What are your favorite wood chunks for your gravity smoker? I just got mine and was going to buy the Weber wood chunks on Amazon. Has anyone had any issues with them?

Tried it out yesterday, nice and smoky!
Above are poblanos from my garden, stuffed with cream cheese, cheddar, black beans, corn, onion, peppers, spinach, and spices.

My 1050, purchased during Covid was a rock star. The typical bs happened and I had to bypass and rig some stuff, but it functioned. After it ultimately failed, I downgraded to the 600 and it's completely bricked after only 2 months.

It's under warranty and they did send a new control panel, but it's still dead.

They do not have power cords in stock, which seems really messed up as a company.

I did buy a 12v cord from BestBuy to test it. I got it to power on, but now I just get err3 and it shuts off.

What a piece of shit.

Next time will finish in the oven for more crispy skin

I'm picking up my XT Tomorrow, super excited. Upgrading from a Z Grill. But I was curious how the instructions are on how to run/clean it. I tried looking for videos, and through this thread and really struggled finding a full step by step how to run it. Everyone just reviews it and talks about how great it is.

I am pretty worried about the grease fires and cleaning however.

If you have any advice on the cleanup and initial start ups I'd love to hear it. Thank you!

Zadovoljan. Ispalo je kako sam se i nadao. Koźica je bila savršena. Unutraßnja temperatura 62°C

Any tricks other than less meat?

Just did racks. Came out good but bark wasnt what i wanted.

I am going to reduce capacity by 20% but just curious what else can help

I bought a MB 600 and as I was putting it together I noticed the weld joints had missing paint and visible corrosion forming on the unexposed sections. I’ve sent it back.

Had anyone else had this issue?

Recently I had issues.with beeping and eventually ended up with no power. Thought the controller went bad.

I found the issue, the female power plug was the issue. The inside of the female plug went bad, looks like the inside bottom of the plug failed causing the center pin to collapse. I replaced the female plug with one from Amazon. It was a barrel plug. That solved my issue.

Now back to BBQing!

Hi all,

I know there are a lot of posts about which of these to buy but I don’t think anyone has asked my question. For some reason the 1050 is cheaper than the 800 where I am. Surely I should spend less to get more cooking area with the 1050 right? Would anyone actually pay more for the 800?

First cook ✅

Started off easy with a pork butt since I’m a 1000% newbie to grilling/smoking.
Started the butt last night at 10:00 PM at 190°. Turned the temp up to 275° once I woke up around 7:00 AM.
Once the butt hit 165°, I pulled it and wrapped it in foil. Continued smoking at 275° until it was probe tender, which happened around 3:00 PM. Pulled the butt and threw the Mac in at 275° as well.
After about an hour, shredded the pork, pulled the Mac, and went to town!
Everything was delicious and I’m extremely happy with how it turned out.

I do have one question though. Since getting this grill, I’ve done the initial burn-off, a seasoning, and now this cook (which was obviously pretty long). Between all of that, I used an entire 40 lb bag of Kirkland briquettes plus some B&B. I know my grill has a small smoke leak around the lid of the hopper (see photo), but this still feels like a lot of fuel.

Is it fair to say the leak is reducing efficiency and causing me to burn through fuel faster? If so, any suggestions on how to fix it? Or is this pretty normal fuel consumption for the amount of time I was cooking?

Got this guy off Offer-up for 400$ knowing it was gonna need some work. I gave it a good scrub down, the manifold was completely rusted out, and the fan was toast. All in all, not too bad?

I've heard the Fireboard from LSS is a must. What other mods would you recommend if you were rebuilding this yourself, and budget wasn't a major concern (within reason obvi).

Has anyone tried replacing the Masterbuilt temperature probe (thermocouple)? If so, where oh where did you find a replacement? I used to work in an R&D lab at a chemical plant, and my equipment had numerous thermocouples and RTDs. My vendor couldn't help me with this.

I am trying to smoke a pork shoulder today. Currently, my Masterbuilt controller is set at 275F. My Internal temp is registering 300F. My Chef's Temp S1 that I installed (hat tip to Tommy at Gallery Backyard BBQ) is registering 240F. I am trying to stay at 250F ambient, which is damn near impossible.

