HomeGrills / SmokersBradleyMasterbuilt 30-Inch Electric Smokehouse Smoker with Window and RF Controller |
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
144 of 148 found the following review helpful:
 Finally, the options you need. Jan 21, 2011
By Skyguy54
I am not an expert but a consumer that does a lot of research before buying something like this. This model has many improvements over the "Non-RF" model:
1) Wheels that work when the unit is tilted, (caveat: the slide on grease drip tray must be removed before you can tilt and roll.)
2) A light inside the unit, (caveat, It's a little hard to see the meat with the smoke and smoke "grim" on the inside of the huge window but still very nice feature.)
3) The meat thermometer. It is a real needed item on this type of smoker. You never have to open the door to check the temperature. *I double checked it against my own digital thermometer and it runs true within a degree or two.
4) A handheld remote control. No AAA batteries included, (2 req.) You can program the time & temp as well as check the meat probe temp & switch the light on & off. You cannot see the current temp of the smoker, i.e.; watch it rise to the temp you set. To do this just look at the display on top of the unit for this info. Speaking of the top digital unit; it automatically alternates between the time left on the smoker and the current temp of the smoker. To see the meat probe temp, just push the temp button once.
The unit is well insulated and comes up to temp well within a reasonable time, (outside air temp = 46 degrees. The smoker came up to temp of 225 degrees within 17 minutes.) The unit appears well built and of solid construction. I did have a small warpage of the bottom back portion of the back metal panel. This impeded the grease tray a little. This could have been due to the shipper, (Fed Ex) but the unit very well packed. Assembly took 15 minutes. Very simple. The chip tray feature will lock in place after you dump a load into the smoker and the alignment mark for new chips is an easy step to miss when reloading, no bigge. It uses no more than one cup of chips at a time and seems to take a while at 225 degrees to burn them. The racks, water pan, grease pan all are easy to remove and somewhat easy to clean. The nice feature of the bottom grease pan is it is tilted to the back grease trap and comes out for easy cleaning. Overall, I like to keep my tools clean and I spent 15 minutes cleaning this unit, not bad.
I smoked two racks of baby back ribs last night and the unit seemed to cook it faster than expected. The internal temp was reached prior to the time I set. Of course it is not an exact science but the ribs were well smoked and delicious. I used hickory with some mesquite chips and the smoke flavor was strong. Mesquite sucks as opinionated by a lot of "experts." I also smoke some pork bellies, (bacon) that I had cured and they will be tried tomorrow after a 24 sit in the fridge. I am now smoking a brisket and we will see how it does. All in all I am very pleased with this unit and all the new features. I am really liking the fact that I can check the internal temp of the meat by using the remote. I can be doing something elsewhere and always click the "meat probe" button on the remote and know when its time to stop the smoking process. pros: all the features that you want from a smoker of this caliber, well built and good smoke. Cons, can't see the current temp of the smoker on the remote, just the "set" temp. I would highly recommend this to anyone looking for a smoker in this class.
65 of 65 found the following review helpful:
Masterbuilt 30" Electronic Smokehouse with remote control May 15, 2011
By CaptTurbo
I'm very pleased with this unit and have been using it a great deal. So far I have smoked eight racks of beef ribs, two sirlion tip roasts, hot peppers, corn, and black tipped shark!
I love my beef roasts rare and really appreciate how easy it is to get good results with the temp control and the internal meat probe this unit has. The remote control allows me to keep a close eye on things without being tied to the thing. A very nice feature.
I feel that this was a good purchase and represents an excellent value. It will see a lot of use!
***I just wanted to add a quick edit*** here to address what some others have been saying about the remote control.
While it is not obvious, you CAN get the temp reading for the inside of the smoker on the remote and it can be done in two ways:
Either push the temp set button twice which will cause the readout to flash between the temp setting and the actual temperature inside the smoker for ten seconds or so.
The other and best way is to press the meat probe button once which will cause the meat probe reading to be displayed and then smoker temp set and actual smoker temp reading to alternate on the remote display. It does not matter if you are actually using the meat probe for this to work.
The issue of the window getting too dirty to see through is a bit over blown. I find it easy to clean with some warm water and mild dish soap. The grime softens as you repeat the task of wiping it down a few times. The same thing for the light.
Hope these tips are helpful for everyone to fully enjoy this gem of a smoker. I love it more with each use.
72 of 73 found the following review helpful:
Would recommend to anyone. Nov 29, 2010
By The_Guy
I just bought this on Black Friday at Bass Pro Shop for 179.94 + tax. I used it to smoke a Boston Butt, Whole Chicken Wings, Turkey Legs, and Some Mac and Cheese. Everything turned out great so far.
It is super easy to use. The Remote control is amazing. It allows you to monitor the tempature of the smoker plus the tempature of the meat probe. The tempature control works really well. It heated a little above 225 after I added some wood chips but the tempature was easily conrolled by opening the vent up a little. Adding wood chips are a breeze. I plan on smoking a whole turkey soon and maybe some ribs.
