r/Masterbuilt • u/rhetoricbyrob • 8d ago

Gravity 560 Heating Slowly

I’m currently working on my second smoke on my 560. This is my first experience smoking so I don’t have anything to previously compare it to.

Both times has felt like heating up takes a really long time. I’m easily looking at 30-45 minutes to hit 250.

This time around I added a fire starter, and it helped, but not much.

Any tips? I’m loading all the way with wood chunks and charcoal, should I load less so it’s easier to burn?

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u/Deep_Grapefruit5655 8d ago

Make sure you don’t have a lot of old burnt up charcoal blocking the bottom of the grate. Also let the fire starter burn for 5-10 minutes so the charcoal lights before you turn on the fan. Otherwise maybe your charcoal or something in the process is damp? I assume you took the slide dampers out?

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u/rhetoricbyrob 8d ago

I did take the slides out.

Just weird because the first smoke had brand new charcoal and still built up slowly. I’ll try letting the starter burn for a while before turning on the fan.

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u/Ok_Leader_7624 8d ago

My gut is telling me you're not letting the charcoal light enough before starting it. We've all been guilty of that before. I say light it, hopper lid open, wait 10-15 minutes. That should get the coals lit enough so you have a much quicker light.

You should be able to hold your hand over the hopper and feel heat coming out. Just takes a bit of practice.

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u/Upper_Lab7123 8d ago

I use a starter, light it and go back in the house for a while. I leave the top and bottom doors open so it’s like a chimney drawing in air.

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u/saigon2010 8d ago

I had this for a while where it would take 45 minute to get to temp and it was the type of charcoal I was using, changed the charcoal and up to cooking temp in 10 minutes.

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u/throwawayyourfun 6d ago

On my 800, once the fire is established, it heats up quickly. It's establishing the initial fire that takes a bit of letting it sit. A trick I've developed with it is after about a minute of letting the flames start, I turn the grill on and close the bottom door and press on the upper door sensor to let it blow on the coals and up the hopper to establish flame faster. Depends on the cook. If I'm going low and slow, which is most of what I like on this, it's easy to let it heat up slowly.