Masterbuilt Gravity Feed

[912smoker]

Agreed. I always use a drip pan and have never experienced a grease fire on a low/slow cook.....even when reloading the hopper. The ash issue must be related to the type/brand of charcoal that you are using. I also use RO or B&B primarily with low ash. What are you using for fuel ?

 

[Smokin Okie]

Well, after vowing to not spend any more money on my 560, I ordered the LSS drip pan mod. If nothing else, it will put my mind at ease.

 

[abcdefghii]

Has anyone had to replace the meat probe that came with their unit? I had a flare up during one of my last cooks, went to use it for a pork shoulder a couple weeks ago and the meat probe is no longer working. Visually it looks fine, but plugging it in and the temp just jumps all over the place before throwing an error code.

Looking on Amazon I see some that say they are compatible, but very few reviews so I am not sure I want to gamble on them. I'd prefer to use the existing bluetooth / wifi connection, but if the only probes are the MB ones, I may pick up a standalone type of unit and ignore the built in ones.

 

[deejus]

I prefer to use the inkbird wifi. Its a much better app for monitoring imo.

 

[dow]

Has anyone had to replace the meat probe that came with their unit? I had a flare up during one of my last cooks, went to use it for a pork shoulder a couple weeks ago and the meat probe is no longer working. Visually it looks fine, but plugging it in and the temp just jumps all over the place before throwing an error code.

Looking on Amazon I see some that say they are compatible, but very few reviews so I am not sure I want to gamble on them. I'd prefer to use the existing bluetooth / wifi connection, but if the only probes are the MB ones, I may pick up a standalone type of unit and ignore the built in ones.

I got the WAITCOOK ones from Amazon. They work as long as you're doing slow and low, but I killed three of them when I reverse seared some ribeyes. I had threaded the wires in through the little port on the side, and when I jacked up the heat to do the sear, instead of removing them completely, I just pulled them around to the shelf and set them there while i finished the steaks. Must have scorched the wires in the leads, because when I went to use them this last weekend, they were giving me temps like 590 and 485 when the masterbuilt probe was showing 85.

With that said, they worked fine on pork butts and chicken and stuff like that. Price was good, too... $35 for four.

 

[whistlepig]

I crank my 560 up to 700 degrees for burn off before every cook and no probe can survive that much heat except the Masterbuilt probes. I take my Inkbird probes out and watch the dial on the front of the smoker. When it reaches 700 degrees I reset to a lower temp and when that levels out I put the Inkbird probes in. Probes aren't cheap.

 

[Smokin Okie]

I've got the manifold cover and drip pan holder from LSS mods. I've been putting a drip pan on the bottom cooking grate and putting meats on the mid-level cooking grate.

Anyone using the bottom grate for smoking meats with or without the LSS drip pan ?

I liked the LSS mod for a drip pan, because it appears to not interrupt the air flow of heat rising through the cooker. I may have to run another biscuit test to see exactly how having a drip pan under the bottom grate, impacts meats on the lower grate.

 

[Blackadar]

Well, if anyone is considering buying one of these....don't. Stay far, far away.

I've had mine for 103 days and used it 3 times. It died last night - the fan doesn't spin. It turns out MB only has a 90 day warranty (I guess they know their products are crap?), I have to pay for repairs and fix it myself. And because it could be the controller, the fan or the harness, there's no telling what I'm going to have to buy to fix it (not to mention the failure just ruined a $80 brisket).

Buy something else. Anything else. But don't buy one of these pieces of crap.

 

[dow]

Begging your pardon, Blackadar, but I believe that you're incorrect on the terms of Masterbuilt's warranty. It's a full year, and is explained in full on their website:

Return/Warranty

We accept returns only on items purchased directly through Masterbuilt® via our website: www.masterbuilt.com. You can return your product(s) up to 45 days from the original date of shipment. All merchandise must be unused, unassembled, and returned in the original packaging.

www.masterbuilt.com

 

[ross77]

Well, if anyone is considering buying one of these....don't. Stay far, far away.

I've had mine for 103 days and used it 3 times. It died last night - the fan doesn't spin. It turns out MB only has a 90 day warranty (I guess they know their products are crap?), I have to pay for repairs and fix it myself. And because it could be the controller, the fan or the harness, there's no telling what I'm going to have to buy to fix it (not to mention the failure just ruined a $80 brisket).

Buy something else. Anything else. But don't buy one of these pieces of crap.

They have a 1 year warranty. Stated right on their website.

 

[912smoker]

And I could not have ask for better service from their support team !

 

[Smokin Okie]

Well, if anyone is considering buying one of these....don't. Stay far, far away.

I've had mine for 103 days and used it 3 times. It died last night - the fan doesn't spin. It turns out MB only has a 90 day warranty (I guess they know their products are crap?), I have to pay for repairs and fix it myself. And because it could be the controller, the fan or the harness, there's no telling what I'm going to have to buy to fix it (not to mention the failure just ruined a $80 brisket).

