Side by Side Comparison of: Char-Broil vs Masterbuilt

Best 75 bucks i ever spent. Had a much larger pit i stopped using 13 years ago because too much work.
Ive done 4 slabs a few times. Sometimes finish in oven about 45 mins(325) with a couple teaspoons of water to steam and moisten depending on temp maintained. Pour off renderings and water. Sauce and about 20 more minutes in oven . Yummy yum yum. Also switched to electric starter in the firebox vs messy dangerous chimneys.
LOVE IT. would buy again over and over.

I love this grill! All the negative reviews are complaints that its not large enough. I can easily cook 8+ burger patties on this at a time, or 2 racks of ribs, multiple steaks, whatever we need for 1-6 people. This thing is darn near a miniature version of what youll find in stores, stand about belly button height (im 5'10") but its perfect for me.
The paint did bubble off on the bottom side, but no one sees it except for me, because I bend over to clean up drippings, so I'm not concerned with it. It smokes excellent, and the flavor of the meat is always amazing.

So I wasn't so sure how his was going to work out after reading all of the reviews. However, I've decided that anyone writing a negative review really didn't know what they were doing and didn't properly care for the smoker as was instructed on the first page of the manual. It took me one short hour by myself to put together then I seasoned it by rubbing down with vegetable oil and lighting a hot fire inside for several hours. I simply couldn't wait to get the smoker cooking, so when the seasoning process was completed, I cleaned out the ash and started the process over. I smoked my first brisket on it and it was absolute perfection! The smoker held the smoke well and had next to no leakage of heat or smoke. You simply cannot beat this entry-level smoker! I absolutely recommend this product without hesitation!

Easy to assemble, all components fit together perfectly! Have used twice a and both times the food came out fantastic. I researched smokers and was advised to stay away from this design, that the quality/design would allow too much smoke to exit through the seams to allow for proper cooking. Those websites are just blowing smoke. This inexpensive unit does a fine job, easy to maintain a constant temp level. I would recommend to all.

I received my smoker yesterday and couldn't wait to put it together. I took some time, but I had no issues putting it together according to the instructions. I had no gaps whatsoever in between the top lid and bottom chamber, I just made sure when I tightened the hinge brackets I aligned them as close to the edges of the top lid and bottom chamber as possible. It seems pretty solid, not flimsy at all. It's a perfect size for a family of 4 or less, unless you have NFL linebackers for kids. I fired it up last night after I got it all put together and smoked a chicken that I split into halves. For my first time ever using a charcoal / wood side chamber smoker, the chicken came out perfect and delicious! I also ordered the Weber "Rapidfire*" charcoal chimney starter to pre-light the coals. I bought B & B Texas style oak charcoal briquettes and Western brand Mesquite hardwood chunks at my local Academy sporting goods store for the cooking process . Everything worked like a charm! I even fell asleep on the couch and woke up to find that the coals and wood had all burned down to ash and the smoker was just barely warm, but the chicken still came out wonderful and yummy! I have nothing negative to say about this smoker, it worked great and no other product can compare to the quality of this smoker for the price of only $69 dollars and some change. Maybe an EL CHEAPO product that will rust out and fall apart in less than six months.

I do not have one complaint about this smoker. I've made ribs,chicken, beef sticks and jerky. Works perfect every time. And the remote control makes this a great tool for the busy body. No more having to go out and check the temperatures. I can view them right on the remote.

