MB Gravity Series Mods review

[hooked on smoke]

I just ordered the MB ones, the melt ones seemed to me to be small enough to fall through the lighting grate.

Oh dang, I didn't even look at them yet. I better check them.

 

[912smoker]

My local Walmart carries them in the charcoal section. Had good luck with them

Keith

 

[Cody_Mack]

My local Walmart carries them in the charcoal section. Had good luck with them

Keith

Which brand? I was in the local store yesterday and didn't see any of those discussed in this thread.

Rick

 

[912smoker]

Which brand? I was in the local store yesterday and didn't see any of those discussed in this thread.

Rick

These





Keith

 

[Cody_Mack]

These


View attachment 643170


Keith

Thanks Keith

 

[negolien]

They are out there :<) lol.. Oh and for starters I use rutland b40's

 

[clifish]

They are out there :<) lol.. Oh and for starters I use rutland b40's View attachment 643175

did they have the 800? That is what I scored for $347. Would have loved to have gotten the 1050 for a steal.

 

[negolien]

did they have the 800? That is what I scored for $347. Would have loved to have gotten the 1050 for a steal.

No idea that was posted on one of my fb gravity groups... They are usually only found in person though I haven't seen many in advertisements which is why some people have a hard time finding the deals. usually found at lowes home depot or wally world

 

[clifish]

Got the MB fire starters in and the size is perfect. May cost a little more but they will stay under the coals. I went through 3 starters that I bought in Lowes just to get a light as they kept falling into the ash bin.

I also made my own Hopper dropper, not to take anything from the LSS one as it is awesome. I took a scrap piece of luan I had or any other sturdy 1/4" or less thick board, and cut it to 10 x 14. I put a screw at the bottom for removal and it worked perfect.

 

[Smokin Okie]

No idea that was posted on one of my fb gravity groups... They are usually only found in person though I haven't seen many in advertisements which is why some people have a hard time finding the deals. usually found at lowes home depot or wally world

Brickseek does not show any in stock in OKC. Which btw, that was the price I paid for mine in Jan 2021. And a week after I bought mine, the same WalMart had them for $150.

I'm looking for a 1050 at under $500.

 

[Smokin Okie]

Got the MB fire starters in and the size is perfect. May cost a little more but they will stay under the coals. I went through 3 starters that I bought in Lowes just to get a light as they kept falling into the ash bin.

I also made my own Hopper dropper, not to take anything from the LSS one as it is awesome. I took a scrap piece of luan I had or any other sturdy 1/4" or less thick board, and cut it to 10 x 14. I put a screw at the bottom for removal and it worked perfect.
View attachment 643213
View attachment 643214

That's what I should've done, but I got lazy.

 

[clifish]

Brickseek does not show any in stock in OKC. Which btw, that was the price I paid for mine in Jan 2021. And a week after I bought mine, the same WalMart had them for $150.

I'm looking for a 1050 at under $500.

yeah no walmart/brickseek showed any 800 in stock. When I walked into the wally world in PA there one was! Would love a 1050 for a steal but have not even done a cook yet on the 800, just heated it up. Plan to season this weekend and hopefully get a cook on. Bonnie is getting foot surgery tomorrow AM so we will see if that happens????

 

[Kidd777]

Got a 560 last year on clearance. Best $200 grill ever.

Mods:

Turned the bottom fan. While assembling, I pulled the fan off and rotated it 90 degrees so the cable is further away from the bottom of the grill. Read that some people had melted the wires when they had grease fires.

Closed up the gaps in the fire grate. I have the original grate that has large gapping and allowed big chunks of coals to fall through. Weaved some stainless steel skewers through to close up the gaps. Much better fuel mileage but wood chunks don't light in the ash bucket anymore, have to put them in the hopper.

Replaced the antenna. The little antenna that came with it wasn't getting very good reception. Replaced it with a larger one from an old wireless router (it just screws off.) Much better range.

Replaced the temp dial in the lid. Galafire 3 3/16" is a perfect fit, not drilling needed. Probe sits right at the middle rack and has actual numbers rather than "Smoke, BBQ, Grill" which mean nothing. Noticed a 10-25 degree difference from the display to the dial; depends on wind, ambient temp or if I'm using a drip pan.

Painted the hood. Used Chevy orange engine enamel. Says it's good to 500 degrees. With the double wall on the hood, figured it wouldn't get that hot. Been a year and hasn't had any trouble with bubbling. The Chevy orange matches the painted washers on the hopper handle perfectly.

Added a slider holder to the front of the hopper. The 560 doesn't have a peg on the front, they expect you to hang them from the tool holder posts on the controller side. I used a 1/4 x 20 pan head bolt and a couple nuts through one of the slots on the heat shield. I originally had it up about half way and it got too hot. Moved it down to just below the fire grate and it doesn't get hot at all.

Foil over the top of the hopper. Folded up a piece of aluminum foil to sit over the top of the hopper to protect the lid from build up. Replace it every few months.

Rear exhaust dampener version 1. Started out with just using a piece of aluminum foil and some magnets. Harbor Freight magnets worked for me. I covered most of the opening leaving a couple inches open on the controller side. Used a lot less charcoal on windy days. Made sure to remove it when grilling at higher temps.

Rear exhaust dampener version 2. Had a friend of mine that has a plasma cutting table make a slider that screws onto the back. Seals up better than the foil and is easier to adjust.

Cord holder. Same friend cut out some simple tabs to wrap the cord around.

