I'm ready to upgrade from my Camp Chef Pellet to an gravity fed...would like some experiences

[fendersrule]

We've been using our Camp Chef (with side kick--which is an amazing accessory) for a couple years and have been enjoying it. It's pretty nice to be able to smoke a pork butt while you're sleeping, and the side kick is superb for deep frying, woking, and gas grilling.

I can probably see us keeping the pellet grill for several reasons, but I'm itching to get towards that nice complex smoke flavor that pellet grills simply cannot offer.

For gravity fed charcoal owners, either the Masterbuilt or the Old Country Grills (and I think Char-griller makes one), how would you compare it to pellet flavor and true offset flavor? For me, the most important thing about BBQ is the smoke flavor. The second most important thing is how much effort did it take me to make it. It seems like gravity fed marries the pellet convience and the flavor of an offset together?

I've read that masterbuilt are good budget grills, but they are just that, budget grills. Old Country gravity fed is more of a life-time grill, but being in the NW I don't think anyone carries it in my area, and shipping/crating is probably $500 extra, so we're talking a decent expense. I've also read of some build quality issues where the front door doens't fully latch, or other leakage so some additional budget should be set aside to get one fully functional.

In theory (or in practice) does a masterbuilt verticle charcoal grill match the flavor of an old country gravity fed? If so, then maybe getting a masterbuilt on clearence may be an easy upgrade to be enjoyed.

 

[Smokin Okie]

Smoke from a Masterbuilt GF will be very similar to stickburner. It will be thin blue. When the coals are first igniting there's white billowing smoke but as the coal bed heats up, it changes to thin blue.

The theory is, the superheated air in the firebox of the GF cleans the impurities out of the smoke. Smoke from wood chunks in the hopper is smoldering smoke. And I never got white billowy smoke from my 560. So something is happening.

I also put wood chunks in the ash bin, suspended on a small expanded metal grate. Those chunks would burn in flame. So that smoke was stickburner smoke.

Its a bit complex.

Is it stickburner flavor ? Well, the MB won't have the air flow of a stickburner. I cook with a stickburner and I prefer to use it, if possible.

But bottom line, I was extremely happy with the meats produced by my 560. The problem was I never knew if it was going to launch. Or if it would go kaput in the middle of a cook. While only one time did it not launch, I could never trust it.

I did a comparison cook using my MB vrs WSM vrs my Franklin offset. Whole spare ribs seasoned exactly the same. In this pic, the rib to the left is WSM, middle rib is MB, and on the right from the Franklin.

WSM is a little darker, maybe a bit over smoked. The MB rib is lighter in color but that could've been due to the amount of wood chunks I fed the ash bin. I got busy running three smokers and didn't think to add wood. BTW, my wife enjoyed the WSM rib the most.

 

[Smokin Okie]

The MB is a rib cooking machine. I really liked it for baby backs. These ribs have three different rubs I was comparing. And then a pic of a chunk in flame in the ash bin.

 

[ross77]

I've had a MB 560 for 3 years. It puts out some great flavor and is relatively easy to use. Blows away the flavor from my RecTeq. That being said, it is not a high quality smoker. It's pretty thin metal and I don't expect it to last too much longer. The controller has stopped responding to input except the power button so I'm forced to use the app. I also used it for grilled but if I were to do it again I would use it for smoking only. It's just not robust enough to withstand too many high heat cooks.

 

[clifish]

I like my mb800, but as said before I don't know how the longevity will be.

 

[Smokin Okie]

In that pic I posted of wood in flame in the ash bin, there's a little bit of the firebox door showing and can see what those high temps are doing. I think that's just paint peeling back but it made me wonder how long that thin metal would hold up to the temp of open flame.

I noticed that LSS Mods is selling front and rear panel replacements.

 

[learnintosmoke]

If you want a gravity fed smoker personally, I love my Masterbuilt 800. I just wrote a personal review of it. I think it’s still pending approval for public view. But I really do like it. It’s easy to use and works well.

 

[fendersrule]

Thanks for the responses!

I think the problem with the masterbuilt is simply the price and longetivity. I didn't realize this, but the 800 is $800. $800 for something that isn't built to last is a hard pill to swallow. :(

 

[clifish]

Thanks for the responses!

