Who is a Masterbuilt fan boy?

[FireInTheWire]

Best grill I’ve ever owned. The flavor and heat is just perfect. It’ll do 225 all day or 720 for a sear. Wife got me the pizza oven option and the stone temp got to 827. Cooks a pizza in 4mins.

It’s legit

 

[lonestardiver]

Interesting.
Care to share any other info or details on it?

 

[FireInTheWire]

Interesting.
Care to share any other info or details on it?

Gravity fed charcoal grill. Lump or briquettes. Kinda like a pellet grill. But this thing can get HOT! My pellet grills always fell short on the sear. You can add wood or pellets for extra smoke or let the natural charcoal flavor do it thing. It’ll smoke for 8hrs and has Wi-Fi with an app.

Masterbuilt® Gravity Series® 1050 Digital Charcoal Grill + Smoker

With the Gravity Series® 1050 Digital Charcoal Grill + Smoker by Masterbuilt®, you can smoke, grill, sear, bake, roast and more. Set the temperature and the DigitalFan™ maintains the desired cooking temperature. The GravityFed™ hopper holds up to 8 hours of charcoal, gravity ensures you have...

www.masterbuilt.com

 

[Eastexasrick]

Verrrry interesting

 

[toddnjoyce]

I’ve had an MB560 for going on four years. When you go to load the bin, drop a stick of mesquite or whatever wood flavor you’re looking for in with the charcoal.

There’s a couple of mods I link to that you’ll want to do pretty quick. One is a firebox sleeve.

 

[lonestardiver]

Do you get a better smoke flavor than the traegers?

 

[toddnjoyce]

There’s two companies that specialize in mods for the MB Gravity series smokers, Klotes and LSS. I’ve got stuff from both and recommend Klotes’ products over LSS.

800/900 mods

KlotesMods

klotesmods.com

The charcoal grate may be worth it unless MB has redesigned their grate; the grate spacing on my MB560 was such that good charcoal was dropping into the ash bin with a lot of burn left on it. If they’ve mod’d the grate, no worries.

The firebox mod and the chute liner are must-do’s in my opinion. I also highly recommend a manifold cover. The manifold is affectionately referred to as the doghouse, but it’s thin sheet and designed as a consumable part. Runs about $40 for my grill and got replaced a couple times. This last time I chucked a manifold cover on it to help extend the life.

I’ll smoke ribeyes at 225 until they hit 125 internal, then pull them and run the temp up to 650 to sear. No other product on the market gives that flexibility.

Also, when you first light it, leave the top lid open and make sure the plunger switch is depressed for about a minute. This allows all the cold smoke to exit the chimney instead of building up as creosote on the chute. An easy and cheap lid protector is to throw a cut to size piece of heavy duty foil in between the lid and the chimney top. This too helps with creosote collection on the lid.

Finally, some people like the rear vent slide; this allows you to control how fast smoke escapes thru the rear vent. I haven’t done it yet, but likely will next year.

 

[Havok1]

I saw one of these for the first time recently and they definitely have my attention. Any issues with them? I’ve been thinking about getting rid of my traeger and going back to a real smoker but if these aren’t finicky then I may try one.

 

[Vaquero]

Them mesquite sticks fit in there with no extra work?

 

[toddnjoyce]

Them mesquite sticks fit in there with no extra work?

As long as it’s cut down to less than about a foot and a half in length they fit fine.

I usually run or or two of these or similar bbq wood from HEB
stood up in a corner. They’re about a foot long.

It doesn’t take much wood because the charcoal is the main heat source. The wood just adds flavor.

 

[billtool]

Never used a MB grill, but their electric smoker sure is handy. Whole chickens, chicken legs and wings, sausage, all that sorta stuff. I even smoke a couple brisket flats that tasted OK. Set and forget. Had to do a few mods to make it work right, but zero complaints after about 25 smokes or so.

 

[Vaquero]

As long as it’s cut down to less than about a foot and a half in length they fit fine.

I usually run or or two of these or similar bbq wood from HEB
stood up in a corner. They’re about a foot long.

It doesn’t take much wood because the charcoal is the main heat source. The wood just adds flavor.

Damn.
How much that box cost?

I got dollar signs flying around my head.

 

[FireInTheWire]

Damn.
How much that box cost?

I got dollar signs flying around my head.

But it’s gourmet

 

[toddnjoyce]

Damn.
How much that box cost?

I got dollar signs flying around my head.