I spent quite a bit of time researching various smokers before purchasing this one. There are a few reviews that it didn't work well, but most liked it. We use this almost every weekend to smoke something. Our friends are totally envious.
Pluses: Remote control, internal thermometer, many racks, electronic set temperature, wheels to move it around, tube to put more wood in.
We have the remote control and that is awesome - you can set and check the unit temperature, the internal thermometer to check the meat, and time it's cooked so far. I really like that you can put in more wood without having to open the door.
Minuses: clean up, window hard to clean
While having a window seems neat, it really isn't worthwhile becuase it's hard to clean and see inside. The lower tray (where the water tray is) is hard to remove and clean. The very bottom tray is easy to remove and clean though.
Master built has a lot of additional items you can get that will help - like a mesh tray for jerky/fish, beer can chicken holder, sausage holder, rib holder, etc. We have gotten most of these and they work well.
Masterbuilt also has a website with recipes and you can find recipes on other sites. I'm still learning what works and what doesn't - it's a lot of fun. The meats seem to take a lot longer than the recipes to cook but in the end, it's delicious.

Made Smoked Prime Rib Roast for Christmas It was delicious. Used the hickory chips.
Made "Disney World" smoked turkey legs in January with Apple chips. Going to make smoked wings and sausage for Super Bowl.
I have been extremely satisfied with the way the new smoker works.

We have smoked so much in this from an 18lb turkey to a rack of ribs.... No complaints

Awesome!!! I have looked at all the different brands and sizes for a while now and decided on this one mainly for the price and meat probe. All I can say is I picked a winner. I have used it three times the first week and love it. I did chicken legs and country style ribs first, best I ever smoked, got the ribs a little dry but that was my bad. Small pork butt turned out great. Just got finished with two large pork butts (21 pounds total) and I have never seen pork so tender, literally had problems picking it up to bring it in. I will have to say though, its a pretty good job cleaning it up but worth it. Don't have any illusions that it will ever be shiny and new looking again but it is a smoker, who really cares what it looks like on the inside as long as its clean. I am planning on doing a turkey for thanksgiving, hope it goes well. This thing takes all the work out of smoking, just add a few chips every hour or so and sit back and watch the remote display to see the meat temp. It don't get no easier than that. My wife even used it to cook the small butt and it turned out super!

There's is a nice grill but you better have a hammer ready. Some parts of the grill were bent from the box and the when you closed it it didn't properly align. Had to hammer it in. It took about an hour to get it ready but overall i am pleased with the grill. Its a good size and I can't wait to start using it. The Side grill is okay size as well, you could fill it up with about 4 burgers at a time.

While this did make some really delicious meats, the smoker box is really to small . Basically you have to have another fire going and just load the coals in the smoker box to get the temperature accurate for smoking.. Also, Due to the small size you have to clean the ashes out continuously while smoking your meats.. So using this thing is a full time job.. You have to babysit it every second... So if you are smoking a brisket .. plan to be at the smokers side for the entire length of the smoke.

It's alright, great for a small family but nowhere big enough for when you are grilling for more than 3 or 4 people and even then it can be a challenge. The hardest challenge I've had with this grill is getting a desired temperature control. It's smaller so it's real easy to get it to hot for things like chicken quarters, smoked sausages, the kind of stuff you want to slow cook for awhile. Once you get the hang of that it's not a bad little grill. It's pretty easy to assemble, took me about 45 minutes taking my time to make sure I didn't put anything on backwards or upside down. If your just someone like me that likes to grill sometimes and not one of those people who have rub recipes from like 3 generations ago this is fine, if you take your grilling seriously and really into it probably better off spending a few bucks for something a little bigger and a little up market.

My wife bought me the standard version of this smoker last year for fathers day and it was mediocre, the cooking space is small and you'll have a tough time smoking 2 good racks of ribs on it, but it got the job done. I just bought Deluxe version for a Memorial Day BBQ and it is far superior to the standard. If you are thinking about purchasing this you owe it to yourself to spend the little bit extra and get the deluxe. The firebox on my standard version has gotten rusty but hasn't rusted through. It has held up pretty well over the course of the last year. All things considered if you are aware up front that you are getting something that you will replace in a year or 2 this is a good purchase.

This little smoker/grill is a really great addition. We have turned out some of the best ribs and chicken ever using it and last week I did braised short ribs that could be award winners.

