man the skillet is saving my life and money on chips thanks for the advice, but what type of Thermometer should I get to get an accurate reading of the temperature inside?
I got this and never looked back... ruclips.net/video/ZR33Vv_8hOE/видео.html
DUDE!!!!
Thank you for posting your videos on this smoker.
My neighbor tossed one out last week and the main box is in wonderful shape.
I am missing the chip tray and the water basin but after watching this video I think I can get the chip tray under control.
Any ideas you have for the water basin would be most helpful.
A cake pan. Just get the dimensions and find one that will fit.
@@TheSmokingBeard COOL! I will give it a go. Thank you. In the meantime, I will be binge watching the rest of you stuff. Thank you so much for sharing your content!
I am so thankful for your video I just got my Smoker put together yesterday and seasoned it today . I was alarmed by the way the wood burned so quickly. I was not sure if it was supposed to do that or not. I was hesitant to use it until I was sure that I was doing it right or not. I will get myself that skillet. I do not understand why the wood plate has holes in it to allow the wood to quickly burn up.. I will watch your rib and brisket video so I can have a good peace of mind in what I am doing. Thanks so much!!!
Thanks... it's tricky, but you can tame the beast... I think it test you to see if you're worthy... lol
These videos are a huge help man, thank you!
You're welcome.
Just forget the tray and use the skillet...I dont have many flare ups with mine. but have been thinking of using a pan. I like to check mine and sometimes if I check it too much the blocks catch on fire. Also chips soaked in water are better..
chips soaked in water give you steam , not true smoke
👍
Glad it worked for you too keep the flare ups away.
Thanks
try a stainless steel 9 inch pie tin ...
Thanks
So I got this same smoker as a Christmas gift from my wife. Took it out of the box and went to season it. I noticed before I put any meat on it, that it got super hot ( over 400*f by the built in door temp). I was super frustrated cause here it is 1am and I need to throw this brisket no later than 3am to have it ready for the Chiefs to kick off their Playoff "Run-it-Back" Campaign against the Browns at 2pm! Maybe it was a fluke, but I (out of desperation and not sure what else to try) turned the gas valve on the propane tank off. Then gave it ONE full turn open, lit the burner and waited saying prayers... By the time I re-lit the burner (having left both doors open the whole time on a frosty January night) it had cooled off to where I could rest my bare hand on the top of the smoker body. I watched and watched and the door thermometer held at 200*f on lowest setting. I could then use the control dail on the smoker itself to get the temp fine tuned to what looked like 225*f. 11 hours later & I had 19lbs of beautifully barked, tender & juicy brisket that didn't last to the end of the game!!! I am new to smokin' ,so I don't have the probes and all that fancy stuff like you do, but maybe it's something you could test out and do a video on if it REALLY did work...like I said, it might have been a fluke- but I got 2 racks of ribs I'm gonna give a try tomorrow morning, for the Chiefs vs Bills!!!
Ma-homie or Bills Mafia?
@@TheSmokingBeard I live in KC now so Chiefs!
Pulling for the Bills since Beasley is with them now. He used to be with the Cowboys before he switched teams. KC will take it, but I like pulling for the underdogs.
@@TheSmokingBeard I hear that. It should be a good game. Of all the teams in the AFC the Bills I feel have the best chance to knock out KC. I grew up a Dolphins fan- I like the Chiefs, LOVE the Phins! The Chiefs have quite a few former Phins on their roster.
@@TheSmokingBeard just wanted to give a quick update. I was able to duplicate getting the temperature to hold steady by only opening the valve on the propane tank ONE full turn. I am running the smoker as sold with the chip tray as is, only foil wrapping the water pan (I filled it with apple cider to help with moisture & maybe help enhance the flavor of the meat) to make cleaning it easier. I used chunks and got nice amount of smoke, and really only had flare-ups when I opened the doors. Once I was done spritzing the ribs and closed the doors back up, the flames would go out in a couple minutes and it was back to business! This past Sunday, I smoked 2 racks of ribs using the 3-2-1 method, & they turned out very tender & full of flavor! When I wrapped the ribs in foil, I also smoked 2 whole salmon filets I picked up from my local Costco. The salmon was done when it was time to remove the ribs from the foil & sauce them, which worked out great so the ribs didn't pick up any of the fish flavor at all. Had it pretty loaded, but by the door thermometer, it held at a pretty constant 225*f, so we had some good eats by the start of the AFC Championship game this past Sunday!!! If it getting too hot is the major knock for this type of smoker, I might have stumbled onto the solution!!!
