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Search "traeger electric smoker" and you'll run straight into one of the most common mix-ups in backyard smoking: Traeger doesn't make electric-resistance smokers at all. Every Traeger sold is a wood-pellet grill that happens to plug into a wall outlet, and both Traeger's own product copy and Amazon's storefront titles ("Electric Wood Pellet Grill") do nothing to clear that up.
Masterbuilt, on the other hand, sells both — a line of true electric-resistance cabinet smokers and a separate charcoal-fed Gravity Series that gets confused with the electric line constantly. Sorting out which company makes what, and how each one actually cooks meat, saves a lot of buyer's remorse.
This comparison lines up Masterbuilt's Digital Electric Smokers against Traeger's Pro 575 and Ironwood 650 on the things that matter in practice: how the heat is generated, how much smoke flavor you actually get, how hands-off each one really is, and where each one breaks down over time.
This guide covers electric-resistance smokers and pellet grills specifically — Masterbuilt's charcoal-fed Gravity Series is a different animal and gets its own section below so it doesn't get lumped in by mistake.
Quick Verdict
| Best for | Skip if | |
|---|---|---|
| Masterbuilt Digital Electric | Jerky, fish, sausage, small backyard cooks on a tight budget | You want real bark, a smoke ring, or searing capability |
| Masterbuilt Gravity Series (charcoal, not electric) | Charcoal flavor with app-controlled convenience | You were specifically looking for an electric smoker |
| Traeger Pro 575 | All-around low-and-slow smoking with real wood-fired flavor | You want a true sear or a fully hands-off chip-free experience |
| Traeger Ironwood 650 | Cold-weather consistency and dialed-in smoke control | Budget is the primary constraint |
Which Versions Are We Comparing?
"Masterbuilt" and "Traeger" aren't apples-to-apples brands — each covers more than one fuel system, and that's where most of the confusion starts.
Masterbuilt Digital Electric Smoker (30" / 40") is a vertical cabinet with a resistive heating element and a side-loading wood-chip tray. This is the "electric smoker" most people picture, and it's the direct answer to anyone actually searching for a plug-in, chip-based unit.
Masterbuilt Gravity Series (600 / 800 / 1050 / 1150 / XT) is a completely different cooker: a gravity-fed hopper drops lump charcoal or briquettes into a firebox, and a DigitalFan controller manages airflow to hold temperature — all the way up to 700°F. It looks like a pellet grill and controls like one, but it burns charcoal, not electricity or wood pellets. If you landed here wanting an "electric Masterbuilt," this is not it — treat it as a third option, not a substitute for the electric line.
Traeger Pro 575 is Traeger's mid-tier auger-fed pellet grill: wood pellets drop into a firepot, an igniter lights them, and a convection fan circulates the heat. Electricity here only runs the auger, igniter, and fan — the heat and smoke come from burning real wood.
Traeger Ironwood 650 is the step-up model in the same pellet-fed family, with double-sidewall insulation and an on-unit Super Smoke setting that the Pro series controls only through the app.
Once you separate these four, the real comparison is simple: Masterbuilt Digital Electric vs. Traeger Pro 575/Ironwood 650. The Gravity Series is a useful reference point for readers who actually want charcoal flavor with digital convenience, but it isn't an electric smoker and it isn't a pellet grill.
Heating Mechanism — Masterbuilt vs Traeger
The core difference between these two systems isn't smoke, it's combustion.
The Masterbuilt Digital Electric Smoker heats with a resistive element — the same principle as a toaster or space heater. That element smolders wood chips sitting in a side-loading tray, producing a thin stream of smoke without ever fully combusting the wood. There's no flame, no real fire, just heat and slow smolder.
A Traeger Pro 575 or Ironwood 650 works the opposite way. An auger feeds wood pellets into a firepot, an igniter lights them, and a convection fan pulls air through the fire to keep it burning cleanly. That's full combustion, not smoldering — pellets actually burn. The 120V/95W rating on a Traeger only covers the auger motor, igniter, and fan; the heat itself comes from the fire, not from an electrical heating element.
This is also the root of the "traeger electric smoker" search: Traeger's own product page describes it as an "electric-powered wood-pellet grill," and Amazon's Traeger listings are literally titled "Electric Wood Pellet Grill." Both are technically accurate — the grill plugs in — but neither means what most searchers assume. If you want a smoker that heats the way a toaster heats, that's Masterbuilt. If you want one that burns real wood and just uses electricity to automate the fire, that's Traeger.
Smoke Flavor & Bark — Masterbuilt vs Traeger
Combustion chemistry is also why the two produce noticeably different results on the plate.