I think the problem with the masterbuilt is simply the price and longetivity. I didn't realize this, but the 800 is $800. $800 for something that isn't built to last is a hard pill to swallow. :(

keep an eye out soon, I spent like $397 (might even have been $297) for my MB800 from Walmart when they cleared them out in the fall a year or 2 ago. Go to the stores the online inventory and cost did not reflect the discounts.

 

[Chasdev]

I bought one of the first Masterbuilt gravity units right after they came out.
Best cooker for the money ever, period.
Great smoke flavor, hands free operation.
Cooked hundreds of times on it, had multiple small glitches all of which Masterbuilt handled free of charge including shipping.
Some complain about the customer service but once you figure out how to navigate the home page, filing inquirys is a breeze if you have your serial number handy.
Downside is that their shipping is slow and those door sensors are plain crap.
I cut the wires off all my sensors and shunted the circuts to fool the controller into thinking the doors are always closed.
Had one controller failure that was replaced free (they tossed in a new fan too) but what made me send mine to the recycle yard was the gasket between the firebox and the cook chamber burned out and it became a struggle to maintain temps plus it started to gobble my fancy expensive charcoal faster than I wanted to supply it.
I just went back to a stickburner for the smoke flavor but I do miss that Masterbuilt when I'm adding mini-splits every 45 minutes for 12 hours.

 

[fxsales1959]

We've been using our Camp Chef (with side kick--which is an amazing accessory) for a couple years and have been enjoying it. It's pretty nice to be able to smoke a pork butt while you're sleeping, and the side kick is superb for deep frying, woking, and gas grilling.

I can probably see us keeping the pellet grill for several reasons, but I'm itching to get towards that nice complex smoke flavor that pellet grills simply cannot offer.

For gravity fed charcoal owners, either the Masterbuilt or the Old Country Grills (and I think Char-griller makes one), how would you compare it to pellet flavor and true offset flavor? For me, the most important thing about BBQ is the smoke flavor. The second most important thing is how much effort did it take me to make it. It seems like gravity fed marries the pellet convience and the flavor of an offset together?

I've read that masterbuilt are good budget grills, but they are just that, budget grills. Old Country gravity fed is more of a life-time grill, but being in the NW I don't think anyone carries it in my area, and shipping/crating is probably $500 extra, so we're talking a decent expense. I've also read of some build quality issues where the front door doens't fully latch, or other leakage so some additional budget should be set aside to get one fully functional.

In theory (or in practice) does a masterbuilt verticle charcoal grill match the flavor of an old country gravity fed? If so, then maybe getting a masterbuilt on clearence may be an easy upgrade to be enjoyed.

There are deals to be had, mostly by chance. I stumbled on my MB560 at HD one afternoon.
I couldn't say no to the price. I rode it like a dime store pony for quite a while. I did have switch issues, but MB took care of me, and its pretty easy to by pass with a couple roach clips and shrink wrap. Since I go t my WSM 18 it hasn't been used. Keep as back up in case i need to do multiple racks of ribs. it is a rib machine.

 

[Chasdev]

Now that was a GOOD deal!

 

[clifish]

Now that was a GOOD deal!

I got my mb800 for $347 at Walmart

 

[johnnyreb]

i have the chargriller 980 and i like it. Instead of using chunks in the firebox i put splits in the firebox along with the charcoal.....convinience of a pellet with taste of an offset

 

[Saul D]

We've been using our Camp Chef (with side kick--which is an amazing accessory) for a couple years and have been enjoying it. It's pretty nice to be able to smoke a pork butt while you're sleeping, and the side kick is superb for deep frying, woking, and gas grilling.

I can probably see us keeping the pellet grill for several reasons, but I'm itching to get towards that nice complex smoke flavor that pellet grills simply cannot offer.

For gravity fed charcoal owners, either the Masterbuilt or the Old Country Grills (and I think Char-griller makes one), how would you compare it to pellet flavor and true offset flavor? For me, the most important thing about BBQ is the smoke flavor. The second most important thing is how much effort did it take me to make it. It seems like gravity fed marries the pellet convience and the flavor of an offset together?

