It’s been awesome. I’ve had it since last week and have done 3 cooks on it so far. I reverse seared tri tip and made some CSR’s. The smoke flavor has been great. The one area I appreciate is the amount of time it takes to get up to temp. I can get to 200 in about 5-7 minutes from a cold start and then when I need to bump it up to sear my steaks, I can get to 700 in about 2-3 minutes. Overall I am very happy with this grill and it’ll be my go to smoker/grill now.
I’m in southern California. It’s not usually too cold here. Last night it was about 46 outside when I fired up the grill. So it wasn’t too warm outside but I’m sure much warmer than other parts of the country.
Both. Did a few layers of hickory in with the lump charcoal and then put some in the pan below.
Yes for sure. Reminded me of when I used my offset smoker years ago. In my offset I would use a combo of charcoal and wood in a basket. Did this for a long time till I had my second kid and didn’t have time to sit and monitor the offset for extended cooks. This is why I went with the pellet grill, which has been solid, but lacks in the smoke department. I think because I had used the offset with charcoal/wood for so long, I knew what I was missing and was never 100% happy with it. This MB560 is nowhere built the same as the rectec, but I’ll take the better smoke flavor I get with the MB. Price point on this grill is really good too.
That’s a great question. I think it depends on the fuel, lump or briquettes. People are getting better times with briquettes on this grill vs lump. I’ll probably do a pork butt this weekend, I can report back on how much fuel I use. I believe Masterbuilt clames the hopper will hold 10 pounds of lump and 15 pounds of briquettes. If I’m truly burning 1.5 pounds per hour, then the 10 pounds of lump will get me 6-7 hours. So it may not get you through the night. If I have time this weekend, I’ll do a long cook and let you know.
