Masterbuilt Gravity Feed

[bill1]

I’ve never cooked anything for 24 hours. The last brisket I smoked took about 9 hours. You just open the hopper and pour in more charcoal. For overnight just top it off before you go to bed.

The amount of ash from various fuels varies, but it's probably a good idea to always check how much ash you have before adding more charcoal.

 

[rexster314]

Have any of you solved your app problems by replacing the control module?

Well, I replaced one that had a broken antenna back in January with the same version. Still had no luck.
Unless you luck out and get a very new one with the updated firmware, it makes no sense. With the new firmware your chances of getting a wifi connection MAY be increased.

 

[BBQ Newbie]

Let me preface my comments by saying that I like my MB560. However, to be candid, I'm not thrilled with the overall quality of the build. In four months time, I like many, will have to replace the panels in the firebox. After FOUR months!! Unlike those of you who appear to take the matter in stride, I'm not as forgiving, especially when if I consider my options. Do I go with the mod that has been discussed on this site (and folks thank you for sharing that valuable information) and pay the extra $80 bucks or so, or do I go through the hassle of dealing with customer service to have them honor their warranty. The obvious problem with that is if they do honor their warranty and send me the same parts, am I only enlisting to spend the rest of my life in servitude tearing apart every four months my MB560 in order to keep it running? Of course, on a more positive note, I'm hopeful that with enough practice dismantling and assembling my unit that I'll eventually be able to move on to other leisurely activities. Or am I simply being too optimistic?

Additionally, I have the same problems as many of you with connectivity, as well as (and possibly unique to my grill), the seal around the ash bucket has pulled away from the door thereby causing me to pursue better ways to keep the seal in place.

Thanks folks for allowing me this site to steam, as well as, pick up some helpful tips on how to grill!

 

[lokshy]

B BBQ Newbie I feel ya man. I like the easy startup.. But the recent paint peeling in the ashbox area.. Which is below the grate people mod, which you're describing an issue with.. Tells me that this will likely burn through as well. But in the mean time I'll be eating paint chips blown onto my food. I got annoyed and stopped using it, have reached out to MB, as there is no mod for this atm. I bought a primo xl like I should have originally on Friday, and will keep the masterbuilt on the ground floor deck until I lose my patience with it. My biggest complaint is the fuel consumption, then the build quality. Fuel might get fixed but dunno. Primo xl firebox can do 72hrs at 225 on one fill... My 1050 gives me 7-8hrs..

If MB fixes and improves the issues we're seeing, I think they're gonna do ok, it's a new product, it's bound to have issues, what's weird is they own kamado joe, and have a line of successful bbqs themselves.

 

[negolien]

stop moding your grills and blaming mb lol what a joke. so blockin u

 

[rexster314]

So this morning I had a little time and decided to fool around with my 560 (stock) and my Galaxy Note 10+. I've made myself heard on this and other boards/groups about my satisfaction and lack of dealing with wi-fi and the Masterbuilt apps.

So knowing I had a good install of the newest version of the app, I powered up the cooker and paired the BT which took no time (always a good BT connection). Then I went through and began wi-fi pairing. I had read a day or two ago about the app having a hard time resolving the passwords, which mine had numbers, letters and a special character @. I had changed my router settings yesterday to a password with just letters/numerals only. And with 9 total characters.

The 2.4 router was found as usual, but using the new password logged in, and within 2 minutes I was on wi-fi and actually downloading the new firmware automatically. Waited till that was done, restarted everything and surprise, surprise, surprise............I had a wi-fi connection!!!
I now am cooking a chicken on the new rotisserie that came in yesterday, and what's even better, I like the fact that I can open the ash bin door and hopper door, close them and the fan starts up again on it's own. I had done the cooker lid with an auto fuse months ago.
So those still having connection problems, try what I did today, and you might get lucky.

 

[Btfu]

So this morning I had a little time and decided to fool around with my 560 (stock) and my Galaxy Note 10+. I've made myself heard on this and other boards/groups about my satisfaction and lack of dealing with wi-fi and the Masterbuilt apps.

So knowing I had a good install of the newest version of the app, I powered up the cooker and paired the BT which took no time (always a good BT connection). Then I went through and began wi-fi pairing. I had read a day or two ago about the app having a hard time resolving the passwords, which mine had numbers, letters and a special character @. I had changed my router settings yesterday to a password with just letters/numerals only. And with 9 total characters.

