re: Masterbuilt Charcoal Gravity Smokers l Long time reviews?

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'll have to buy a new grill soon and looking hard at this or keeping things simple with a Weber Kettle.

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To me, the Kettle is not simple. Pellet grills are simple. The Masterbuilt Charcoal is simple. Plug them in, dump fuel in, and watch the meat temp on the phone. The kettle takes a little more effort. It's also as flexible as anything you can grill on, with true two zone cooking, ability to smoke, cook pizza, reverse sear, etc.

I guess the kettle is simple in terms of there isn't much that can break on those things that requires more than a hammer and a screwdriver...

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To me, the Kettle is not simple. Pellet grills are simple.

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Simple price

Amazing Ribs has a detailed review, including updates to note problems with bad safety switches. It also talks about the company's response to customer complaints that metal walls of the burn chamber deteriorate (they say it's supposed to do that). LINK

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How hot do these things get?

Can I sear a steak and do burgers?

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Plenty hot to sear. You can set to 700 degrees, but it gets up to almost 800. It throws flames when you go that high so you can get a great sear. I do burgers at 450 or so and it makes a nice crust.

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How hot do these things get? Can I sear a steak and do burgers?

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700 with no mods, yes and yes. I haven't tested how hot it will get with my heatermeter yet. I want to push it higher for pizza.

I picked up a 560 last week for $150. Walmart is slowly closing out the V1 version of these and some of them are selling them off for crazy good prices. Use brickseek to find them, I put in zip codes til I found one 2 hours out from my house. I started a thread to get some mod advice on the outdoor board, but the TD user hasn't responded.

LINK /

So you are probably curious about V1 to V2 changes. There are 3 to 4 changes on the 560 and 1050, 800 was never released in V1, all of them have the changes. The 3 definite changes on the 560/1050 are a different metal in the firebox because of all the complaining about it burning away (can't get a real answer if it matters if it burns away, a lot of people let it burn and the grill works fine and it's only $30 to replace the bricks out of warranty and MB honors their warranty well), new style switches that don't fail as much on the doors/lids, and a new charcoal grate that doesn't let as much charcoal fall through. MB sells the grate ($15) and the switches (cheap) and is going to sell the new metal but haven't released it yet. The 4th change that doesn't seem to come on all of the 560s is a brace for the manifold. Some people have gotten it, some haven't on the new version. Think this is on all of the 1050s V1 and V2.

App has worked ok for me, but I have a very robust wifi network. Unifi APs all over the place. Supposed to be an update in March to make it a lot more reliable.

What I have learned so far, these things have a very big support network on facebook. Two guys do really good work on mods if you want to spend some extra money, Nathan and LSS.

I already spent some money on mods. I picked up the MB new style grate and Nathan's vent mod. This will greatly improve how much charcoal I use. Nathan said it added about 4 hours onto his smokes without needing a refill. His vent mod looks and functions great and could help in rain and will definitely help in wind, 560 has a huge vent on the back that has messed with people's smokes.

I added a thermometer with temp readings on the front of the grill.

I got Nathan's manifold cover and his vent protection screen as well. Manifold cover makes for super simple cleaning, after using foil for my first smoke, I liked this idea of having one I could reuse. The vent protection screen will keep burning charcoal from going into the fan, was cheap and uses the MB firebox cutoff slots that he drilled out. Saved me some money by ordering 3 mods too, so basically got it for free.

I already had a cable that will let me use a USB battery bank in place of an AC outlet. I also already had a heatermeter that will let me control it a lot better than the stock controller.

I've got about a little over $300 in it now. I did some wings on it last night. I am definitely liking it so far. I want to add some SS grates.

How can you tell if it is a V1 or V2?

Damn good right up Dam Guide. You got a link for this Nathan feller?

I have had a 1050 since July and it has worked pretty well.

It is prone to flare ups, so if you need to put something in the chamber to catch the drippings otherwise you might have a big fire on your hand for real long cooks.

I had the lid safety switch burn out on me, but it was easy enough to bypass.

Otherwise the ability to cook at 225 and quickly ramp to 700 all while getting that good charcoal/wood flavor is fantastic.

The app is hit or miss with me. My Wi-fi signal out where my grill is, is not great. But if I make sure to reconnect I have no issues. On overnight cooks I still use my wireless thermometer for backup.

I dont clean as often as I should...

Flares up more typical on greasy items such as chicken wings, which I will generally cook at higher temps than 400 for sure.

But had some issues with things like pork belly burnt ends or the like.

Not a big deal either way just put some aluminum pans down on the bottom great. Mostly smoke everything on the middle grate anyways.

Thanks for the Nathan's Market Place link. His prices look a little friendlier than LLS...

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Here is LSS if you want to check him out too

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Thanks, I'm familiar with these products. Still trying to convince myself that I need the elite package... but after seeing the other products from Nathan, I might have to reconsider.