Take the aluminum foil off the old chip pan. I have absolutley no problem creating lots of smoke with mine. It does take a 20ish minutes to get hot enough to smoke though.
👍
I didn’t see or hear in the video that you soaked the wood chunks or is that not recommended?
Alot of people like to soak... personally I don't.
Don't soak. Dirty smoke. Wood is seasoned to dry it out.
exact same skillet at walmart in canada: $30
Wow
id say get rid of or try without the chip tray-just the cast iron
I did and it was not a good idea. Not enough oxygen was hitting the flame so it starved it out. All I could smell after that was the propane gas leaking out.
Good to know bro!
👍
Hi Beard
I know this is a year late in asking but did you finally give up on the chip tray and just put the skillet right on the burner?
I put the skillet on top of the chip tray because if you don't put the chip tray down first, the flame doesn't get enough air and will go out on you.
And to answer your question, yes! I do not put chips directly onto the provided chip tray. By doing this, it ignites the chips/Chunks and brings the temp too high up for smoking.
There is a brother in another video who is using two pieces of rebar as a spacer which he places his skillet on.
Looks like they re-designed the chip tray. My Masterbuilt has a stainless steel box that has a lid, the box is about 6" x 6" x 1" and sits on a ring that has 2 pieces of thin angle iron. The box is supposed to sit on those thin angle iron pieces and is probably 2" away from the burner. Of course the "chip box" warped in the first use, and the slotted lid doesn't fit flat any longer, not sure how important that even is.
The other issue is that even with that chip tray design change the temp fluctuations are INCREDIBLE. I will have the flame set at the lowest setting and I've seen temps swing from 200F ~ 275F with a full propane tank. I usually start the smoker with the "line" of the temp control straight down. It heats and 'levels off" to about 230F, but it will swing wildly +/-40F EASY. It makes no sense. I'm really frustrated with temp control of the smoker because I really want to use it, but I don't want to sit there and play "adjust the flame" every 5 minutes. I've played with the back shutters, I've played with the bottom door....it's to the point that I just don't want to use it. We love smoking ribs, pork loin, chicken, etc., but I get frustrated because a 3 hour smoke is me running back and forth to the smoker and adjusting it all freaking day. :(
I am going to try using a cast iron skillet as I have more than a few, maybe that will work.
I hear you. Electric is the way to go if you want to set it and forget it. Propane is good in a power outage or if you take it camping.
Mine struggles to hit 200 f... Wonder why?
Close the damper on top. Use an external temp probe. Sometimes those are either faulty or they are not calibrated correctly
My propane smoker won't go below 300* ideas?
It all depends on your smoker. I know what helped mine stay low was adding the cast iron skillet. This prevented the flareups and kept the temp down.
Added a shutoff valve past the regulator on the hose. Temp now goes down to 225*
I soaked my wood chips 8n water. No issues with flare ups with stock pan
👍
Don't soak. Dirty smoke. Wood is seasoned to dry it out.
Why not use a smoke box and just put it on tray ??
The pan seems to work.
Chip tray has a cover the chip tray has a cover where is it. Key part of your trip tray is the cover. With proper parts and equipment smoker works fine.
👍
put the cast iron directly on the burner... don;t use the chip try at all...
I tried that l, but the flame went out right away. If you're gonna do this, make sure to be checking on your flame.
Stop opening the door
Ok
Hey Smokin, I use mine with a pellet smoking tube, they work great. You can also really adjust the flame on the burner by turning it past high, as if to turn it off, but not turning it off...you can really get the flame pretty low by doing this, just be careful if it's too windy, may blow it out. Here's a link of mine, go to 13:40 to see it if you're not into making Jalepeno Cheddar kielbasas....~Old School.
ruclips.net/video/NJEKw74VlyM/видео.html
Thanks