Master built 560 smoker/grill worse piece of equipment master built has made yet. They will ruin their reputation quickly.

[jajones63]

I don’t care how many of you younger kids post how great masterbuilt gravity 560 is, you’re an inexperienced smoker and griller and leading people to spend their hard working money on a POS. I’ve never purchased anything but masterbuilt for over 40 years until now. I’ve lost all respect for masterbuilt after purchasing this crap. To start out with right out of the box it wouldn’t connect to internet. I followed instructions to upgrade firmware, no luck. I had to call them and they thought they could walk me through it, ha ha, to their surprise they couldn’t fix it. They did send me another controller already updated end. During this entire process this is the only thing they done to prove they were a professional company everything moving forward, is a downhill disaster. After receiving new controller it did connect to my wi fi then Bluetooth. At this time I was happy until I tried using the built in thermometers, neither of them worked. Wife purchased me a Bluetooth so I used it and liked it better. Next problem one week later all the protective metal inside on the back started coming apart this is ridiculous for the cost of this grill. I sent a complaint nobody called me back. Now it gets worse, the new controller two weeks old, quit working again, I was pissed to say the less. I tried calling, putting in support ticket, nobody got back to me, without this it’s useless. My neighbor came over and looked at it and wire in the controller came unsoldered. He said all the wires is the worse soldering job he’s ever seen. It’s back on but now won’t connect to Bluetooth phone so I’ve been using it without phone which was the main reason I bought it. Now the switches on the doors are going out, you have to slam them two to three times to get them to work.

Masterbuilt is aware of all these problems and never tried to make them right. They just lost a 40 year customer and not only that I’ll try my best to talk people out of buying anything masterbuilt if I can, which so far I’ve been pretty damn successful. I will be purchasing me another grill after Christmas and scrap this one for metal, it’s useless, worse grill/smoker I’ve ever seen. For those of you who kiss masterbuilts ass, I don’t and never will, if you don’t like my truthful post, then keep your nosy Oprah Winfrey ass out of my business and don’t read it. That’s the problem with this world today. Stay away from masterbuilt if you don’t want to go through what I did.

 

[rexster314]

When I got my 560 4 years ago, I thought I was uptown. But as it went on, things you've mentioned started popping up. After six months, I replaced the froggy controller with a Fireboard which made the grill into what it should have been. Precise temps, flawless connectivity with my computer or phone. By this time I had bypassed all of the door/lid switches as the Fireboard took over that function. Before the year was out, the bottom of the lid was rusting out, the sacrificial steel holding back the "firebricks" had burned out exposing the soft "firebrick" that charcoal was rubbing off during cooks. Grease management was atrocious resulting in several fires in the cooking box. Some of the stainless steel mods for the chimney and cover for the manifold with grease drainoffs made it into a better cooker. BUT, when I got my Weber Smokefire, I used the 560 less and less. There was a learning curve for the Weber, but updates to the software and hardware made it into a great smoker and grill.
When our house burned to the ground 4 years ago, all my outdoor cooking gear was destroyed. When I was able to get another grill, I bought another Smokefire, but replacing the 560 was something I wasn't prepared to perform upgrades on it again.
I did a small video about the Masterbuilt "firebricks" when I was installing the stainless steel upgrades to the firebox. Masterbuilt's idea of firebricks is entirely different than what you would think.

 

[jajones63]

All I can say is I use to think highly of masterbuilt but not anymore. They don’t care about their customers at all. It’s all about how much money they can pocket while screwing over the hard working man, who keeps them in business. I’ve stop at least 8 people from purchasing the Gravity series model smoker/grills. This was a great concept but the amount of money you pay for these grills, they should work like a fine running machine. I’m through with Master-built I gave them the opportunity to make it right and they didn’t care. Let’s see where they are a year from now.

 

[PPG1]

I must be one of the lucky ones with the 560 GF. I've had my for 5+ years without a manageable problem. The only issue I have is Temp settings but I pay attention to my inkbird temp probe on grate and adjust accordingly. Generally off by 25 deg but once set it holds temp throughout cook. I keep it clean so never a grease fire. I will get flareups when I set max temp but thats to be expected at 700 plus deg. My only complaint about this unit is...It eats up the charcoal.

 

[jajones63]

I must be one of the lucky ones with the 560 GF. I've had my for 5+ years without a manageable problem. The only issue I have is Temp settings but I pay attention to my inkbird temp probe on grate and adjust accordingly. Generally off by 25 deg but once set it holds temp throughout cook. I keep it clean so never a grease fire. I will get flareups when I set max temp but thats to be expected at 700 plus deg. My only complaint about this unit is...It eats up the charcoal.

Consider yourself one of the lucky ones. I’m 62 years old and been smoking grilling my entire life and I’ve never had so many issues. I’m glad for you, at least one came off the line working right.

 

[Brokenhandle]

Dude, I don't get it either? Why are people still purchasing the MES 30 and 40? They are a pile as well. Within a year all my MES 40 is is a box with racks, everything else has been changed or gutted. How any posts are there on this forum about fixing or modifying the MES.

I bought a mes 30 analog smoker several years ago for $90 brand new, added an auber for $ 150, and a mailbox mod... so for $250 I have a smoker that holds temps within 5 degrees. Mainly used just for sausage now but can't find anything cheaper that works so well.

Ryan

 

[chopsaw]

His first post is a rant on Christmas eve .
Why bite on that BS ?

 

[Chasdev]

I loved my 560, cooked some fine fine briskets on that thing.
Door sensors were crap but running without them was easy.

 

[normanaj]

His first post is a rant on Christmas eve .
Why bite on that BS ?

Wish fishing was that easy.