A visible smoke ring forms when myoglobin, the pink protein in meat, reacts with nitric oxide and carbon monoxide — gases produced specifically by full combustion of wood or charcoal. Nitric oxide binds to the iron in myoglobin roughly 100,000 times tighter than oxygen does, which is why that pink ring holds even after the meat is fully cooked. Full-combustion cookers like Traeger's pellet grills produce these gases in quantity. Electric smokers, which smolder rather than burn, don't generate the same combustion byproducts — so smoke ring and bark are both noticeably lighter on a Masterbuilt than on a Traeger, even with the same wood species.
That gap narrows a little with a smoke tube added to the electric smoker's chamber, but it doesn't close it — especially on long cooks like brisket, where hours of real combustion build a bark that a smoldering chip tray can't replicate.
There's a nuance on the pellet side too: pellet grills throw the most smoke between 165–225°F, and output drops sharply above 300°F. Traeger's own guidance is blunt about it — the higher the temperature, the less smoke you get. So even a Traeger isn't maximizing smoke flavor once you're cooking hot; it's a low-and-slow specialist first.
Temperature Range & Versatility — Masterbuilt vs Traeger
This is the most concrete gap between the two systems. The Masterbuilt Digital Electric line tops out around 275°F. That's plenty for ribs, sausage, fish, and jerky, but it rules out searing, high-heat roasting, or anything that wants real crust.
Traeger's Pro 575 runs 165–500°F (ships capped at 450°F, with 500°F unlocked through a WiFIRE app update), and the Ironwood 650 covers the same 165–500°F range with insulation that holds it more consistently in cold weather. That 500°F ceiling opens up roasting and high-heat cooking that's simply off the table on the electric side.
The catch: even at 500°F, a Traeger sears weakly. In a hands-on test of the Pro 575, it took 30 minutes to reach 500°F, and even at that temperature the result was described as producing little to no sear and pale-looking meat. So the extra 225°F of headroom over a Masterbuilt buys you real roasting and baking versatility — chicken, pizza, vegetables — but it does not turn a Traeger into a searing machine. If crust-forward steaks are the goal, plan on a cast-iron finish on the stove or a dedicated sear station on either platform.
Hands-Off Convenience — Masterbuilt vs Traeger
Both brands market "set it and forget it," and neither one fully earns that description, but the gap between them is real.
A Masterbuilt's chip tray needs a refill roughly every 30–45 minutes to keep smoke going, which means checking on it through most of a cook — not exactly hands-off for anything beyond a couple of hours.
A Traeger's 18-lb hopper (Pro 575) runs about 9 hours at high heat and up to 20 hours at low-and-slow temperatures on a single fill. The Ironwood's 20-lb hopper, with a built-in pellet sensor and low-pellet app alert, extends that further and tells you before you run dry mid-cook. For an overnight brisket or a long pork shoulder, that difference is the whole story — one system needs regular attention, the other genuinely doesn't.
Price & Reliability — Masterbuilt vs Traeger
Masterbuilt's Digital Electric Smokers sit firmly in the budget tier — the 30" and 40" models are priced well below either Traeger here, which is a large part of their appeal for someone smoking a handful of times a year. The Gravity Series charcoal line moves up into the mid tier, closer to where a Traeger Pro 575 lands. The Pro 575 and Ironwood 650 both sit in the mid-to-premium range, with the Ironwood priced as the step-up model for buyers who want insulation and on-unit smoke control.
Reliability complaints exist on both platforms, just in different places. Masterbuilt owners report controller and heating-element failures, along with burnt terminals over time — common enough that some handy owners bypass a failing controller with an aftermarket PID rather than replace the whole unit. Traeger owners deal with a different failure family: auger jams from moisture-swollen pellets, igniters that degrade over one to three years, and a factory ambient probe that commonly reads 25–30°F off — enough that many owners add a third-party thermometer to compensate. Neither system is maintenance-free; the failure points just live in different components.
Head-to-Head Specs Comparison
| Masterbuilt 30" Digital Electric | Masterbuilt 40" Digital Electric | Traeger Pro 575 | Traeger Ironwood 650 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heat source | Electric resistive element | Electric resistive element | Wood pellet combustion | Wood pellet combustion |
| Temp range | Up to 275°F | Up to 275°F | 165–500°F | 165–500°F |
| Cooking area | 710–711 sq in | 970 sq in | 572 sq in (2 tiers) | 650 sq in |
| Fuel capacity | Chip tray, refill ~every 30–45 min | Chip tray, refill ~every 30–45 min | 18 lb hopper (~9–20 hrs/fill) | 20 lb hopper w/ pellet sensor |
| Smoke ring / bark | Minimal | Minimal | Strong at low temps | Strong at low temps |
| App / WiFi | Bluetooth on select variants | Bluetooth on select variants | WiFIRE | WiFIRE |
| Insulation | Single-wall cabinet | Single-wall cabinet | None | Double-sidewall |
| Price tier | Budget | Budget/mid | Mid/premium | Premium |
| Amazon link | Check price on Amazon | Check price on Amazon | Check price on Amazon | Check price on Amazon |
For reference, the charcoal-fed Masterbuilt Gravity Series 800 — not an electric smoker — runs 225–700°F, uses a gravity-fed lump/briquette hopper instead of chips or pellets, and sits in the mid price tier: Check price on Amazon.