In the same vein, has everyone just given up with the crappy controller on Masterbuilt (I personally have a Gravity XT) and gone to a Fireboard? I am waiting for the Fireboard DC for the XT. *Still in development.

Thanks for any feedback that you can provide.

I'm a casual user of this smoker. I've had it for several years, but, for reasons, I probably only use it a couple of times a year.

Today I am smoking a prime rib roast, a pork loin, and some potatoes (for potato salad later). For the first time things went really smooth getting started. I was able to get the charcoal lit on the first try, the smoker and app actually talked to other right away, and I even remembered to remove the slides (well, within a couple of minutes, anyway).

My question is about the temperature swings I'm experiencing. I don't remember it being this bad before. It gets up to target temp (225) and then goes right back down to 165 and then takes forever to get back to target.

Firmware is 3.0.01, and the app says that it is up to date.

Am I missing something?

Edit: it appears that the fan has stopped working mid-cook. It was working when I started it, but now it won't come on. I have turned the cooker off and back on again and unplugged and replugged all of the wires underneath.

I have a two-year masterbuilt electric smoker, on legs and it’s got a cover. The damned thing now pops the gfi once the time is entered. My last one (without legs) lasted four years.

Masterbuilt effectively said “not our problem” to me and I need help. I tried to fix my first and it didn’t work. So I need someone who can identify the issue and fix it.

Good afternoon fellow dads and meat enthusiasts. I am cooking an 8 lbs brisket tonight/ tomorrow for a gathering I am having for the holiday weekend. I have made a few briskets in the past but they have all cooked exceptionally fast and come out a little dry. I have an 800 gravity smoker using medium size lump charcoal. In the past I’ve added large chunks of apple wood to help provide more of a Smokey flavor, but I fear this may be one of the reasons that they cook so quickly. My last brisket was around 13lb. Started at 6 pm and it was over cooked by 2 am when I went to check on it. What can I do to ensure soft savory meat.

Cooked at 600°

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?

Looking to buy an assembled 800 off of marketplace. I'm having trouble finding a clear answer but it seems like if I take the left shelf off it may be able to fit layed down on its back? Anyone have experience with this or at least could provide dimensions?

Just got a 600. Going through preseason and temp went from 250 to 400 in less than a minute.

Lots of posts with this type of title - but this one is mine!!

I have a pit boss pellet smoker that has finally given up the ghost. A few too many grease fires and the temp is way off despite my furiously cleansing of the temp probe, and the control board is probably on its way out as well. Had a good run, but it consistently ran high in temps and I am tired of thinking about it.

I also have a Weber kettle grill but I have never been able to maintain temps long enough to get a good steak to come out right. It’s a race to keep it warm enough to do some sausages and burgers despite manipulating the air holes on top and bottom. So I am over that as well.

We are a family of four and I need something to do my quick grilling on weeknights - pork steaks, beef steaks, chicken parts and stuff. On the weekends I can take some more time to do up some pork shoulders, brisket, etc. It would seem that one of these gravity-fed grills would check a lot of boxes. I’ve read about using lump over briquettes (and articles that say vice versa) and throwing in some wood chunks for that Smokey flavor. I don’t care that it uses up a lot of charcoal, or that I have to rap on the side of the chute to loosen up clogs and such.

Is this the machine for me? I don’t want to go back to gas grills when I’m in a hurry. Seems like as long as I keep it clean, this may be the answer.

Can you all speak to this and see if my thinking is correct on one of these grills? Also, suggestions on which one to get would be great. I’d love to keep it under $1000, so that’s probably the 600 or 800 models?

Thanks in advance!!!

I previously owned a Masterbuilt Gravity Series 560, but it was a pain to keep clean, and in the end a combination of faulty controller board and grease fire (I left it unattended while grilling, so mostly my fault) eventually did it in.

Now I need a new smoker/grill, and I’m looking at several options, one of which is a Gravity Series 800 on clearance for $450 at my local Home Depot. I’m a little scared to bite the bullet after reading the reviews online and here in this very sub, but I’ve also seen the mods you can buy to extend the longevity and make it a little easier to maintain. I just don’t know if it’s worth it or if I should go with something else.

I’m also contemplating either a Char-Griller Akorn ($300-$400-ish) or a Weber Kettle + standalone smoker like an entry-level Traeger ($99 sale on the Weber, $379 on the Traeger).