Interested in buying a nice smoker, want a charcoal/wood type with a electric thermostat to control temp. Been looking at the masterbuild gravity fed 1050. Anyone used this smoker? Pros/cons? Any other smoker similar to this that you have an like?

I didnt know you could get a thermostat on a stick burner. Electric motor to control the vent for air flow or does it use its own heat in some way to control air?

Usually it just controls airflow. You can get aftermarket temp control devices that plug into to intake vents.

I need to search these AM controllers.
As it is now there is no meat I can not over cook.
Mine is charcoal and wood and I suck.

Thermometers are your friend when slow cooking meat

Low & slow are words to heed when smoking with wood & charcoal. I learned it is way better to gradually bring your temp up to where you can control it versus trying to quickly get to temp. That always got things to hot and then trying to get back down to temp resulted in yo yoing temps and disappointing results. Don’t try to rush, have plenty of time to do your smoking and I found 225 /250 works well for me for most things I do. A good thermometer is invaluable.

I have an electric Masterbuilt smoker ( i know electric isn't cool was told easy to learn on then you can move up)

Me too. Except I moved up to electrical from wood, to charcoal, to electric. Except for a little ceremony, I will never look back.

Have you considered a pellet smoker? You can change flavors as you wish they even have charcoal pellets. Some guys blend them in with other flavors. You just set the temp and forget about it. I took the plunge about 2 years ago from a stick burner. So much easier. Yes I still get a good smoke ring and good bark. Some flavors of pellets are not as strong as others. If you want more smoke get a smoke tube and load up with pellets and light it let burn about 10 min or so then blow the flame out and put in the smoker. The tube works great to smoke cheese with you don't even have to light up the pellet smoker. You are just cold smoking the cheese. Takes about 4 to 5 hours turn the cheese 1\2 way thru. After you pull it you vac seal it or it into Ziploc bag for a couple weeks to let it mellow out or it is to bitter. Hope this gives you some onsite to pellet smokers. Yes I was skeptical of em at first and spending the money on one but sure am glad I did! I purchased the pit boss Austin xl it uses the older style controller instead of the ID controller. You can even get them with wifi that connects to your phone and see what the temps are running at. Also can adjust from your phone.

I’d like to get a pellet smoker, but have heard they create dust that settles on your meat. Also what’s in the pellets? What’s glue binds the dust together?

I bought a pit boss this year. Ran it at 400 for 40 min per instructions to burn off oil and such. My first time trying to use it i started it got it to temp put on my deer and left for a while. When i got back it was not smoking abe was showing an error code. I called pit boss and they said the computter was bad and needed replaced. But they would send me one at no charge to me. Should thak less than 7 days to get it. But i was trying to cook now.

So i took it back to the store and swaped it for an okolahoma joe. No computer or electric and it workes. It stinks having to watch it so close and the pit boss would be much nicer in that regard had it worked. So far my deer turned out ok, chicken was amazing jucie, and the boston butt was great but went in the oven to finish getting to temp after 13hr on the smoker and etting to 165°

I use a stick burner thats manual. I think it tastes better than pellets. Since pellets are fuel I doubt they are USDA regulated. No telling what they are. I have to babysit mine but but the groceries are sure good. Takes a bit of experience to get and maintain your desired temp. Not hard though. After you use it once you will have temp regulation figured out

I inherited a pellet pit boss this summer. Love it!!!!

I have a Masterbuilt that is 10 years old. Finally went to propane for even controlled heat. Very pleased with outcome.

A close friend of mine has a gravity feed charcoal grill/smoker I am pretty sure is the same one you asked about. He loves it, very consistent. Good long burns, stable temps, and runs it off a battery since he didn't want an extension cord across his patio. He said it controls temp with a small computer like fan.

Love my pit boss. Use it as much as possible. I clean mine with shop vac every time I use it. Have never seen dust on my food. Makes everything taste good

i have apit boss vertical smoker it holds 12 racks of baby backs on 6 racks. ive had mine for 4 years now have had to replace the computer once and fan once but pit boss was awesome to deal with. both problems were caused by me forgetting to bring it in one night and it got rained on heavily. i explained what happened to pit boss and they sent me parts and it was simple to fix. any trapper would be able to repair these things. but i understnad where providence farm is coming from i would have been really mad if something happened in the middle of the cook. mine ahs error coded before i just always have fixed it by unplugging and plugging back in. i have friends that have the big oklahoma joe pits and they are super nice but i just dont have the patience to tend the fire box the way it needs to be tended.

It was not only that it was durring my cook but my first time ever cooking on it. Unpluging did not work i tried that. I sure was hopefull and loved the idea of it. Now i just get stuck cooking all day. But i dont have to plug it in or buy anything to cook on. I may get another peller smoker at some point if i start doing farm to table dinners at the farm some time but for now Iwill be baby sitting at least a few years have to get my monets worth out of this one.

I have a 40" master built electric with the legs on it. I like the 40 because I can hang a batch of summer sausage in 3# rolls easily inside. I love it, not sure how I will replace it when it goes bad because I'm not overly impressed with most of the newer models although the 140G looks pretty nice. Saw a pit boss vertical pellet smoker that is nice, but costs $549. Not sure how I feel about the pellet deal still. I have the cold smoke box on my master built so it holds way more chips and I can smoke summer sausage at very low temps.

i would have done exactly what you did had i had problems my first time ever using it. it wouldve went right back to the store. that sucks you got a bad one outta the box.