Masterbuilt Gravity Feed

[Roman Buffalo]

I have the LSS mod for the hopper lid and after the first few smokes creosote build up started allowing a bit of smoke to leak between the mod and the rest of the hopper. I bought some 7/8" x 1/8 FireBlack and just installed it. Now I will have a seal between the hopper and the mod as well as the hopper lid and the mod. I'm thinking it should do the trick.

As a side note, cleaning off the creosote buildup from around the edge of the top of the hopper was nuts. I had to resort to some zippo lighter fluid and a scotch brite pad to get it off. I tried hot water, then soapy hot water, then some fairly strongly concentrated Simple green and none of it hardly touched it. The zippo fluid did the trick, but it evaporates pretty fast.

grill grate brush works

 

[912smoker]

And a nice sale happening too !

Masterbuilt® Gravity Series® 1050 Digital Charcoal Grill + Smoker

Masterbuilt makes innovative digital charcoal grills, griddles, electric smokers, propane smokers, combination grill & smokers, fryers and more. For the backyard griller or on-the-go meat smoker, master the art of cooking with Masterbuilt.

www.masterbuilt.com

 

[smokewaggin]

I believe the slip of paper recommends any pan that is less than 2" tall/deep. I used some that are ~13 1/2 "x9 1/2"x1 7/8" under a pork butt that worked really well.

Yeah i was trying to find pans wide/long enough to cover the manifold as well as a decent depth of the grate to catch the drippings when I do briskets and ribs mostly. I do full packers and spares when I make them so they take up a lot of space. Was only able to find some slightly under 12(11 7/8?) x 9. Will definitely keep looking.

 

[912smoker]

I know what you're looking for but I use this and love them. I put packers on middle shelf with a pan underneath. No other clean up required.

Robot or human?

 

[smokewaggin]

I know what you're looking for but I use this and love them. I put packers on middle shelf with a pan underneath. No other clean up required.

Robot or human?

If I am only using the middle rack i do something similar. My second cook was a couple of pork butts ont he middle rack and a drip pan underneath them worked perfectly. I often cook for 20+ or so for family gatherings and need to use every bit of space. Just yesterday I had 3 racks of ribs, a pork loin, a meat loaf and several pounds of sausage going on the 1050. There wasn't room for anything else, and I was full up.

 

[Smokin Okie]

I know what you're looking for but I use this and love them. I put packers on middle shelf with a pan underneath. No other clean up required.

Robot or human?

Just bought one. Looks to be perfect as a drip pan on the lower grate of 560.

My only concern is if it blocks too much of the air flow. Generally, my middle level grate runs at same temp as MB is set for. Do you notice a diff when using this drip pan ?

 

[912smoker]

No haven't really noticed a difference.
I always use the pan/rack for chops, steaks then move them to the grates for searing. Use them for ribs and brisket entire cook

 

[mcokevin]

Changing the subject a little bit, but worth noting. I read somewhere here that people have tried putting a wood split vertically in the hopper and surrounding it with charcoal. I have been doing that for a few smokes now and have to say it has produced some of the best food I've made since I started smoking on my WSM back in 2016.

Even the burgers I made Saturday night were ridiculously good. I have been using the same patty recipe for a few years, but normally cook them on my gasser. Saturday I was cooking burgers for 12 and that wouldn't fit on my two burner gasser easily. I cooked those on the 1050, and it had a hickory split in it still from my previous smoke. My goodness, best burgers I've ever made. Same recipe, but using the charcoal + hickory instead of propane made them so much better.

I can't recommend this method enough.

 

[Roman Buffalo]

Changing the subject a little bit, but worth noting. I read somewhere here that people have tried putting a wood split vertically in the hopper and surrounding it with charcoal. I have been doing that for a few smokes now and have to say it has produced some of the best food I've made since I started smoking on my WSM back in 2016.

Even the burgers I made Saturday night were ridiculously good. I have been using the same patty recipe for a few years, but normally cook them on my gasser. Saturday I was cooking burgers for 12 and that wouldn't fit on my two burner gasser easily. I cooked those on the 1050, and it had a hickory split in it still from my previous smoke. My goodness, best burgers I've ever made. Same recipe, but using the charcoal + hickory instead of propane made them so much better.

I can't recommend this method enough.

I do this all the time works great

 

[Joma]

Changing the subject a little bit, but worth noting. I read somewhere here that people have tried putting a wood split vertically in the hopper and surrounding it with charcoal. I have been doing that for a few smokes now and have to say it has produced some of the best food I've made since I started smoking on my WSM back in 2016.

