The Masterbuilt 40-Inch Electric Smoker offers BBQ fans an easy way to slowly smoke food in their backyard. How does it compare to its competitors? Find out everything you need to know with our Masterbuilt review.
There are few cooking methods as satisfying as grilling smoke. Smoking poultry, pork and red meat can be taken to a whole new level by enriching their flavor and allowing them to stay rich and juicy.
For a long time, grill smoking was inaccessible to many people due to the craftsmanship required and the cost of large charcoal smoker drums.
Thank you, that is no longer the case as the advent of electric smokers has allowed a greater number of grill masters to get involved with BBQ smoking.
And one of the best examples of this is the Masterbuilt 40 Inch Electric Smoker. It is one of the best electric smokers out there and is widely recognized by its peers. It’s one of Masterbuilt’s best sellers, and with good reason.
- Digitally controls on/off, temperature, time and light; Monitor the internal temperature of the meat
- Digital blue LED control panel with removable sun visor
- The handheld device becomes a remote control for the grill with built-in Bluetooth Smart…
In today’s review I’m going to examine in depth what exactly makes this grill a great grill and why it could just be the grill or you.
Check out our Masterbuilt 20078715 electric smoker review
Let’s get into that.
Masterbuilt’s Bluetooth Technology
This is a steakhouse that’s firmly in the 21st century, and nowhere is that more evident than through the use of Bluetooth technology.
But is that just a fad and an excuse for a few extra expenses, or does it make the grill worth the extra investment?
Bluetooth capabilities allow your grill to pair with your smartphone, allowing you to use your phone as a remote control.
This not only allows you to turn your smoker on and off remotely, but also allows you to control its temperature and timing. Not only that. If you have a meat sample, you can use it to monitor the internal temperature of the meat as it cooks.
Of course, the fact that it IS remote controlled is extremely handy, but for me the big plus IS that YOU can monitor the internal temperature of your meat easily from your phone.
I’ve written extensively about the importance of controlling the internal temperature of the meat, and this is especially important when smoking on a grill.
The variability of this feature across Masterbuilt is to be welcomed and we hope to see this feature on more smokers and grills in the future.
Assembly
A major bone of contention for some users when purchasing a new grill or smoker is how easy it may or may not be to assemble.
Some take longer than others, and some are an absolute nightmare to put together.
This is precisely why electric smokers are so practical, as they come more or less fully assembled and ready to use. Just plug in and get started.
In the case of Masterbuilt 40, it’s ready to go right out of the box and all you have to do is connect the handles and wheels(you could possibly even omit them). Either way, you’ll be up and running in less than 5 minutes.
Portability
While gas grills are usually sturdy enough to effectively sit where you put them, electric smokers are fairly easy to move.
This is great because outside of the summer season you really don’t want these gathering dust outside on your patio. It is important that they are strong enough to last but light enough to move comfortably.
Luckily, Masterbuilt knows this and has built a model that is just that. Moving is easy thanks to its moderate weight and the wheels attached to its underside. Moving is a breeze.
Cooking Space
One of the main points of comparison I draw when trying to illustrate what makes certain barbecue grills better than others is the cooking surface.
While power can capture the attention of many people, what’s the point of all this if you can just stick a few pieces of meat into it?
The same goes for smokers and I would say it’s even more important for long form cooking as it’s important to pack as many foods as possible in one round of cooking with the odds of them being ingested anywhere between 4 and 12 hours.
The Masterbuilt offers just that. It has a cooking area of 720 square inches, which compares very favorably to many other electric smokers. You can get massive cuts of meat like whole ribs, a whole turkey, and even multiple sets of briskets this way.
Its size is one of the first things that strikes you right away, making it a fantastic investment.
Temperature Stability
Of all facets of grilling smoking, maintaining consistent temperatures is key. Any fluctuation can ruin the smoking process, spoil the meat and even make it unsafe to eat.
Maintaining that crucial 225°F cooking temperature is easy with the Masterbuilt, however, and its solid construction means there are no airflow issues and therefore no problem maintaining key temperatures for several hours.
While it seems that this should be a given for many electric smokers in particular, you’d be surprised how many fail to provide temperature control.
This helps ensure the meat cooks nicely, stays moist and retains all of the flavors and aromas we associate with a good BBQ smoke.
Easy to Use
One of the reasons to buy an electric smoker is for the ease of use and the feel of automated cooking.
A lot of the hard work of smoking at the BBQ is controlling temperatures through the use of vents and tending to the embers. All of this is taken care of when you have an electrical system, making it infinitely easier straight away.
The beauty of smoking is that cooking is a set and forget kind of thing, but with charcoal models & YOU resort to it from time to time. With this electric smoker, all you have to do is turn it on, set the temperature and enjoy your day until the meat is cooked.
Build and Insulation
While functionality should always take precedence over aesthetics, it doesn’t hurt that the Masterbuilt is pretty to look at. It’s elegant, beautiful and shouldn’t look out of place in anyone’s garden.
But the most important thing is the quality of its construction. In order to ensure good temperature control, it is imperative that the smoker is well insulated and insufficient airflow is not likely, which can cause temperature fluctuations and unreliability.
However, there were no problems with the Masterbuilt. Its solid construction ensures that the heat in your chamber remains constant for the many hours it takes to grill.
It has a front window which should help alleviate any temptation to open the door. No need to open it and cool down. Hopefully seeing it will help to get rid of that itch.
Wood Chip Loading System
Adding wood chips to your smokers is a great way to further enhance the flavor of your meat. You can assume that you can only do this with charcoal smokers, but that’s not the case. You can also do this with your electric smoker.
However, many electric smokers require you to invest in a smoker box to hold the chips, light them up, and let them do their thing. If they burn whenever you open the door and replace them, which can greatly affect the cooking quality of your meat.
Masterbuilt has provided an excellent side mounted chip loading system that eliminates all of these problems and allows you to add and replace chips directly without taking your smoker down.
It’s a feature that’s as cool as it is simple.
Final Verdict
Masterbuilt built an electric smoker that’s more reliable and durable than almost any other model we’ve seen. Not only that, but the addition of temperature control and wood chip loading systems help make electric units compelling over traditional models.
It’s superbly built, offers excellent performance and is still great to look at.
- Digitally controls on/off, temperature, time and light; Monitor the internal temperature of the meat
- Digital blue LED control panel with removable sun visor
- The handheld device becomes a remote control for the grill with built-in Bluetooth Smart…
Writer & content creator. BBQ fanatic!