The side fire box allows you to have more control over the heat and smoke. It is like building a two level fire in a regular grill, but with even more control over the heat and the smoke. The design gives tons of smoke to your food and it is even possible to over smoke so we have learned not to use wood chips until about the last hour of cooking.

PROS:

- Turns out great food
- Cooks ribs for 6-8 easily
- Fantastic ability to control heat and smoke
- Reasonably easy clean up clean out
- Works best with briquettes rather than solid wood charcoal
- Price from Amazon was much better than the local Big Box or Hardware Store

CONS:

- You do have to keep adding charcoal over a 4-6 hour session
- Learning heat control is a bit of trial and error process
- Different fuels burn at different rates
- Assembly was a little tedious, but ALL the parts were there.
- You do have to keep watch on the temperature, this is NOT an automatic process.

We purchased this smoker about 6 months ago to replace our falling apart charcoal smoker. We are so glad we did! It is so much easier to just push a button than to mess with charcoal all day. We mainly got it to smoke our homemade bacon, but after we discovered how easy it is to use we have started smoking so much more. We even did our Christmas prime rib in the smoker and it was unbelievable! Having the remote makes it easy to monitor from inside the house and the built in probe thermometer makes it easy to monitor the temperature of our food. It heats up very quickly (in the summer in AZ it only takes about 10 minutes to get up to 250).

I wish the hole for adding wood chips was a bit bigger. Some of the chips we buy are chopped a little too big to go in and we have to spend time chopping them up. I also wish there was the ability for an alarm or auto-shutoff based on the temperature of the meat. It makes you set a cooking time, but most of the time you are smoking to a specific temperature and not a specific time.

We purchased the optional legs with wheels. It is helpful to have it sitting up higher and so much easier to move when needed.

Having a great time with this smoker. I am still new, but learning from my mistakes very quickly. Product seems worth the money so far. I had an issue with my handle initially, they said they would send new one. I haven't seen it. Also on my second remote. It's actually fun enough that I don't care. I can't say this is a great smoker cause this is my first, but damn it if it isn't fun. After I received my remote, I am very happy with this purchase. If I were to do it again, I'd get windowless. Can't see Jack through this thing.

Good smoker, like the features. Deducting a star as the temp is off by about 30 degrees. I used 2 different thermometers to check it and I can adjust it now that I know it's off. Glad I checked it.

All positive here...

All the things that make smoking hard, is what this smoker does is makes it easy -
- Easy to use smoking chips chamber
- Digital temperature control
- Lots of rack levels
- Digital timer
- Digital meat probe - perfect for cooking poultry!

I would highly recommend this smoker! One suggestion is to purchase the base unit (I did not purchase it so I have to bend over to check my items and end up with a face full of smoke when the wind isn't just right).

Update: This unit is not "outdoor friendly" - but is still an awesome smoker. If you happen to put this on your patio, please make sure it stays dry. The control unit will eventually become inoperable if it gets exposed to weather. On the plus side, dealing with warranty service was actually pretty good. So before your warranty runs out, make sure you check it carefully for all possible issues.

It arrived bent up/warped a good bit. The smoke box itself had screw holes that were over an inch out of alignment. I was able to put a screw in, then bend it around to get the next screw in, etc all around. It does have 8 screws there, so the finished bit doesn't look terrible, but be prepared to do a lot of work putting pressure on areas to get the screws to line up.

The lid itself was bent so badly it wouldn't shut on the corner. But the metal is thin enough that I was able to get a decent match up bending it back.

The bend/dent on the front of the main barrell was the toughest to bend back, it's still not perfect, but close enough.

I'm currently trying to find something to use as an ash tray, as currently I have to to scoop the ashes out when I'm done. And apparently, they couldn't spring for a tin can to use for a drip can.

Still working on getting the temperatures down and having the right kind of smoke. Mine likes to run hot it seems. Only done a seasoning run so far, going to try a 1 hour chicken cook to start and see how it does.

I gave it 3 stars only because it was $67, but you get what you pay for. It's not very big, has the problems I mentioned above, but don't expect anything more than something that technically works.