Which Should You Buy?
You cook a handful of times a year and mostly do jerky, fish, or sausage. A Masterbuilt Digital Electric Smoker covers this without asking much of you beyond refilling the chip tray. There's no reason to pay pellet-grill prices for occasional low-heat cooks.
You want real wood-fired flavor and plan to smoke regularly. A Traeger Pro 575 is the more versatile tool — better bark, a genuine smoke ring, and enough headroom to roast and bake, not just smoke. The tradeoff is a bigger upfront cost and pellet-side maintenance (auger, igniter, probe accuracy) that an electric smoker doesn't have.
You smoke through cold weather or want smoke intensity dialed in without touching an app. The Ironwood 650's double-wall insulation and on-unit Super Smoke setting solve two specific Pro-575 limitations, at a real premium.
You actually want charcoal flavor with app-based convenience, not electric or pellet. The Gravity Series is the right category — just go in knowing it's neither of the other two systems, and budget for real charcoal.
You searched "traeger electric smoker" looking for a true plug-in, low-effort unit. That's a Masterbuilt Digital Electric, not a Traeger. If what you actually meant was "a low-effort smoker that still uses real wood," a Traeger is exactly that — just correct the terminology going in.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Does Traeger make an actual electric smoker?
No. Every Traeger grill burns wood pellets for heat and smoke. Electricity only powers the igniter, auger motor, and convection fan — not a heating element. The "electric" language in Traeger's marketing and on Amazon refers to how the grill is powered, not how it generates heat.
Q: Which gives more smoke flavor, Masterbuilt or Traeger?
Traeger's pellet combustion produces noticeably more smoke ring and bark than a Masterbuilt's electric-resistance smolder, because full combustion generates the nitric oxide and carbon monoxide that create a smoke ring. A smoke tube in an electric smoker helps but doesn't close the gap on long cooks.
Q: Can a Traeger sear steaks the way a grill can?
Not well. Even at its 500°F ceiling, testing has shown a Traeger Pro 575 produces little to no sear and pale meat. It's built for low-and-slow smoking and general roasting, not high-heat searing.
Q: Is the Masterbuilt Gravity Series the same as its electric smokers?
No. The Gravity Series burns real charcoal fed by gravity into a firebox, reaching up to 700°F with app-controlled airflow. The Digital Electric line uses a resistive heating element and tops out at 275°F. They share a brand name and a similar control panel, nothing else.
Q: How often do I need to refill a Masterbuilt electric smoker vs. a Traeger?
A Masterbuilt's wood-chip tray needs attention roughly every 30–45 minutes to keep smoke going. A Traeger's pellet hopper runs 9–20 hours per fill depending on temperature, which is the bigger practical difference for long cooks like brisket or pork shoulder.
Q: Which one is more reliable long-term?
Both have known failure points, just different ones. Masterbuilt owners report controller and heating-element issues over time. Traeger owners deal with auger jams from moisture, igniter wear, and an ambient probe that commonly reads 25–30°F off factory. Neither is maintenance-free.
Conclusion
Masterbuilt and Traeger aren't really competing for the same buyer once you separate the fuel systems. Masterbuilt's Digital Electric line is a budget-friendly, low-heat cabinet smoker built around a resistive element and wood chips — good for jerky, fish, and occasional low-temp cooks, with real limits on flavor intensity and versatility. Traeger's pellet grills burn actual wood, deliver a real smoke ring and bark, and stretch up to 500°F for roasting alongside smoking — at a higher price and with their own maintenance quirks.
The "traeger electric smoker" search itself is really two different buyer intents colliding: someone wanting the lowest-effort, mildest smoke setup should look at Masterbuilt's electric line, while someone wanting a genuinely low-maintenance real-wood smoker already has the right brand in Traeger — they just need the terminology corrected.
For deeper dives, see the electric smoker buying guide, the full Traeger Pro Series review, and Traeger's error code reference if you're troubleshooting a unit you already own. New to pellet grills entirely? Start with Pellet Grill 101 before comparing specific models.