Buy something else. Anything else. But don't buy one of these pieces of crap.

Even if it were not covered under warranty, this would be a good time to upgrade to a Fireboard controller. And before doing that , it should not be hard to test the fan if its low voltage.

 

[Roman Buffalo]

Well, if anyone is considering buying one of these....don't. Stay far, far away.

I've had mine for 103 days and used it 3 times. It died last night - the fan doesn't spin. It turns out MB only has a 90 day warranty (I guess they know their products are crap?), I have to pay for repairs and fix it myself. And because it could be the controller, the fan or the harness, there's no telling what I'm going to have to buy to fix it (not to mention the failure just ruined a $80 brisket).

Buy something else. Anything else. But don't buy one of these pieces of crap.

Ya you just got a dud it happens with any brand. I’m going on like 2 years with mine. Use it about 3 times a week. Get it fixed, smoke some meat, come back happier

 

[912smoker]

Well, if anyone is considering buying one of these....don't. Stay far, far away.

I've had mine for 103 days and used it 3 times. It died last night - the fan doesn't spin. It turns out MB only has a 90 day warranty (I guess they know their products are crap?), I have to pay for repairs and fix it myself. And because it could be the controller, the fan or the harness, there's no telling what I'm going to have to buy to fix it (not to mention the failure just ruined a $80 brisket).

Buy something else. Anything else. But don't buy one of these pieces of crap.

Lots of MBGF owners on here and will gladly try to help you remedy your problems if possible. As RB said, you could have just gotten a dud. Can happen with any new product. I've bout 2 new cars that were lemons before the "lemon law" was thought of lol.
Have you checked all connections?
Getting an error msg ?
Give us more info please.

Keith

 

[mcokevin]

Well, if anyone is considering buying one of these....don't. Stay far, far away.

I've had mine for 103 days and used it 3 times. It died last night - the fan doesn't spin. It turns out MB only has a 90 day warranty (I guess they know their products are crap?), I have to pay for repairs and fix it myself. And because it could be the controller, the fan or the harness, there's no telling what I'm going to have to buy to fix it (not to mention the failure just ruined a $80 brisket).

Buy something else. Anything else. But don't buy one of these pieces of crap.

Hey Blackadar, this is incorrect.

I've recently had a controller issue with mine and they shipped me new switches, a probe, a controller, and two bags of charcoal for the inconvenience.

The controller was backordered for quite a while which was really frustrating, but the MB support has been good.

 

[Bigheaded]

I feel for the guy having big problems and recommending people look anywhere else. Had mine since March, and outside of having to wiggle to wire to get the fan to come on for 5 or 6 cooks. My 560 has been flawless. A few dozen cooks in and honestly if it completely died 1 day after the warranty ran out. I wouldn't hesitate to go buy another, and if that died 1 day after the warranty, I'd buy a 3rd. I don't think I can recommend these highly enough, this and my Ooni pizza ovens are 2 things I will tell the world about. And funny enough, after a little over a year I just started to have problem with my Ooni Koda, It's still under warranty, but if I contact them and the problem isn't covered under warranty, I'll 100% go by another, because I love it that much.

And that's exactly how I feel about my 560, I want to get an 800 in fact.

 

[deejus]

Well, if anyone is considering buying one of these....don't. Stay far, far away.

I've had mine for 103 days and used it 3 times. It died last night - the fan doesn't spin. It turns out MB only has a 90 day warranty (I guess they know their products are crap?), I have to pay for repairs and fix it myself. And because it could be the controller, the fan or the harness, there's no telling what I'm going to have to buy to fix it (not to mention the failure just ruined a $80 brisket).

Buy something else. Anything else. But don't buy one of these pieces of crap.

You mentioned you had greasefires the past 2 cooks a few posts up. You may have melted the harness. if it is melted its Nothing some wire from autozone and a crimper can't quickly take care of.

 

[Chasdev]

Masterbuilt's "warranty" is fantastic!
I have one of the first units sold and have used it dozens and dozens of times.
It's had out of "warranty" issues three times and each time Masterbuilt customer service has been great, and I was sent free parts without a long wait time and with no questions asked.
They replied to all my "complaints" right away and offered me no bullcrap about if I did something wrong that may have damaged the unit.
Perhaps you should buy another brand so us satisfied Masterbuilt owners don't have to read the negative agitprop.

 

[mcokevin]

The perspective on this one is interesting. The issue with my 1050 has had me down for about two months. Really unacceptable on a smoker that was four months old at the time, used at what I'd consider an expected level (often, but not punishingly so), and cost about $800. I received my replacement controller on Sunday but probably won't have time to put it in for another week or two.

There are enough issues with these units that I wouldn't begrudge anyone recommending people look elsewhere.

But the one thing that hasn't been an issue is MB's customer service response to issues. They get high marks from me on that.

 

[Smokin Okie]

LSS Mods now has a YT channel

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8h6XJbkvmTxcaCYUv0BsJg