The 2.4 router was found as usual, but using the new password logged in, and within 2 minutes I was on wi-fi and actually downloading the new firmware automatically. Waited till that was done, restarted everything and surprise, surprise, surprise............I had a wi-fi connection!!!
I now am cooking a chicken on the new rotisserie that came in yesterday, and what's even better, I like the fact that I can open the ash bin door and hopper door, close them and the fan starts up again on it's own. I had done the cooker lid with an auto fuse months ago.
So those still having connection problems, try what I did today, and you might get lucky.

Where did you find the rotisserie?

Edit: nevermind, I see it now

 

[ross77]

No connection problems using an iPhone 8. One of my firebox panels is burned through metal to the firebrick. MB says this is normal so I’ll take their word for it. All in all about what I expected quality wise for a $500 grill with digital control.

 

[Will Squared]

With a $100 for the Fire Box mod it is still much less than $1300 for a Trager.
I would stick with the Grav Feed.
The 12 Gauge Mod is really simple.
You Can Do This !

I have a Hot Rodder past where you leave Nothing stock !

 

[Sudz]

I've been struggling with the app since day one. My main problem is I do not understand how it is intended to work. Attempts to communicate with MB customer service have been a waste of time.

I can connect with BT, and see and change the cook temp from my iPhone 8. Probe temps display on the control panel but not on my iphone (latest update is on MB). The app suggest I connect to WiFi which I generally can. When WiFi connects BT is gone forever. WiFi has the same limitation as experienced under BT. Generally I'm forced to reenter all of my info and create a grill name once again. Nothing seems to follow the same pattern two times in a row. Forget setting any alarms from the remote.

Now I suspect much of this is operator error based on not knowing the required protocol for setting up and using this app.

Do any of you have a clear understanding of how this app is susposed to work?

 

[lokshy]

I've been struggling with the app since day one. My main problem is I do not understand how it is intended to work. Attempts to communicate with MB customer service have been a waste of time.

I can connect with BT, and see and change the cook temp from my iPhone 8. Probe temps display on the control panel but not on my iphone (latest update is on MB). The app suggest I connect to WiFi which I generally can. When WiFi connects BT is gone forever. WiFi has the same limitation as experienced under BT. Generally I'm forced to reenter all of my info and create a grill name once again. Nothing seems to follow the same pattern two times in a row. Forget setting any alarms from the remote.

Now I suspect much of this is operator error based on not knowing the required protocol for setting up and using this app.

Do any of you have a clear understanding of how this app is susposed to work?

I have had to renter info myself and recreate a smoker name.. I recently gave up on the app.. So when I did use it that happened, and generally it worked within Bluetooth range only, one or two times under wifi then not. Baffling. I hope in time they'll work through this stuff, they're just inexperienced with this type of application

 

[BBQ Newbie]

B BBQ Newbie I feel ya man. I like the easy startup.. But the recent paint peeling in the ashbox area.. Which is below the grate people mod, which you're describing an issue with.. Tells me that this will likely burn through as well. But in the mean time I'll be eating paint chips blown onto my food. I got annoyed and stopped using it, have reached out to MB, as there is no mod for this atm. I bought a primo xl like I should have originally on Friday, and will keep the masterbuilt on the ground floor deck until I lose my patience with it. My biggest complaint is the fuel consumption, then the build quality. Fuel might get fixed but dunno. Primo xl firebox can do 72hrs at 225 on one fill... My 1050 gives me 7-8hrs..

If MB fixes and improves the issues we're seeing, I think they're gonna do ok, it's a new product, it's bound to have issues, what's weird is they own kamado joe, and have a line of successful bbqs themselves.

The frustration for me is that I like my MB grill and really do not want to spend time with mods to keep it on line. Therefore, I'm with you in hoping that MB will fix the problems because overall I really like the grill.
In regards to the paint chips, are you sure it's not creosote as others have suggested on this site? As it happens, stage 2 creosote appears as flakes of paint but is unburnt fuel that collects in fire boxes, chimney's, etc.
Relative to fuel consumption I happen to think it's most likely the fuel that you're using. I say this, because recently I changed the charcoal briquettes that I normally use (both Kingsford brand) and noticed a considerable change in consumption.
Regards!

