Smoker opinions? Follow up and review

I have a Bradley and I love it. You do have to buy their proprietary "bisquettes", but they're pretty cheap on Amazon.


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   OK.....time for a few thoughts on the Masterbuilt.My problem was this....trying to keep temp down around 120. Had to kick it up to get the chips to start,and then there would be a temperature spike to 160ish. Still was getting a little albumin forming.Tried starting chips before adding fish,opening door to try to cool it....mixed results although still better than my Little Chief. I could get a decent result,but felt I had to watch it constantly.
   Craig mentioned that the unit being so well insulated was a strength,but also created this weakness...dont think he was having as much trouble as I. Pmmpete not having this trouble,mentioned making sure the burner was in contact with chip pan..it wasnt,so i bent things a little to try. May have helped a little.
   It turns out,as always,throwing more money at it was the solution...for me anyway. For $60ish, I picked up the Masterbuilt cold smoker kit. Basically a side smoker that burns on the side and injects through the the chip port. Much better!Holds the low temp , will smoke like 5 hrs on 1 fill. I dont have to watch and worry anymore(my wife:do you have a football game on that thing or something?...get the yard work done!) . It really has made it more enjoyable.

+1 to adding a cold smoker unit.

100-150 degrees is too low to get most chips/chunks/pellets to smoke in my experience. Cranking the heat up at the start and/or keeping it high and smoking with door open is a PITA.

Add a cold smoker unit and you suddenly have complete control over smoke and temp., for low temperature smoking.

If the weather is cold, I have found that I can produce lots of smoke and quickly reduce wood chips to ash when my Masterbuilt smoker is set at 130 degrees, because the heating element is running all the time to keep the smoke chamber at 130 degrees.  But when the weather is hot, it's much easier to keep the smoke chamber at 130 degrees, so the heating element keeps turning off, and as a result it doesn't burn the chips.  I have to turn the smoker up to a higher temperature to get the heating element to stay on enough to burn the chips.  I don't regard this as a problem with the smoker; it's just a result of smoking fish in hot weather.

To avoid getting "boogers" of albumin on the surface of my kokanee and lake trout, I stick with the same temperature schedule (100 for half an hour, 130 for an hour, 150 for an hour, 170 until the fish is flakey) for both cold weather and hot weather.  I only apply 2-3 hours of smoke.  In cold weather, I get smoke starting at 130 degrees, and I finish the fish for a couple hours without smoke.  In hot weather, I may not get smoke until 150 or 170 degrees, so I start without smoke, and finish with a couple hours of smoke.  The fish turn out fine either way.

Pmmpete not having this trouble,mentioned making sure the burner was in contact with chip pan..it wasnt,so i bent things a little to try. May have helped a little.

My first Masterbuilt smoker was a four-rack smoker.  In that smoker the chip tray sat right on the smoker's heating element.  I now have a six-rack Masterbuilt smoker, and the rail which the chip tray sits on holds it a short distance above the heating element.  This may be a minor design change by Masterbuilt.  The six rack smoker produces smoke as well as the four rack smoker, so I don't think it's necessary for the chip tray to sit on the heating element.  Neither smoker will produce smoke well when the weather is hot and the smoker is set at a low temperature, but when the weather is cold, both smokers chug out smoke like champs even when the smoker is set at a low temperature. 

It has been mentioned here a few times in this thread, but I can't say enough about the A-Maze-N products. The smoke tube generators are great, but behold I have found the 5 x 8 pellet smoker tray (AMNPS). This was designed to fit on the little metal rods of the Masterbuilt Smokers (beside the chip tray), but it can be used in nearly ANY smoker or grill to provide smoke 11 hours plus! Even the Chief Smokers! Set the desired temp on your smoker (or no heat at all for a COLD SMOKE). No more chip loading or getting up in the middle of the night for all night smokes! No other add-ons or mail box mods for cold smoking! It makes a "maze" of pellets you light on one end- that will smolder the line of pellets and provide the perfect "Thin Blue Smoke". You could light both ends for double the smoke production if you like, or even light 2 trays for a really big smoker.
http://www.amazenproducts.com/product_p/amnps5x8.htm

Anybody that has a Masterbuilt (or even those that don't!) should have one of these. Dberd & Pete- the issue you describe is exactly what this thing was designed to overcome. You don't need your chip tray anymore. You do need a bit of a small draft though to keep oxygen burning the pellets. I also recommend microwaving your pellets for a few minutes  to evaporate any moisture in them and store them in an air-tight container.

Here is a MES 30 with the AMNPS Pellet smoker in the lower left corner. Loaded is the Atomic Buffalo Turds that were enjoyed at AOTD (and a few beef back ribs) 2-1/2 hours of applewood/Alder pellets at 225' then finished  till crispy on the grill day of the potluck.

+1 on the cold smoker.  It allows me to also do lox!  I do have to watch it though because I use plum and apple wood from my yard and it is difficult to get small chips that the store bought has.  The larger chips do occasionally need prodding to fall down the feeder.

My favorite though is a case of Johnsonville brats from Costco, no prep required, results are amazing!