It was a cheap smoker/grill combo and I really wanted this for my birthday. I order while it was out of stock and Amazon got it to me 3 days later in Hawaii! The shipping probably cost near as much as the grill! It is cheaply made metal and will rust faster than a Weber or other high end model. The lids don't seal properly like a real smoker but they don't let too much out at the same time either. We have used it as a grill and smoker and for the price ~$58 I cannot complain. Worst part of it all is there is not a lot to do with the leftover ashes so I scoop them out with a cup.

This is second one of these I have purchased. I will use this one exclusively for smoking. This grill/smoker is the perfect size for a small family, it does an excellent job smoking ribs, chickens, and pork roasts, gets the job done relatively quickly, (three hours for all the aforementioned). The only problem I have with these grill/smokers is that they are not very durable. The heat from smoke box will eventually rust out the top and bottom of the smoke/heat box, (two years for me), and the same thing happened to the bottom of the grill area, it actually caved in and I had to cover the hole with heavy duty aluminum foil. This grill/smoker would be perfect if not for this one problem. I believe that a heavy duty version of this grill/smoker would sell extremely well, I would buy one at twice the price.

I only gave this 3 stars because I have a pile of cooked meats and veggies, so I'm biased for now.

First of all, this had easy to follow instructions and all of its parts but unfortunately I had the luck to get the one that was made by the b team. Holes didn't match up, even remotely close, on the smoker so I had to fix it myself. The lid to the grill is bent and doesn't sit very flush, so smoke freely pours from this thing in every possible gap. The fiber washers were 3/4, one was broken and the nuts weren't all threaded.

Regardless, it's cheap and works. Smaller than expected, and plenty of gaps to release heat, but it works. I have meat that it cooked, so y'know... Mission accomplished.

I bought this smoker as my first smoker. All of my friends and co-workers smoke meat and they got me into it. I wanted to try it on my own and bought this because it was a fairly inexpensive smoker and I figured if I was not good at it then at least I didn't spend a fortune on it. I ended up loving smoking and this was a good purchase. However, as for product itself: it really isn't that great. it's a great starter smoker because of the size but there are many cons. The biggest being: THE PEELING AND MELTING PAINT. the paint started peeling during the first use and it melted the paint all over the food. from then on out I had to put foil all over the top of the smoker. The second complaint is that the front corners do not make a good sea- smoke just billows out of there instead of staying inside the smoker. another complaint isn't faulty manufacturing it's just due to this style of smoker. it's very hard to clean due to the shape. I wish i would have gotten a cabinet style. friends of mine have cabinet style smokers and they are just all around better. However, the seller was great and it shipped in a timely manner and was in great condition. The only positive of this product is that the smoker was really easy to assemble.