 

[lokshy]

The frustration for me is that I like my MB grill and really do not want to spend time with mods to keep it on line. Therefore, I'm with you in hoping that MB will fix the problems because overall I really like the grill.
In regards to the paint chips, are you sure it's not creosote as others have suggested on this site? As it happens, stage 2 creosote appears as flakes of paint but is unburnt fuel that collects in fire boxes, chimney's, etc.
Relative to fuel consumption I happen to think it's most likely the fuel that you're using. I say this, because recently I changed the charcoal briquettes that I normally use (both Kingsford brand) and noticed a considerable change in consumption.
Regards!

It ain't creosote its the paint pulling off beside the rest of the smooth paint surface.. It's clearly visible the ridges where paint is peeling vs where it's still attached.
See photo, this is under the charcoal grill

 

[rexster314]

With a $100 for the Fire Box mod it is still much less than $1300 for a Trager.
I would stick with the Grav Feed.
The 12 Gauge Mod is really simple.
You Can Do This !

I have a Hot Rodder past where you leave Nothing stock !

Cars and motorcycles didn't stand a chance with my mods

 

[rexster314]

I've been struggling with the app since day one. My main problem is I do not understand how it is intended to work. Attempts to communicate with MB customer service have been a waste of time.

I can connect with BT, and see and change the cook temp from my iPhone 8. Probe temps display on the control panel but not on my iphone (latest update is on MB). The app suggest I connect to WiFi which I generally can. When WiFi connects BT is gone forever. WiFi has the same limitation as experienced under BT. Generally I'm forced to reenter all of my info and create a grill name once again. Nothing seems to follow the same pattern two times in a row. Forget setting any alarms from the remote.

Now I suspect much of this is operator error based on not knowing the required protocol for setting up and using this app.

Do any of you have a clear understanding of how this app is susposed to work?

Initially, you use bluetooth to connect to the cooker/controller. Then connect to wi-fi for better, more solid connections, even away from your house. You must be fairly close to your router, or have a wifi extender closeby. I also had trouble connecting to wifi since I bought my 560 back in January. I was never able to make a wifi connection until yesterday when I tried the new updated app. One more consideration: make sure the password to your router or extender is 10 characters or less. Something about Masterbuilt's being picky about passwords longer than 10. My original password was 11 characters

 

[whistlepig]

I am not having connection issues with my Iphone7. The app is pretty limited though. I would like to have high and low temp alarms which it doesn't have. I use the Smoke ll instead of the Masterbuilt app.

 

[lokshy]

Tried over and over tonight with the app and moved my grill right next to house too... Of course no connection. Yes pressed button. Yea no idea so gave up and cooked without

 

[whistlepig]

With mine I take the phone to the 560 when I first power up the 560 and push the connection button on both the phone and 560. Mine won't connect unless I take these steps and I have to do this every time I start the 560.

 

[Roman Buffalo]

With mine I take the phone to the 560 when I first power up the 560 and push the connection button on both the phone and 560. Mine won't connect unless I take these steps and I have to do this every time I start the 560.

X2 to this. Mine works flawlessly I do the same process.

I’ve left my house checked the temp and adjusted while out and about WiFi works like it should. I have a old iPhone 6 I think the key is having a very good WiFi signal to begin with.
For some context, I have a orbi router setup so I’m able to get WiFi from my house, down my 175’ driveway and still have one bar left at my mailbox across the road. With that said I don’t believe the MB has a great antenna to begin with because if i roll it too far from my garage it struggles so I keep it 10’ from my house if I don’t want it to drop connection.

IMO the smoker/grill whatever we’re calling it has been great. Smoked a brisket for Father’s Day for 11 hrs and their wasn’t any left. I think folks are focusing way to much on the app not working for them( there’s probably 8 out of 29 page on this thread already dedicated to beating that dead horse). At the end of the day hows the food?

 

[whistlepig]

One is not going to get a $200.00 temp system/ app with a $500.00 smoker. And even if it were available I would prefer that Masterbuilt put the money into the smoker itself rather than an app.

These are nice charcoal grill/smokers. I haven't had any problems with mine. And even at worst case if I did have some of the issues others are describing I would buy another 560 anyway. Wood chunks with charcoal combined makes for some good smoke flavor and the 560 is amazingly good at maintaining a steady and precise temp. Not so easy to do with charcoal and wood.