u/Serious_System4121

It's 5AM and Im doing my first brisket. Figured Id do one old school by baby sitting it all night.

Hit the step to raise temp to get past the stall. Checked the hopper before bumping up the cook temp, and WTF? it was basically empty, like a few small mostly-burned lumps left.

I got 7hrs worth of fuel using FOGO Premium X-Large running at 235*F. The bag was pretty normal (ie, all the lumps were crushed into tiny bits, etc). It was filled to the top. The OEM controller was set to 235*F. Added wood chucks to the ash bucket (LLS Mod FTW) for the first 4hrs.

This normal? Would I have fuel anxiety even if I got me a pellet grill?

[Edit: to avoid confusion, all prices are in CDN. The USD spread is relatively the same after FX conversion.]

Im gonna write a post I wish I had seen prior to purchasing my XT. Masterbuilt markets the XT as the pinnacle smoker, their flag-ship best-in-class product. While absolutely, if you're looking for the convenience of a computer controlled charcoal/wood smoker, Masterbuilt is probably the go-to, the XT is most def not best-in-class (that spot remains un-taken) nor worth the extra spend. Here are my reasons why:

- First and foremost, their cheap-ass controller. The XT costs ~$2600 product, which is ~$1000 more than their 2nd tier 1150. You'd expect you'd get consistency, reliability, and accuracy along with a user experience far beyond the 1150. You do not. At best you get a controller that LOOKS high-end, cause it looks different from all of Masterbuilt's other models, but in actual fact functionally the XT controller is no different from the 1150 and lower models.

- The Misleading App: Masterbuilt fudges the data. The nice clean smooth curves are a lie. The spikes are huge (more on that below) and frequent. Also the App is a mess, no doubt limited by the fact the software is not purpose built but rather skinned to look custom for Masterbuilt. Im almost certain the app & controller software are generic as made by some 3rd party who supplies many brands.

- Related, the ambient & food probes do a questionable, and at best okay job. When the smoke chamber cools and the controller calls for heat, mine consistently overshoots by 25-50f, while allowing the chamber to cool down well below the set temp before increasing the heat. Indeed, according to the app graphs, the temp inside the chamber appears stable, consistent, and smooth, which most def does not reflect the reality of what's happening inside the cook chamber. Many YouTubers note that swings wont impact the cook too much as long temp averages out to around your set point, but the swings with the XT are huge, especially so given the huge sale price.

- As for the food probes, they are ~10f off actual. This is the difference between med rare and medium. In one cook, the food probe froze and showed my steak 30f below actual. Also, the meat probes are so thick Im envious. They create huge holes and again, $2600, you'd expect the XT would ship with better probes.

- Probe & temp reading accuracy is most def a problem, not catastrophic, but something that requires careful attention so you dont end up over-cooking the food. You need to figure out/familiarize yourself with the inaccuracy of the temp readings and adjust your actions based on that. Again, when you pay top dollar, this is NOT something the consumer should expect to have to deal with... ESPECIALLY SO given the entire value-prop of Masterbuilt computer controlled smokers is convenience.

- The All-In-One lie: I think many here already know this, but thanks to the massive shill-network of YouTubers being shipped free product in exchange for saying Masterbuilt's are all-in-one smoke & sear BBQ unit, I was expecting I could easily transition from smoke to sear (notwithstanding the grease fires steaming from smoking). Yes, I can and yes it does sear and does a pretty good job of it, HOWEVER, the fuel cost is astronomical. You burn A LOT of charcoal getting up to & holding temp, then the burn off phase when you choke the fire. The all-in-one of the XT is convenient in the same way using 3/4tonne pickup truck is convenient for daily commutes.

- XT Build Quality: Yes, it's well built, but again, cause YouTuber shills, the 'rock solid' feeling of the XT vs the 'flimsy cheap feel' of the 1150 is waaaay overblown. The 1150 is quite stable, sure a little less vs the XT, but in no way something worth pointing out as a "differentiator".

- XT vs 1150 Question: Ultimately I truly couldnt tell you if there is a difference. Sure, the XT has that nice lever to open/close the baffles, but is that worth $1000? Um, no. I expected the controller to be better; accurate & reliable. Again, nope. Perhaps the difference in the heat manifolds? Again, doesnt seem so based on many people's biscuit tests (in fact, in one test I saw, the 1150 was better for heat distribution). The one test YouTubers WONT DO for content (cause they get free product from MB), is to measure the insulation properties of the two units, side by side in the same environmental condition. Heat them both up to the same temp, then close the baffles (snuff out fire -of course this assumes the air chokes for both units function the same) and compare the rate of heat loss. This test would be the ultimate proof and settle the question: is the XT worth it? Is the XT just the $1000 more expensive version of the 1150? I suspect yes.

BOTTOM LINE: You pay A LOT more for the XT. You are not crazy/entitled/woke to expect MORE from it. I thought the baffle lever would provide more value vs. using the 2 removable slides method on all the other Masterbuilt models, but no... in fact, I think the slides would be better as they are probably better at snuffing out the fire thus spending less on fuel.

Unless someone proves the insulation with the XT is waaay better, frankly I see absolutely NO REASON other than "a fool and his money are easily parted" to spend the extra for the XT. No doubt this statement will upset XT owners cause having spent that extra money, opinions are now vested.

Frankly, between the misleading app & graphs, cheaping out on the controller, plus the heavy marketing investment by Masterbuilt trying to get consumers to believe there's a true value-add jumping up to the XT, you really FEEL the Private-Equity influence on Masterbuilt philosophy: their customers are no more than $$$. I wont say I have buyers remorse, the XT is still a great smoker. I just feel cheated and stupid for being duped by marketing & misleading YouTubers who talk about the XT as if it were the panacea of automated smokers. These YouTubers truly do an exceptional job of hiding/glazing over the negatives, ESPECIALLY the price.

If I were to do it again, ABSOLUTELY 1150 + after-market mods. Sure, this means you end up spending almost the same as the XT, but you will get real value. Indeed, I suspect the best value solution (unless you do massive cooks for large groups) is a pimp'd out 800.

Anyways... there's my 2 cents. Hopefully it helps people who are on the fence about which MB they should go with, especially if they are considering the XT. And most def, if you own an XT and dont agree, please do share your feedback & comments, and tell us why the XT is in fact worth the extra spend.

Just got my smoker. First things first. Bacon. Soliciting recipes & techniques. There seems to be universal consensus to let the pork belly brine for 7-10 days, flipped every day, and cooked to internal temp of 150F. It's the ratios & spices Im most interested in, along with preferred woods.

TIA

(If you missed the joke, way back when, like my grandfather's days, the line, "calling all cars, calling all cars" was a radio broadcast the cop dispatch would use -at least according to TV dramas).

I started a post asking about the diff between the 2 models. People confirmed the FB2Pro probe & readings are more accurate + have a higher rated temp (over 1000F, I think around 1400F) at the expense of half the channels.

Based on replies, I ordered the FB2Drive. On the FB website, it says the FB2Drive has a max op temp of 752F. The FB2Drive I ordered included a supplemental info card stating the probe has a max working temp of 572F.

My concern now is 2-fold: will the temp prob fail above 572F? If I want to raise the temp of the cook chamber to 700F (per the max op range of the MB-XT), will the FB2Drive be able to run the fan to produce 700F? TIA.