Masterbuilt 30-inch vs Cuisinart 30-inch Electric Smoker: Same Figures, One That Cannot Be Right
Two 30-inch electric smokers that agree on area, racks, element and temperature. The Cuisinart’s listing also claims 15,000 BTU from a 1,500-watt element, which is 2.9 times what the element can produce.
The two listings at a glance
Three racks, 1500 W, analog thermostat
Read our review · Check price on Amazon
Three racks, 1500 W, dial control
Read our review · Check price on Amazon
Two 30-inch vertical electric smokers from two familiar names, with listings that agree on almost everything a figure can be checked on: 548 square inches, three racks, a 1500-watt element and a top temperature of 400 degrees Fahrenheit. They differ in weight, in the build the listings describe, and in one number that cannot be right. This page sets out which differences are real, and what it means that two listings agree on all the rest.
| Figure | Masterbuilt 20070210 | Cuisinart 30-inch | Smoker class median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cooking area | 548 sq in (both sources) | 548 sq in (both sources) | 548 sq in |
| Racks | 3 chrome-coated | 3 removable chrome-steel | — |
| Heating element | 1500 W | 1500 W (and a 15,000 BTU claim) | — |
| Temperature range | 100 to 400 F (review) | 100 to 400 F (review) | — |
| Weight | 22.8 kg, 50 lb (listing only) | 26.5 kg, 58 lb (listing only) | 22 kg |
| Dimensions on Amazon | not stated | 20″ D x 22″ W x 40″ H | — |
| Control | analog thermostat | manual dial, built-in thermometer | — |
| Outer material | plastic, dual-wall insulation | stainless steel | — |
| Price band | not on record | not on record | — |
Two listings, one set of figures
Both state 548 square inches, three racks and a 1500-watt element, and our review tables agree with Amazon on the area for both, so the shared number is not a transcription error on one side. Both reviews give a temperature range of 100 to 400 degrees Fahrenheit, and both describe a water pan and a wood-chip tray. The Masterbuilt’s listing calls itself the “Old Version” of an analog model, and its title carries its model number, MB20070210; the Cuisinart does not carry a model number in its title. What the agreement does not establish is that the two smokers perform alike. A smoker’s performance depends on insulation, door seal and element placement, none of which a listing’s numbers describe.
It does mean the headline figures give you nothing to choose on. In the 17-product smoker class, which spans 180 to 1060 square inches, both sit exactly at the class median of 548. They are mid-sized smokers, and nothing about the stated area distinguishes one from the other.
A 1500-watt element and a 15,000 BTU claim
The Cuisinart’s bullet describes a “1500-Watt adjustable 15,000 BTU burner”, and our review notes that the maker lists the 1,500-watt element and also references 15,000 BTU. The two figures do not describe the same heat. A watt is a joule per second and one watt is 3.412 BTU per hour, so a 1,500-watt element produces about 5,118 BTU per hour at most, and a figure of 15,000 BTU is 2.9 times that. An electric element cannot put out more heat than it draws, so one of the two figures is wrong or describes something else, and the one that fits the machine is the watts. The 15,000 sits in the listing’s bullet text, which is how a figure like it reaches any comparison that reads the text: a shopper filtering smokers on BTU would find the Cuisinart looking three times as powerful as a Masterbuilt of the same element. We do not use the BTU figure, and the watts are the number to compare.
Where they do differ
The Cuisinart is listed at 58.5 pounds, 26.5 kilograms, and the Masterbuilt at 50.3 pounds, 22.8, so the Cuisinart is 8.2 pounds heavier, 3.7 kilograms. The materials account for some of it, if the listings are to be believed: the Masterbuilt describes a plastic outer shell with dual-wall insulation and a stainless inner, the Cuisinart a stainless steel outer. The Cuisinart’s table gives 20″ D x 22″ W x 40″ H, a 20 by 22 inch footprint and 40 inches tall; the Masterbuilt gives no dimensions at all, which is the larger gap for someone trying to fit one on a patio.
The Masterbuilt’s listing is explicit about its controls: an analog thermostat, a temperature gauge in the door, a front-loading wood-chip tray and a removable water and drip pan. The Cuisinart lists a manual dial and a built-in thermometer on the front door, dishwasher-safe chrome racks and stainless steel trays for the water and the chips.
Where the other Masterbuilts sit
The catalogue holds two more 30-inch Masterbuilt electric smokers, a digital model and an electric vertical model, with listed weights of 20.8 and 22.6 kilograms, and neither states a cooking area. So the three Masterbuilt 30-inch listings run from 20.8 to 22.8 kilograms, and the Cuisinart at 26.5 is the heaviest of the four. Per 100 square inches of cooking area, the Masterbuilt in this comparison is 4.2 kilograms and the Cuisinart 4.8, so the heavier smoker is also the one that is heavier for its grate. Whether that buys anything, in insulation or in durability, is not something the weights can say.
Smokers as a class
The 17 smokers in our catalogue are not one product. 5 are electric, the rest burn charcoal or propane, and their stated areas run from 180 to 1060 square inches. Only 11 of the 17 state an area at all, so a median across the class describes the eleven that do. The vertical electric smoker is the shape most shoppers mean by a smoker, and for that shape the two on this page, at three racks and 548 square inches, are the middle of the catalogue.
Which suits which
The Masterbuilt 20070210 suits you if
- you want the lighter smoker, by 8.2 pounds, for the same stated area;
- you are comfortable with a listing that gives no dimensions, and will measure before you buy;
- an analog thermostat and a door gauge are what you want, and a plastic outer shell does not worry you.
The Cuisinart 30-inch suits you if
- you want dimensions on the page, 20″ D x 22″ W x 40″ H, and a stainless steel outer;
- dishwasher-safe racks matter to you;
- you will ignore its BTU figure and compare it on its 1500 watts.
What this comparison cannot tell you
Nothing here was tested. We did not run either smoker, so we cannot say which holds a steady temperature, which makes better smoke or which seals better. For each in full, read our review of the Masterbuilt 20070210 and our review of the Cuisinart 30-inch, and see the smoker reviews for the rest of the type.
Figures are the manufacturers’, as published on each listing and quoted in our reviews; none was measured by us. How we work · Affiliate disclosure