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

[fishwater2002]

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.

That’s interesting that it’s only one speed, the Fireboard 2 Drive ramps the fan speed up & down as necessary, it also allows you to set max fan speed so you don’t overshoot your set temp.

 

[Smokin Okie]

That’s interesting that it’s only one speed, the Fireboard 2 Drive ramps the fan speed up & down as necessary, it also allows you to set max fan speed so you don’t overshoot your set temp.

Actually, I'm not sure of that about the Billows. On second thought, I've not spent time around the fan to listen for an increase in fan speed.

Billows has twice the CFM of any other controller I found. I think its 46 cfm. I researched that last summer and I've slept a few times since. So it may have a variable speed. But it pulses when it gets near the set temp.

I also have a damper on the fan to control air input.

 

[fishwater2002]

That makes sense, it would be a missed opportunity if they didn’t run the fan with variable output. I’ve used my Fireboard drive with a Pit Viper fan, Fireboard fan & Humphrey’s fan, they all work whether variable, capped output or pulsed.

 

[Smokin Okie]

The Billows is not variable speed but its 45 cfm

Fireboard 2 Drive = 20 cfm variable speed

BBQ Guru DigiQ DX2 = 10 cfm variable speed

Pitmaster IQ 120 = Variable Speed Blower (VSBTM) technology automatically learns your cooker's air demands (5-15 CFM)

Flame boss 500 = 23 cfm

 

[fendersrule]

I'm actually thinking to get a weber smoky mountain instead. Seems to be a perfect marriage of convience and smoke flavor. Thoughts?

 

[Chasdev]

Gravity feeders are the best thing since sliced bread, when the run properly and you add wood to the ash bin or in with the charcoal, the smoke flavor profile is just a tad below an expensive offset stick burner.
I drove one of the first gen Masterbuilt's for years and it was so much better then nursing a stick burner that I can't begin to express my joy at the experience.
Problem is after hundreds of cooks, it sort of fell apart.
Perhaps the new Char-Grille gravity feeder is more reliable, if so it's on my wish list.
I recently bought a cheap offset rig and after three cooks, I'm starting to remember why I switched to gravity feed in the first place.

 

[ross77]

Gravity feeders are the best thing since sliced bread, when the run properly and you add wood to the ash bin or in with the charcoal, the smoke flavor profile is just a tad below an expensive offset stick burner.
I drove one of the first gen Masterbuilt's for years and it was so much better then nursing a stick burner that I can't begin to express my joy at the experience.
Problem is after hundreds of cooks, it sort of fell apart.
Perhaps the new Char-Grille gravity feeder is more reliable, if so it's on my wish list.
I recently bought a cheap offset rig and after three cooks, I'm starting to remember why I switched to gravity feed in the first place.

I don't know. Char-Griller isn't exactly known for quality.

 

[Chasdev]

That leaves Masterbuilt, which may be made by Char-Grille...
No doubt there are better rigs that gravity feed, but they are pretty darn spendy.

 

[clifish]

That leaves Masterbuilt, which may be made by Char-Grille...
No doubt there are better rigs that gravity feed, but they are pretty darn spendy.

it is a big jump from the MB and chargrill gravity feeds to the next level in both quality and cost. I will rethink what direction I go when my MB800 rusts away in a couple years.

 

[fendersrule]

Again--why not a WSM to the commenters above?

From what i'm reading, the taste profile of a WSM and a Gravity Fed Charcoal is pretty much the same.

The Gravity Fed Charcoal is more akin toa pellet grill for convienece, but the WSM from what I'm reading is pretty damn close to set it and forget it (it will hold temps for hours, and of course if you get a controller it turns into an overnight cooker--although many report letting it run overnight without a controller with success).

The WSM can be had used for $100-200 and will last 10-20+ years, where as a gravity fed charcoal machine (the ones that exist today) will not last even 10 years (probably let alone 5 until replacement of something is in order) and they're consistantly $500-800.

Just curious why the WSM hasn't entered in the conversation yet. I'm probably buying one today. I had ribs on one a few months ago, and it totally kicked ribs that came out of any pellet grill to the moon (I'm a pellet smoker too).

It was immediately, without question, richer and smokier right away. Even the 5th rib still punched with good rich flavor--it wasn't something that went away after the first rib or so. IMO, the most important element of "q" is the smokey flavor. For me, more is always going to be better, as long as I don't have to babysit the grill all day. There's been a few BBQ restraunts that if I don't detect adequete smokey flavor, I don't return. I suppose that's how important it is to me. Many times this is at odds with the "highest rated BBQ" in the areas are, which tells me that many people don't find smokyness as valuable as me. :)

 

[fishwater2002]

When I started smoking many years ago I had a WSM & it was very stable, easy to use & most importantly consistent. The only downfall is that it tends to be a heavy smoke flavor, not as clean as some other smokers.

 

[Smokin Okie]

I bought my first WSM in 2002.

And I've owned a MB560 and currently own an Assassin 17 GF . The smoke from the WSM is from smoldering chunks. Its white smoke until the chunks burn up. The GF's burn a lot cleaner, ya get thin blue.

You can clean the WSM smoke a little bit, by burying the chunks down in the briquettes/lump and cooking at higher temps, like 275 to 300. But its still nothing like a GF.

I still use my WSM for direct heat chicken. I take out the water pan, put a full chimney of lit coals in and run it at 325 to 350 and can get fairly clean smoke.

The GF's are close to stickburner, if not equal to stickburner on shorter cooks, like 2 or 3 hours.

 

[fendersrule]

I trust y'all with more experience, but I don't see how a GF is more equal to a stick burner when it's still operating off of charcoal (mainly) and also with smoldering wood chunks, exactly how a WSM is doing it, just not in seperate chamber.

Stick burners burn sticks only. That's just gonna produce something different all together. I can see how it will burn cleaner though, but as you mentioned there's more proper methods to using a WSM to producing as clean of smoke as possible.

I just have a problem I guess with spending $600-800 on something that isn't built to last that's going to give me the same flavor vs something that cost a fraction of the price that will last me until I'm dead.

I still can't imagine any "smoky flavor difference" with a WSM vs a MB, which is 100% what I'm after (and also the convience). I welcome more opinions on this, though.

 

[Smokin Okie]

Read the second post in this thread , by me.

I found a MB560 on sale for $250. I thought it would be fun to play around with. I was expecting white billowy smoke. It did not do that. I was greatly surprised with thin blue smoke for the whole cook

It made me a GF believer.

 

[fendersrule]

Read the second post in this thread , by me.

I found a MB560 on sale for $250. I thought it would be fun to play around with. I was expecting white billowy smoke. It did not do that. I was greatly surprised with thin blue smoke for the whole cook

It made me a GF believer.

Nice! Thanks for having me go back to read that, it's been awhile.

The WSM rib looked the best, and if it was any more amount smokier, I would have taken it too like the wifey. :)

The 560 seems small. The 800 series seemed a bit small when I looked it last. Still a good deal, you can MAYBE geta 800 series used up here where I live for $400 if you're lucky.

I have nothing against them, I just think they are in their infancy still and would like to see them get better and more improved over the years.

At this point I don't smoke on my pellet pooper anymore cuz I've been spoiled recently. I need da' smoke!

 

[Smokin Okie]

An oldie but goodie, from Meathead at Amazing Ribs

What You Need to Know About Wood, Smoke, And Combustion​

 

[fendersrule]

I picked up an 18" WSM for $150 last night! It's in superb shape, just needs a cleaning.