 

[AlaskanSmoke]

Hello everyone, new member here from Alaska. I just ordered a MB800, and I have a lot of time to kill before it arrives, because of, well Alaska and my local HD does not stock this model, maybe 13 weeks the manager said... Anyway, completely new to Charcoal smokers, I was gifted an old Treager from a friend a couple years ago when he upgraded to a Yoder, and the rainforest has finally take her toll on the old smoker. I didnt get too many cooks done in it, so I am definitely a newbie on all things BBQ... That being said, I want my new grill to last, and have been reding a lot of reviews and posts about different mods and what not, and definitely need to get somestuff on order so its here when the MB arrives. I was looking at the pitmasters package from LSS, and I guess that would be eveything, but how much do I really need? The two biggest things I am worried about is flare ups, and possibly the firebox, I live in a rainforest, it is always wet, ALWAYS! but the smoker will be on a covered deck.

Manifold cover
Firebox
pan brackets

Sorry for the long-winded first post, a little bit of excitement is in the air...

 

[Smokin Okie]

Hello everyone, new member here from Alaska. I just ordered a MB800, and I have a lot of time to kill before it arrives, because of, well Alaska and my local HD does not stock this model, maybe 13 weeks the manager said... Anyway, completely new to Charcoal smokers, I was gifted an old Treager from a friend a couple years ago when he upgraded to a Yoder, and the rainforest has finally take her toll on the old smoker. I didnt get too many cooks done in it, so I am definitely a newbie on all things BBQ... That being said, I want my new grill to last, and have been reding a lot of reviews and posts about different mods and what not, and definitely need to get somestuff on order so its here when the MB arrives. I was looking at the pitmasters package from LSS, and I guess that would be eveything, but how much do I really need? The two biggest things I am worried about is flare ups, and possibly the firebox, I live in a rainforest, it is always wet, ALWAYS! but the smoker will be on a covered deck.

Manifold cover
Firebox
pan brackets

Sorry for the long-winded first post, a little bit of excitement is in the air...

If you keep it clean and just use it as a smoker, your chance of flareups goes down to almost nothing. I got flareups when I used my 560 as a grill and cranked the heat way up. I reverse seared ribeyes and the grease that dripped from smoking the steaks flared up when I cranked the smoker up to sear.

On my 560 at high temps, the fan will blow embers through the manifold into the cook chamber. If they hit pulled grease, they catch fire.

I line the grease pan on my 560 with foil about every 3 or 4 cooks, more often if I smoke something with more fat. It makes cleanup a lot easier.

I have the manifold cover and the drip pan brackets. I don't use it without a drip pan and that allows me to put a drip pan under the bottom grate and save room. But my 560 is smaller than an 800.

I have no problems with my firebox.

 

[AlaskanSmoke]

If you keep it clean and just use it as a smoker, your chance of flareups goes down to almost nothing. I got flareups when I used my 560 as a grill and cranked the heat way up. I reverse seared ribeyes and the grease that dripped from smoking the steaks flared up when I cranked the smoker up to sear.

On my 560 at high temps, the fan will blow embers through the manifold into the cook chamber. If they hit pulled grease, they catch fire.

I line the grease pan on my 560 with foil about every 3 or 4 cooks, more often if I smoke something with more fat. It makes cleanup a lot easier.

I have the manifold cover and the drip pan brackets. I don't use it without a drip pan and that allows me to put a drip pan under the bottom grate and save room. But my 560 is smaller than an 800.

I have no problems with my firebox.

Thank you for the reply. When you seared the ribeyes, did you have the drip pans in under the grate? I will not only be using this as a smoker, honestly will probably be using the griddle 75% of the time. My gas grill finally died, rusted out as well as the smoker, so I was really hoping this would be a great 2 in one.

 

[617Smoker]

If you keep it clean and just use it as a smoker, your chance of flareups goes down to almost nothing. I got flareups when I used my 560 as a grill and cranked the heat way up. I reverse seared ribeyes and the grease that dripped from smoking the steaks flared up when I cranked the smoker up to sear.

On my 560 at high temps, the fan will blow embers through the manifold into the cook chamber. If they hit pulled grease, they catch fire.

I line the grease pan on my 560 with foil about every 3 or 4 cooks, more often if I smoke something with more fat. It makes cleanup a lot easier.

I have the manifold cover and the drip pan brackets. I don't use it without a drip pan and that allows me to put a drip pan under the bottom grate and save room. But my 560 is smaller than an 800.

I have no problems with my firebox.

I have had the 800 for about a month now. The manifold is already dirty and a little rusty. What is the drip pan you're talking about that goes under the bottom grate? That sounds like it could save a lot on cleanup. And the foil idea over the grease pan is a great idea.

 

[AlaskanSmoke]

I have had the 800 for about a month now. The manifold is already dirty and a little rusty. What is the drip pan you're talking about that goes under the bottom grate? That sounds like it could save a lot on cleanup. And the foil idea over the grease pan is a great idea.

by LSS flared lip manifold cover, with brackets to hold pan.

 

[Smokin Okie]

I have had the 800 for about a month now. The manifold is already dirty and a little rusty. What is the drip pan you're talking about that goes under the bottom grate? That sounds like it could save a lot on cleanup. And the foil idea over the grease pan is a great idea.

I don't know if the manifold cover helps grease managment very much. I bought it for the drip pan brackets that mount on the cover. Then I use an aluminum half pan or similar on top of the brackets. I think the pan I use is 9 X 13 X 1" . Probably use a larger one on the 800. I'm careful not to reroute air flow around it, too far.

I put aluminum foil over the manifold cover, makes it easy to clean. And I don't have to take the manifold out near as often. On the 560 I've found a lot of ash inside the manifold that I vacuum out with my ShopVac. The 800 may not have that. But that's the only reason for taking the manifold out.

And the manifold will get covered with rust. I don't know of any way to prevent that.

 

[Smokin Okie]

by LSS flared lip manifold cover, with brackets to hold pan.

I just put water in the drip pan, don't need that special pan he built for water.