This is NOT a "high-end" electric smoker. It is very typical of Made In China products these days... it's inexpensively made, but the design SEEMS sufficient for the job. Yes, there are plastic parts around the bottom front you could kick with your shoe on a cold evening and shatter the plastic... don't do that. If the smoker is on legs or a stand (we had our "guys" make a stand to put it at chest-level so we don't have to bend over to put things in and take things out. Yes, the plastic molding around the controls at the top-front edge is a little odd looking and doesn't blend-in as well as you might like. But this is EXACTLY what you are going to get when you don't want to pay the much higher prices for a top-of-the-line smoker Made In the USA. You pay less, you get less, BUT what you get WORKS (so far). Is it NECESSARY to pay the extra cost of a well-made and much more expensive Made In USA smoker? Time will tell, but out of the box, this smoker seems to be doing what it was designed to do. If you are not happy with the meat that comes out of the smoker... it's easy to blame the smoker, but mostly, the problem is going to be that the smoker was not used correctly by the owner. It shouldn't be that hard, but there is undoubtedly a learning curve since smoking cooks at temperatures much lower than ovens or bar-b-ques -- necessary to infuse the smoke into the meat. One thing I was surprised NOT to see in the description of the product was whether or not it was insulated. I assumed at this price, this product would NOT be insulated but I was surprised to find that it DOES have insulation in the sides, top, and bottom at the very least (can't tell if the door is insulated or not). This is important because uninsulated smokers can have a lot of trouble in colder temperatures. Not that the amount of insulation in this smoker will help if it is Zero degrees F! If you live in an area with really cold weather, don't be too surprised if you can't smoke when the temperature gets below 35 degrees or so. You'd have to have a super-insulated smoker for it to be useful in really cold temperatures. Range of the remote control... in an average-size house, the remote works fine even if I'm at the front door (inside) and the smoker is on the back porch. So no range complaints from me. The one thing that I'm not sure about, but it's probably OK, is that the racks aren't exactly what I'd call "sturdy". Can they support a whole 12-15 pound turkey? Probably, but I think they will be bending a little bit with that much weight on a single shelf. Another "artifact" of being designed to be able to sell at a fairly affordable low price rather than at a much higher price that permits sturdier racks, etc. UPDATE-1 year and 1 1/2 months after purchase, the plastic top/cover over the oval shaped controls (membrane-type keypad) has detached from the control panel exposing the electronics under the plastic cover to weather. That will eventually ruin the control panel on the unit to fail completely. Fortunately, this unit comes with a remote control so all I need to do is put some weatherproof tape over the membrane control panel on the top-front corner of the grill to keep the electronics from getting wet. The unit is located 30 miles east of San Francisco. Coldest winter temp about 28 degrees (overnight), hottest summer temp about 104. Never left in the sun. Never exposed to rain (no snow here). Always under patio roof (high quality shingle roof). But STILL, it only took 13 1/2 months for the membrane on the control panel to detach. Originally rated this product 4 stars. Downgraded 1 star (to 3 stars) because of poor quality/durability of the control panel.

This is ok. But not much more than that. First time using it the paint peeled off! It's a good starter smoker. Get your technique down and then go to a better one.

Assembly was easy. Works but feel flimsy. Very small, not enough cooking area. The black paint came off first time I used it. The side fire box window would not hold open position. I have to jam the window open with a tong.Temperature gauge stuck at 400 after first time smoking. Replaced temperature gauge with a new Amazon gauge. Two stars for small and flimsy.

I wish I would've done a little more research before purchasing this just because it was cheap. I thought maybe it would just get the job done and some times it does but the heat gets unevenly distributed because its so small so you get burnt pieces, under cook, and perfect meat all in one smoke session. =/ wouldn't get this again now looking for a different smoker.

I purchased this item for $69 knowing that the box was damaged...no big deal...well, what I didn't know until after an hour assembling it was that the lid to the main grill compartment was warped and the stovepipe flange that is supposed to lie flush with the top of the unit was also warped. I figured it would be way to much trouble to unassembled it to send it back so I fired it up and placed a brick on the top to hold it down. It has reached a max temp of 400° so it might work out. But for the price, it is a good starter smoker. If it turns out that it smokes great, I will change my rating.

I bought this for my father for Father's day the box had minimal damage considering having to be shipped,but when my husband started to put it together he had to take a rubber mallet and hit out dents in most if not all of the metal pieces just to make everything fit right. Also had some small dents and paint missing. Not really something you wanna give as a present for someone

First one came with a major, unstable dent in the back. Would not let the racks close in or out. Amazon took it back and another one was received. It too had a dent but this time on the front side. It allowed for everything to work so ended up keeping it. Smoker works fine so far, Amazon was amazing in their customer relations...

This smoker has worked great so far.Update the electronics has completely come off the smoker when i took the cover off to use it. Now you have to hold the plastic faceplate cover on to use it. The built in thermometer has never worked either.

I believe a note should be added to the description "DOES NOT HEAT UP WHEN USING AN OUTDOOR EXTENSION CORD!!!!!!!" After 2 hours of labor putting it together, everything lit up but there was NO HEAT after 2 hours! What a waste of money!!!!!!!!!! I have another masterbuilt smoker and have no problems using the extension cord.

