Masterbuilt vs Butterball Turkey Fryer

Masterbuilt makes the Butterball electric turkey fryers under license. They are not rival products from rival companies — they are two lines from the same manufacturer, sharing the same fundamental design: a sealed stainless pot, a thermostatic element, a drain valve, a basket, a 20-pound ceiling and around 2.75 gallons of oil.

So every comparison page presenting this as a brand battle is answering a question that does not exist. The real difference is feature set, and that difference is genuinely worth thinking about.

Both are indoor electric, so both remove the flame, the tank, the wind and the uneven ground. Both hold 350F on a thermostat rather than your attention. Both want their own electrical circuit at around 1,650 watts. Both stop dead at 20 pounds.

And critically, both require a completely thawed, completely dry bird. Moving the fryer indoors does not change the physics — water at the bottom of hot oil still flashes to steam and pushes oil out. That rule is the same on every fryer ever made.

For a genuine first-timer whose main anxiety is doing this wrong, take the Butterball XL. Fewer parts means fewer decisions on a day you already have too many, and it is the easier of the two to find in stock in November.

If you cook seafood boils, steam vegetables in quantity, or simply resent appliances that come out once a year, the MB20012420 is the better long-term buy. The boil function is genuinely good and it is the thing that stops this becoming another dusty box in the garage.

If neither appeals because 20 pounds is not enough, read our sizing guide before you jump to a propane pot — the answer is usually two smaller birds, not a bigger fryer.