First Cook For The Masterbuilt Gravity Smoker

[rexster314]

Got baked beans going in the upper rack at the time of the video. Cooking/smoking at 360 deg. I lowered the temp to 260 when the beans hit 200 deg and put on a full rack of St Louis ribs. Added a lot more hickory wood chunks and am looking at two more hours for the ribs and beans to finish.
So far so good, it's all easy peasy ...... Only real problem and not a problem really, a hiccup? When I first started up it only got to around 82 deg. Turns out I forgot the remove the dampers for airflow.

 

[bregent]

Nice. How many full racks do you think will fit?

 

[rexster314]

Using the two accessory racks, at least 5 full racks of St Louis ribs

 

[jcam222]

Tuned in for the finish, nice smoke rolling. How did you embed the video?

 

[SmokinAl]

So how did everything turn out?
Al

 

[rexster314]

So how did everything turn out?
Al

The beans were a hit. Bacon on top turned out nicely cooked and somewhat crispy, nice smoke flavor. Ribs were simply great. Rubbed with Bolner's Rib Rub, cooked at 275 for 2 hours then foiled and cooked at 350 for 45 minutes. The thermometer for the MB was a nice touch and within 3 degrees of my trusted Thermoworks RED thermometer. Foil came off and I mopped down the ribs with a cherry bbq glaze that turned out nice and sticky. Meat didn't fall off the bone, but needed little prodding to come loose. Tender and juicy. All in all, I'd rate it as successful cook. I'll use more wood chunks in the mix next time or use my Amazen tube smoker for more smoke flavor. The ribs did have a small but noticeable smoke ring as well

 

[krj]

Did you notice any shipping damage? I've read that that's been one of the complaints about it so far.

Glad it worked well for you. Make sure to keep us updated on how it performs going forward. I know there are a few of us, like me, who are definitely excited to see an affordable and smaller style gravity fed smoker.

 

[rexster314]

Did you notice any shipping damage? I've read that that's been one of the complaints about it so far.

Glad it worked well for you. Make sure to keep us updated on how it performs going forward. I know there are a few of us, like me, who are definitely excited to see an affordable and smaller style gravity fed smoker.

I picked it up at a local Walmart. No damage to the exterior boxing and none to any of the parts. Buying it at Walmart gives me a chance to return it locally with out trying to ship the big bustard back if something goes wrong, and it was instant gratification instead of watching a tracking history for a week

 

[motocrash]

Glad it worked well for you. Make sure to keep us updated on how it performs going forward. I know there are a few of us, like me, who are definitely excited to see an affordable and smaller style gravity fed smoker.

What krj said, I will add that i'm curious about fuel consumption also.
Where/how do you add the chunks?

 

[rexster314]

What krj said, I will add that i'm curious about fuel consumption also.
Where/how do you add the chunks?

There's latched lid on the top of the hopper, flip it up and pour in the fuel along with wood chunks if you want smoke, latch the lid and start it up
Can't say about the fuel consumption, won't keep track of it, don't really care. It does what it says and that's what I care about. If I'm popping off 500$ I don't care about fuel consumption

 

[motocrash]

For some reason, I thought you'd add wood chunks separately from the charcoal.

 

[rexster314]

For some reason, I thought you'd add wood chunks separately from the charcoal.

Nope, you can add it into the charcoal bin/tower which mixes it up and more in the ash catcher in the bottom.

 

[ross77]

A little disappointed to hear the smoke flavor was lacking. I wonder if you smoked the ribs at a lower temp you'd get more flavor? I typically smoke mine at 225-250 all the way through without wrapping.

 

[tr1ple8]

Interesting that smoke flavor was an issue. The several cooks I have done, the smoke flavor has been great. In the cooks I did, I put large wood chunks in layers in the hopper. I’d pour in lump charcoal, throw some hickory chunks in, then more lump. Did a few layers like this. Once the smoker started going, I threw a chunk or two in the ash pan. This thing has easily outperformed my rectec in the smoke department. In the pellet smoker I used smoke tubes lit from both ends at times to try and achieve a stronger smoke flavor. I got in the habit of cooking at 210 just to try and get more smoke from the smoker. With the MB I feel like even at 275 it puts out a ton of smoke. Would love to hear how some additional cooks go for you. Hopefully you try it out a few more times before resorting to a smoke tube.

 

[rexster314]

Interesting that smoke flavor was an issue. The several cooks I have done, the smoke flavor has been great. In the cooks I did, I put large wood chunks in layers in the hopper. I’d pour in lump charcoal, throw some hickory chunks in, then more lump. Did a few layers like this. Once the smoker started going, I threw a chunk or two in the ash pan. This thing has easily outperformed my rectec in the smoke department. In the pellet smoker I used smoke tubes lit from both ends at times to try and achieve a stronger smoke flavor. I got in the habit of cooking at 210 just to try and get more smoke from the smoker. With the MB I feel like even at 275 it puts out a ton of smoke. Would love to hear how some additional cooks go for you. Hopefully you try it out a few more times before resorting to a smoke tube.

I'm doing some prime sirloin cuts tonight. I've layered a little more chunks and it's looking good. What I'm concerned with is there's a 20 degree difference in the cooking chamber between the digital readout on the smoker compared to the probe on my Thermoworks Smoke unit. One question, there's a LOT of buildup of gummy smoke residue on the top lid of the tower. Are you using anything to clean it off, or anything?

 

[tr1ple8]

I'm doing some prime sirloin cuts tonight. I've layered a little more chunks and it's looking good. What I'm concerned with is there's a 20 degree difference in the cooking chamber between the digital readout on the smoker compared to the probe on my Thermoworks Smoke unit. One question, there's a LOT of buildup of gummy smoke residue on the top lid of the tower. Are you using anything to clean it off, or anything?

Wow that’s a pretty big difference in temp. I’ll check mine tomorrow to see if I have the same results. That gummy smoke is creosote and moisture build up. I have been letting mine dry up and it chips away. I don’t worry too much about it. I’ve attached a photo of what it looks like after it dries. In the Facebook group for this smoker, people are using a sheet of foil and just replace it every so often.

 

[negolien]

Got baked beans going in the upper rack at the time of the video. Cooking/smoking at 360 deg. I lowered the temp to 260 when the beans hit 200 deg and put on a full rack of St Louis ribs. Added a lot more hickory wood chunks and am looking at two more hours for the ribs and beans to finish.
So far so good, it's all easy peasy ...... Only real problem and not a problem really, a hiccup? When I first started up it only got to around 82 deg. Turns out I forgot the remove the dampers for airflow.

I get mine Thursday so YOU ARE MY NEW BEST FRIEND lol.

How was the build easy? Any seasoning tips u found for the gravity? How big was the packaging? Lookin for anything u think I should know thanks in advance.

 

[rexster314]

I get mine Thursday so YOU ARE MY NEW BEST FRIEND lol.

How was the build easy? Any seasoning tips u found for the gravity? How big was the packaging? Lookin for anything u think I should know thanks in advance.

It's a good size box. Imagine a 55" TV box only wider. It took me exactly 2 hours to put through thing together. The only thing I deviated from was to use spray canola oil instead of wiping the interior down. And it really needs that burn in. Several things are really greasy. One other thing, the hardest part is to attach the chrome lid handle due to the way it's designed.
Join the Facebook group. Really quite informative

 

[negolien]

I don't do commie facebook lol...I heard the screws n the handle suck.

 

[rexster314]

I don't do commie facebook lol...I heard the screws n the handle suck.

Whatever, you're missing out on a lot of information