1 or 2 sticks per cook usually, I can get 8+ cooks per bag. With a brisket, it takes about 8 sticks layered throughout the charcoal. That’ll do 3 brisket cooks with some leftover for smaller stuff.

 

[FireInTheWire]

I saw one of these for the first time recently and they definitely have my attention. Any issues with them? I’ve been thinking about getting rid of my traeger and going back to a real smoker but if these aren’t finicky then I may try one.

I think some of the first gen models had some heck ups. But they have resolved all that.

They make good food

 

[FireInTheWire]

There’s two companies that specialize in mods for the MB Gravity series smokers, Klotes and LSS. I’ve got stuff from both and recommend Klotes’ products over LSS.

800/900 mods

KlotesMods

klotesmods.com

The charcoal grate may be worth it unless MB has redesigned their grate; the grate spacing on my MB560 was such that good charcoal was dropping into the ash bin with a lot of burn left on it. If they’ve mod’d the grate, no worries.

The firebox mod and the chute liner are must-do’s in my opinion. I also highly recommend a manifold cover. The manifold is affectionately referred to as the doghouse, but it’s thin sheet and designed as a consumable part. Runs about $40 for my grill and got replaced a couple times. This last time I chucked a manifold cover on it to help extend the life.

I’ll smoke ribeyes at 225 until they hit 125 internal, then pull them and run the temp up to 650 to sear. No other product on the market gives that flexibility.

Also, when you first light it, leave the top lid open and make sure the plunger switch is depressed for about a minute. This allows all the cold smoke to exit the chimney instead of building up as creosote on the chute. An easy and cheap lid protector is to throw a cut to size piece of heavy duty foil in between the lid and the chimney top. This too helps with creosote collection on the lid.

Finally, some people like the rear vent slide; this allows you to control how fast smoke escapes thru the rear vent. I haven’t done it yet, but likely will next year.

I’ll get back to you on this.

 

[toddnjoyce]

I’ll get back to you on this.

Sure. PMs are fine and if you want to give me a call/video call, I’m on Signal.

 

[Havok1]

I think some of the first gen models had some heck ups. But they have resolved all that.

They make good food

Good to know. Thanks!

 

[toddnjoyce]

Good to know. Thanks!

Current models have addressed some, if not most of the initial learning curve. MB still has some packing challenges that result in cosmetic damage during shipment. The first gen rule of thumb was only buy one that was already assembled so you could examine it for damage.

I’ve replaced a door switch and the doghouse twice. As mentioned, the doghouse is pretty much sacrificial…it funnels smoke from the hot side under the meat on the cold side and collects drippings. Then, you run it up to 650 or 700 to sear a steak and a nice little grease burn off is expected. The doghouse is stamped .030 or thinner mild steel, so it’s gonna die eventually.

The one meat probe is only rated to 350*, so most serious chuck ‘em anyways and use a fireboard or similar. There’s a hamdful of people that 3D print a drop in mount to replace the MB temp controller with a fireboard. The rotary knob on my OEM controller is slowly dying, but temp control from the MB app on my phone solves that problem.

It holds temp from 205 to 700 all day long and is pretty efficient with a load of charcoal. Overall, it’s the best outdoor cooking instrument that’s not a dutch oven that I’ve owned; it’s a jack of all trades and damn good at most of them. .

 

[billtool]

Current models have addressed some, if not most of the initial learning curve. MB still has some packing challenges that result in cosmetic damage during shipment. The first gen rule of thumb was only buy one that was already assembled so you could examine it for damage.

I’ve replaced a door switch and the doghouse twice. As mentioned, the doghouse is pretty much sacrificial…it funnels smoke from the hot side under the meat on the cold side and collects drippings. Then, you run it up to 650 or 700 to sear a steak and a nice little grease burn off is expected. The doghouse is stamped .030 or thinner mild steel, so it’s gonna die eventually.

The one meat probe is only rated to 350*, so most serious chuck ‘em anyways and use a fireboard or similar. There’s a hamdful of people that 3D print a drop in mount to replace the MB temp controller with a fireboard. The rotary knob on my OEM controller is slowly dying, but temp control from the MB app on my phone solves that problem.

It holds temp from 205 to 700 all day long and is pretty efficient with a load of charcoal. Overall, it’s the best outdoor cooking instrument that’s not a dutch oven that I’ve owned; it’s a jack of all trades and damn good at most of them. .

Well, Crud. I was 1/2-ass paying attention to this thread. Now I'm gonna have to go back and actually read it. So - Brisket - smoke ring and bark or not?