The internal light helps when you are loading and unloading the meat into the smoker.
The only Con is the glass window. Once you start smoking meat it gets smokey and dirty fairly fast but you can still see in.
Masterbuilt has some really good youtube videos on this smoker and some tips for using their electric smokers. Thats where I got the idea for the smoked Mac and Cheese.
60 of 61 found the following review helpful:
 Step 1: Assembly and Step 2: Smoking May 25, 2011
By The Big Guy
Step 1:
I thought it would be cool to do a step by step assessment of this product. Sometimes I love something the first week and it sucks week 2.
OK, for the unpacking and assembly of the unit. 15 minutes. No screws missing, good instructions, no misalignment of screws. No "what the heck is THIS for?" Well packaged. Good assembly instructions.
Seasoning. Cooked for 3 hours at 275. Took about 30 min to reach that temp. Added wood at about 2.50 hours. Everything went perfectly. Smoke started within 3 minutes (dry hickory chips).
Reviewers note: I own a Masterbuilt electric turkey fryer. I only use it to steam fish, lobster and other seafood. It works great with turkey. It is just I cannot stand the smell of the oil. Most people cant smell it. I can. Buth the unit works perfectly.
BTW, the BBQ guy, John McLemore pushes his recipe book everywhere in the purchasing process. Normally, I find this stuff worthless, but John works up some really good recipes, from Low Country Boil stuff to smoked Prime Rib. $19.95 at my pals at Amazon. Worth the investment.
This weekend, doin ribs.....wish me luck y'all! Will report back.
Step 2: Smoking
I did two slabs of ribs. The unit worked perfectly. The remote control is awesome! I was controlling things from 80 feet away, checking on temp etc. I used MUCH less wood chips than I did my trial run and the taste was fabulous. Less is more when it comes to how much wood to use. I used two tray fulls of hickory. You can always add more flavor later with hickory sauces or salt, but if you use too much smoke.....yuck. Takes some experimenting, and what is so cool with this unit is that it is soooo easy.
Warning: the remote has an on/off button. I thought it was just for the remote. But if you press it, it turns the UNIT on/off in addition to the remote. The instructions never told me this.
Cleanup: the only thing I clean up is the drip pan, water pan, the racks and the glass. Have to do this anyway with any other grill, except the glass. I squirted windex on it and voila, good as new.
Con: the only one besides the remote issue is the drip tray. You have to make sure the unit is tilted back enough to let the grease drain into the pan. Otherwise it leaks through the front. I put a 2" piece of wood on the front legs rather than try to tweak the adjustable wheels. Worked fine.
All in all, a very impressive, easy way to get into smoking!
Step 3: Smoke the heck out of it!
I have tried everything from potato salad smoking to pork loin to brisket. Unit totally dependable, remote control works flawlessly (see above) and the glass IS easy to clean with Windex. Look, I watched from afar, never thought I could smoke food. This makes me look good.
UPDATE:
I have had the smoker for several months now, and just like S&P's downgrading of the US, I must downgrade this unit. For some reason, I cannot get rid of an acrid, metallic smell to the smoke. To test, I burned the same hickory chips on my gas grill and in this unit. The gas grill smoke was true to the wood, but this Masterbuilt keeps on giving a combination smoke/metallic odor. I read somewhere someone else noticing the same thing. While it functions perfectly, I can't stand the smell it gives off. Selling it off and buying a Weber Smokey.
28 of 29 found the following review helpful:
 The Good and the Not-So-Good Jan 31, 2011
By Greg348
This is my first smoker I've owned and I wanted to share my experience having now used it for the first time last weekend.
First the Good:
The smoker was very well packaged and arrived on the promised arrival date. The assembly instructions were easy to follow and the programming of the digital control was very straight-forward as well. The RF remote was very handy in monitoring the operation of the smoker and internal temperature of the items being smoked. The items I smoked were two fillets of salmon and a 7 lb pork shoulder (the salmon on Saturday and pork on Sunday). Both tasted incredible and I used far less wood chips than expected.
Now, the not-so-good:
The workmanship of the factory leaves me scratching my head. The smoker comes with two casters you can mount on the lower rear portion of the unit to make it easier to move around. There's also a metal panel which is riveted in place covering the bottom of the smoker and the panel has 3 holes punched in it on each bottom corner to allow the 2 mounting screws for each caster and one hole each side for the leveling bolts to pass through. I was able to screw in the leveling bolts, but the alignment of the holes for the 2 caster screws was so far off that I couldn't (1/4 of the hole was covered by the panel)insert the screws. The smoker is light enough to be easily moved so I ended up not using the casters at all. If not for this workmanship error, my initial rating would definitely have been 5 stars.
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