I've read that masterbuilt are good budget grills, but they are just that, budget grills. Old Country gravity fed is more of a life-time grill, but being in the NW I don't think anyone carries it in my area, and shipping/crating is probably $500 extra, so we're talking a decent expense. I've also read of some build quality issues where the front door doens't fully latch, or other leakage so some additional budget should be set aside to get one fully functional.

In theory (or in practice) does a masterbuilt verticle charcoal grill match the flavor of an old country gravity fed? If so, then maybe getting a masterbuilt on clearence may be an easy upgrade to be enjoyed.

I’ve been considering a gravity fed smoker myself. I have a Pit Boss pellet smoker and like the convenience. I notice that the pellets produce a lot of ash and the fan blows the ash throughout the smoker and on the meat. Do gravity fed smokers have a similar problem, or is that only a pellet smoker issue?

 

[Smokin Okie]

I’ve been considering a gravity fed smoker myself. I have a Pit Boss pellet smoker and like the convenience. I notice that the pellets produce a lot of ash and the fan blows the ash throughout the smoker and on the meat. Do gravity fed smokers have a similar problem, or is that only a pellet smoker issue?

On my Masterbuilt 560, I found that to be an issue if cooking at higher temps, which means the fan is running at higher speed. If I used it only as a smoker, under 300*, I did not see that happening.

Same for my new Assassin 17. I get ash in the bottom of the cook chamber where the heat enters. But I've not seen any above that. Again, it does not have the very strong air flow.

IMHO, on a GF, ash would be a problem if a person tried to increase the air flow.

I bought a cheap anemometer and measured the air flow from my Franklin offset against the Assassin. It was hard to get a stable reading, but the Franklin registered on average about 1.5 meter per second. There was not enough air flow from the Assassin to turn the blades on the anemometer.

 

[Saul D]

On my Masterbuilt 560, I found that to be an issue if cooking at higher temps, which means the fan is running at higher speed. If I used it only as a smoker, under 300*, I did not see that happening.

Same for my new Assassin 17. I get ash in the bottom of the cook chamber where the heat enters. But I've not seen any above that. Again, it does not have the very strong air flow.

IMHO, on a GF, ash would be a problem if a person tried to increase the air flow.

I bought a cheap anemometer and measured the air flow from my Franklin offset against the Assassin. It was hard to get a stable reading, but the Franklin registered on average about 1.5 meter per second. There was not enough air flow from the Assassin to turn the blades on the anemometer.

Thanks for the feedback. My Pit Boss fan has only one speed, even when smoking low and slow. I think that’s the problem. Considering everyone’s comments above, I think I’ve settled on the Masterbilt 800. I like its quality over the 560, and if I only cook low and slow it should last long enough to warrant the $800 investment.

 

[Smokin Okie]

Thanks for the feedback. My Pit Boss fan has only one speed, even when smoking low and slow. I think that’s the problem. Considering everyone’s comments above, I think I’ve settled on the Masterbilt 800. I like its quality over the 560, and if I only cook low and slow it should last long enough to warrant the $800 investment.

So it controls temp by the amount of pellets ?

I use a Billows on the Assassin and the fan is either on or off. But on the MB, I could hear the fan revving up to higher speeds for higher temps. And when I opened the cook chamber door at high temps, I could see embers blowing into the cook chamber from the manifold.

 

[fendersrule]

Thanks for the feedback. My Pit Boss fan has only one speed, even when smoking low and slow. I think that’s the problem. Considering everyone’s comments above, I think I’ve settled on the Masterbilt 800. I like its quality over the 560, and if I only cook low and slow it should last long enough to warrant the $800 investment.

Others may disagree, but I think $800 is far too much for the MB 800. I've seen a couple very lightly used units pop up for $400 asking price recently. Others have found them for $400. Tis the season!

I've looked at one recently. Quality seems OK as long as you're using it to broil stuff. The thing I didn't like is the cooking area. It seems pretty cramped.

 

[Smokin Okie]

I would shop Amazon or others on Black Friday . Last year they had Masterbuilt 1050's on Black Friday for $480. It started the week before Black Friday, so its never too soon to start looking .