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Do wood chunks in the ash bin flame when they burn ? It appears to me, that there's plenty enough air for them to burst into flame if there's enough coals .
 
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Owners Manual says to keep front and back of smoker 10 ft from wall. And to keep it 10 ft from the sides.

I have mine on my patio. It currently sits up against my fireplace chimny under my covered patio. I really can't see any need in wheeling out to the edge of the patio.

Or am I missing something ?

Masterbuilt.jpg
Masterbuilt.jpg
 
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Owners Manual says to keep front and back of smoker 10 ft from wall. And to keep it 10 ft from the sides.

I have mine on my patio. It currently sits up against my fireplace chimny under my covered patio. I really can't see any need in wheeling out to the edge of the patio.

Or am I missing something ?

View attachment 481266View attachment 481266
I have mine up against the deck and no issues. ven with a good flare up. Off topic love the All day tin sign!!
 
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At Sams yesterday. Found this cute little 9.61# brisket. I thought it perfect to give the MB560 a test.

I'm guessing that its best to put a brisket on the middle grate ? Unless there's a reason not to ?

Also, when y'all put chunks in your hopper, do you put a layer of charcoal then a layer of chunk, then charcoal, etc .... or do you place a chunk on each layer ?
 
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I always try to use the middle rack when possible with a pan underneath to catch drippings and ifor easy cleanup. I will add charcoal put a layer of Chunk and add more charcoal and repeat. I also add wood to the ash bin throughout the cook.
 
At Sams yesterday. Found this cute little 9.61# brisket. I thought it perfect to give the MB560 a test.

I'm guessing that its best to put a brisket on the middle grate ? Unless there's a reason not to ?

Also, when y'all put chunks in your hopper, do you put a layer of charcoal then a layer of chunk, then charcoal, etc .... or do you place a chunk on each layer ?

Id use the middle rack for the brisket as well. Don't be surprised if it cooks a lot faster then you'd expect. Every time I've done a brisket its done hours earlier than I planned just powers through the stall. Not complaining about that at all rather have dinner done on time then have folks waiting around. I've moved away from chunks and just use full splits with charcoal around the sides of it. Purely anecdotal but to me I feel like you get a more consistent smoke were as with the chunks if your adding them in between layers of charcoal I didn't have a constant blue smoke coming out and I was constantly checking to see if I needed to add wood the ash bin to keep the smoke rolling. If you have splits available give it a try.
 
Id use the middle rack for the brisket as well. Don't be surprised if it cooks a lot faster then you'd expect. Every time I've done a brisket its done hours earlier than I planned just powers through the stall. Not complaining about that at all rather have dinner done on time then have folks waiting around. I've moved away from chunks and just use full splits with charcoal around the sides of it. Purely anecdotal but to me I feel like you get a more consistent smoke were as with the chunks if your adding them in between layers of charcoal I didn't have a constant blue smoke coming out and I was constantly checking to see if I needed to add wood the ash bin to keep the smoke rolling. If you have splits available give it a try.
I think using the splits is a great idea RB.....I had read that somewhere....might have been a post of yours....and forgot about it. I will definitely try with ribs this weekend !
Thanks for sharing your knowledge
Keith
 
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Id use the middle rack for the brisket as well. Don't be surprised if it cooks a lot faster then you'd expect. Every time I've done a brisket its done hours earlier than I planned just powers through the stall. Not complaining about that at all rather have dinner done on time then have folks waiting around. I've moved away from chunks and just use full splits with charcoal around the sides of it. Purely anecdotal but to me I feel like you get a more consistent smoke were as with the chunks if your adding them in between layers of charcoal I didn't have a constant blue smoke coming out and I was constantly checking to see if I needed to add wood the ash bin to keep the smoke rolling. If you have splits available give it a try.

I've read about using the splits, but there's some things I'm gonna have to see for myself as I learn this cooker. Smoke is a subjective thing. Its very possible that's where I will be eventually. And I've got some pecan that doesn't burn real well in my stick burner because of its size, but I think will fit into this 560 really nice. They are small round sticks, there's some in this pic. I wanna see how these work, especially along with using char logs. I will cut some of these in half .

Pecan.jpg
 
I've read about using the splits, but there's some things I'm gonna have to see for myself as I learn this cooker. Smoke is a subjective thing. Its very possible that's where I will be eventually. And I've got some pecan that doesn't burn real well in my stick burner because of its size, but I think will fit into this 560 really nice. They are small round sticks, there's some in this pic. I wanna see how these work, especially along with using char logs. I will cut some of these in half .

I agree smoke is absolutely a subjective thing! One man would say a traeger is the ultimate smoker while another would say a campfire is all you need. Id say give it a go sometime its all part of the learning experience and just trying new stuff I get bored cooking things the same way. And dont get me wrong I used chunked wood for the better half of a year and no red flag complaints its a tried and true way to smoke and produced some great food. I mainly moved to this method mostly to experiment but ended up liking it better since I didn't have to bust out the chop saw to cut my already split cherry wood into chunks. Funny thing is ( and this is subjective) it seemed to prevent me from over powering the food with excessive smoke which believe it or not my wife doesn't like heavily smoked food so when she said it was just right that kind of cemented the method for me haha.
 
I'm planning this cook for Saturday. Weather forecast says 15 to 25 mph winds out of the south, which will blow right into my patio. How does the MB560 handle wind ? I can turn it so the wind blows into the front of the cooker with a wall behind it. And I can schedule this cook another day.
 
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I'm planning this cook for Saturday. Weather forecast says 15 to 25 mph winds out of the south, which will blow right into my patio. How does the MB560 handle wind ? I can turn it so the wind blows into the front of the cooker with a wall behind it. And I can schedule this cook another day.
Nor Cal here. We had some 50 mph winds yesterday!
I stayed inside.
I have found that wind will slow down my cook... some.
It sounds good to protect the back side.
That is where the unit drafts out.
 
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same here. We don't usually have a problem with the wind in Southeast Georgia. MB has addressed this issue with somewhat of a shield on the 1050 that helps block wind. I would think you'd be ok backed up toward a wall.
 
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I like the large vent on the back, it should help create a lot of air flow. That's what I don' like about my WSM, it has very little air flow.

But its also strange to walk around behind the cooker and look in and see the meat. Tom Horsman built a vent cover, but I'm not sure I wanna do anything that restricts air flow. Tom loves his MB560 more than any YouTuber I've seen , got a bunch of vids and mods

 
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