Even the burgers I made Saturday night were ridiculously good. I have been using the same patty recipe for a few years, but normally cook them on my gasser. Saturday I was cooking burgers for 12 and that wouldn't fit on my two burner gasser easily. I cooked those on the 1050, and it had a hickory split in it still from my previous smoke. My goodness, best burgers I've ever made. Same recipe, but using the charcoal + hickory instead of propane made them so much better.

I can't recommend this method enough.

Do you put a layer or two of charcoal in the bottom of the hopper before the wood or is the wood the first thing you put in?

 

[mcokevin]

Do you put a layer or two of charcoal in the bottom of the hopper before the wood or is the wood the first thing you put in?

If I have an empty hopper I'd put a bit of charcoal at the bottom, but not much. When I refilled the hopper Sunday morning I put the new split right on top of what was left of the current split, with no break in between.

 

[Smokin Okie]

Even the burgers I made Saturday night were ridiculously good

What temp did you use to grill burgers ?

 

[mcokevin]

What temp did you use to grill burgers ?

I set it to 450. I had the lid open enough that it probably dipped a bit below that while grilling, but that seemed to be a good temp where I could close the lid for a few minutes and get a nice sear on the burgers without burning them.

 

[smokewaggin]

Changing the subject a little bit, but worth noting. I read somewhere here that people have tried putting a wood split vertically in the hopper and surrounding it with charcoal. I have been doing that for a few smokes now and have to say it has produced some of the best food I've made since I started smoking on my WSM back in 2016.

Even the burgers I made Saturday night were ridiculously good. I have been using the same patty recipe for a few years, but normally cook them on my gasser. Saturday I was cooking burgers for 12 and that wouldn't fit on my two burner gasser easily. I cooked those on the 1050, and it had a hickory split in it still from my previous smoke. My goodness, best burgers I've ever made. Same recipe, but using the charcoal + hickory instead of propane made them so much better.

I can't recommend this method enough.

I keep thinking about trying this but I've seen at least one person somewhere say it caused problems with the fire going further up the chute.

Guess I'll have to give it a go and see what happens. It sure seems easier than having to chunk up/split logs for the smoker when I can just run splits. I've got quite a bit of oak and mulberry, as well as a bit of pecan, hickory, maple if be happy to not spend extra time cutting into chunks.

 

[bill1]

As long as the top is sealed, a long length of wood should be no more likely to propagate a burn up the feed chute than a bunch of smaller/touching ones.

 

[smokewaggin]

As long as the top is sealed, a long length of wood should be no more likely to propagate a burn up the feed chute than a bunch of smaller/touching ones.

Really should be that way I would think. I wondered if it was because it was wood instead of charcoal. Thought maybe they burned different and that may have beem the cause. Ive only cooked 4 times on mine so far so I haven't started too much experimenting. Once I get it figured out I'll start going crazy with it most likely. Didnt take me long on my gasser.

 

[TMR]

Changing the subject a little bit, but worth noting. I read somewhere here that people have tried putting a wood split vertically in the hopper and surrounding it with charcoal.

Does anyone have a picture of this? Im trying to understand what a wood split is.

 

[BiscuitoftheSea]

Does anyone have a picture of this? Im trying to understand what a wood split is.

I also would like more details:
1. How big of a split are you using?
2. How did it impact cook time per full hopper?

 

[smokewaggin]

Does anyone have a picture of this? Im trying to understand what a wood split is.

It's what you get after splitting a log(multiple times usually, not just in half/quarters). They can vary in size depending on preference. I wouldn't use anything larger in diameter than a fist. Don't think you want to take up much more room than that in the hopper.

 

[mcokevin]

Does anyone have a picture of this? Im trying to understand what a wood split is.

I'm using the Kingsford Hickory splits. They are easy and available at Home Depot near my house. Check the link for info. Basically you put one in the hopper vertically and surround it with charcoal briquettes.

I also would like more details:
1. How big of a split are you using?
2. How did it impact cook time per full hopper?

I haven't measured the split size, would guess around 10" long, and then probably 2" x 2" ish. They aren't all the same size exactly, but they are close.

I am not sure how it impacted the cook time. I don't really measure charcoal usage more than a "meh, looks about right". I would guess that it decreases the cook time in the hopper, because the smoke wood is going to theoretically burn faster than the briquettes, and with a full split in the hopper there is less room for charcoal since there is more smoke wood. That said, the hickory splits I'm using are really dense since it's a hardwood. I would guess the softer smoke woods would burn up faster.

It's what you get after splitting a log(multiple times usually, not just in half/quarters). They can vary in size depending on preference. I wouldn't use anything larger in diameter than a fist. Don't think you want to take up much more room than that in the hopper.

I'd say these are usually just about fist diameter size. I haven't had any problems fitting plenty of charcoal around them. If they are too thick you can always take a maul to it make it smaller. Split the split so to speak!