So disappointed. This product began to rust within a few weeks. What a waste of time and money.

15 minutes after lighting the charcoal for the first time, the paint is already peeling and littering our back porch! With a product that is used at high heat, you'd figure it would be designed and painted to withstand the heat! I'm super sad I gave my husband this piece of junk for Christmas :-(

As others note, you get what you pay for (I received this as a gift); the metal (if it's really metal) is too thin too thin & this thing has too many air leaks to really control temperature. It might be ok for a hot dog griller, but that's about it. Wheels are cheap, smoke exhaust is on lid (research placement of this)... If you've ever grilled or smoked before, this thing is absolute J U N K.

The positive is that the metal is so light that I figure it will burn through within a year and I'll get a good smoker. If you're interested in something solid, check out the Brinkman heavy gauge off-set smoker or Oklahoma Joe's Highland - these are available at big box stores/retailers for $250-300. If you really want to smoke, there is absolutely NO comparison.

Not happy. The offset is welded so crooked and poorly that it can't even be fastened together so it's a joke and not a funny one! I tried to ask if I could have just the offset shipped to me, but they don't even carry it, so I'd have to contact char-broil and it's just a headache that I don't deserve after paying $150 for something that I can't use

This product is worthless. It does not hold heat in any sense of the word. Do yourself a favor and buy a better one, how are you supposed to smoke things with no heat? I wouldnt even use this as a charcoal grill. Im not sure what purpose this item would be good for. It would be better served as a Char-Boil cooler to keep your beers cold than to try and cook anything on it.

We bought the smoker at the end of October 2015. We used it every Saturday, so only once per week and it was cleaned and covered the whole time it was not in use. The smoker got up to temperature and was very easy to use. Taste was not the same as wood or charcoal, but ease of use and almost foolproof temp control made up for it. Then around December 2015 the meat thermometer stopped working. I was annoyed, but by then I was able to time the meat well enough that it was not that important. At the start of March 2016 (5 months from purchase) the whole electrical control system went. The smoker is now unusable. Came back to Amazon to get order receipt and look at the warranty and see that they only provide a 90 day warranty. Not impressive for the money.

It doesn't produce good smoke. I tried to follow the direction. Then i tried to add wood chips a little bit offen still it takes forever to smoke but no good result. I wish i can return this but it's beyond policy allowed. I should have given up for the first 2 tries and returned it.

Maybe others have had good experience with their Madterbuilt smoker but not I. It's worked as should less than than half the time I have used, too inconsistent to plan important/expensive dinners with.Labor Day 2015: put in a 5lb pork shoulder at 8:00am, the pork at room temp. Took out at @ 6:30pm, never once opened the door. I added wood chips at 8:00am, noon, & 2:30pm. It was 80 degrees outside & sunny, don't think the weather was an issue here. From my understanding most barbecue pros smoke at 225 degrees for 10-12 hours for success. I smoked in this Masterbuilt for 10.5 hours at 240 degrees and the meat still needed a knife, very dissapointing! Maybe it's my unit specifically but it's worked right less than half the time, I do the exact same thing in my oven and my ribs and pork roast are been perfect every time. It's not so much the money spent on the wasted meat, it's the ruined family dinners (this is the 2nd holiday dinner in 2015). Help me find what I've done wrong!I'll be using my oven from now on, call me if you want a great deal on a lightly used Masterbuilt ($200 in meat wasted so far). If there's a flaw in my technique I'm not sure where, any suggestions? My buddy has an inexpensive Charbroil unit he paid $150 approx 4 years ago, his rocks and makes some killer meat. Our smoking methods don't differ.You want a straight up review from a consumer/user here it tis.... Hope Masterbuilt replies to my emails sent, we'll see and I will review again if they don't. For now, I'd keep looking if I were you.....