By ShowMeStepByStepPublished Updated
Based on a video by Mad Backyard.
An electric smoker takes most of the guesswork out of low-and-slow cooking. You set the temperature, load some wood chips, and let it run. No fire to babysit, no charcoal to fuss with.
In this walkthrough, Mad Backyard shows you how to get a Masterbuilt electric smoker up and running from a cold start. You will set up the cooking chamber, fill the water pan, program the digital panel, load the wood chip tray, and get your food on the racks.
The example here is smoked pork chops, but the same routine works for chicken, ribs, or a pork butt. Learn the steps once and every cook after that is easy.
7 steps · about 5 minutes.Check off each step as you go and your progress saves automatically.
Start with the cooking chamber. Slide a foil water pan onto the bottom rack and pour in a couple cups of water. That water keeps the air inside humid, so your meat stays juicy instead of drying out over a long cook. It also catches drips and makes cleanup a lot easier. Get this in before you turn anything on.
Tip
A disposable aluminum pan works great here and saves you a scrubbing job later.
Power on the Masterbuilt and set your cooking temperature on the digital panel. Press the temp button, then use the up and down arrows to dial in your number. For pork chops, 225F is a solid target. Low and slow is the whole point of smoking, so resist the urge to crank it higher to save time.
Now set the cook time on the same panel. Press the time button and use the arrows to enter how long you want to smoke. The nice thing about an electric smoker is that it runs on its own and shuts off when the timer hits zero. You are not stuck standing over it the whole afternoon.
Tip
Set the timer a little long. You can always pull the food early once it hits temp.
Let the smoker preheat before any food goes in. If yours is brand new, run an empty burn-off first to cook off the factory oils and coatings. Just fire it up with nothing inside and let it run about an hour. The red light means the heating element is on. Give it 30 to 45 minutes to reach your set temperature.
The smoke comes from wood chips. Pull out the loader tube on the side, drop in a handful of chips, and push it back in so they fall onto the hot element. Cherry, apple, and hickory all work well with pork. One tip from Mad Backyard: do not soak your chips first. Dry chips start smoking faster and give you cleaner smoke.
Tip
Check the chips every hour or so and add more. They burn down over a long cook.
Once the smoker is up to temp, get your food in. Coat the pork chops with a BBQ dry rub first, then open the door and lay them out on the racks with a little space between each one. That gap lets the smoke wrap around every piece. Shut the door quick to hold the heat.
Tip
Every time you open the door you lose heat and add cook time. Peek less, trust the smoker more.
Close it up and let it cook. Top off the wood chips every hour and otherwise leave it alone. The only number that matters at the end is the internal temp, so check it with a meat thermometer rather than watching the clock. Pull the pork chops when they hit your target, then let them rest a few minutes before you serve.
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Question 1 of 5
Quick reference
5 questions, answers, and one-line explanations. Tap to expand.
1.What is the water pan in the bottom of the smoker mainly for?
Answer: To add moisture and steady the chamber temperature
The water pan holds humidity and buffers temperature swings so the cook stays even.
2.Where does the smoke flavor actually come from in an electric smoker?
Answer: Wood chips dropped onto the hot element
Chips fall onto the heat, smolder, and release the smoke that flavors your food.
3.Why run an empty burn-off before smoking food in a brand-new smoker?
Answer: To cook off factory oils and coatings inside
A burn-off clears manufacturing residue so it does not end up in your first batch.
4.About how often should you top off the wood chips during a smoke?
Answer: Roughly every hour as they burn down
Refilling chips about hourly keeps a steady stream of smoke going through the cook.
5.How do you tell that smoked pork chops are actually done?
Answer: When the internal temperature hits the target
Internal temperature, not time or color, is the number that tells you meat is safe and done.
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