Radio Silent

[mcokevin]

Checking in and saying hello. I've been radio silent for a while, because my smoker has been down for about two months now.

I unfortunately have to join the camp of people that cannot recommend the Masterbuilt Gravity series. It cooks great food, when it works...

Happy Smoking - hoping to rejoin the ranks and put out some Q soon!

 

[noboundaries]

Sorry to hear of your issue, but glad you said "HI!"

 

[Gonna Smoke]

Well that's no good, but you can get your "fix" by looking at the cooks posted on here until you get back in the game. Don't be a stranger...

 

[normanaj]

Bummer.

You can never go wrong with a WSM or Kettle when it comes to charcoal.You might have to hang out with it more than you like but neither one will screw you over.

 

[motocrash]

I'm with normanaj , I'd be on a 26" kettle right about now.
Or perhaps the Char-Griller 980 GF.
That blows your MB GF didn't work out.

 

[801driver]

Ha, I am on Ham Radio daily, and many of us talk about smoking and a whole lot of other topics. I jumped in sideways. I agree with others, it is nice to have the motorized electronic whistles and bells, but it is good to have a "manual" backup of some kind handy. Good luck to you.

 

[Chasdev]

My Masterbuilt gravity rig has stopped working three or four times in three years (in between failures it produces some excellent Q) and each time Masterbuilt has sent me free of charge (out of warranty and including free shipping) the bits that fixed it.
I guess I'm lucky in that I pretty much cook for myself alone these days and the bbq I have vac sealed in the deep freeze feeds the need during the down time while the repair parts are being shipped.
I wish I had the stamina and patience to baby sit an offset, I really do miss the 12 to 16 hour cooks (other than drinking way too much beer during them) and the smoke flavored meat was sublime but getting meat that is almost as good as offset stickburner quality with near zero effort is worth the downtime, to me anyway.

 

[mcokevin]

Bummer.

You can never go wrong with a WSM or Kettle when it comes to charcoal.You might have to hang out with it more than you like but neither one will screw you over.

The kicker is that I used a WSM before I upgraded to this. I gave that one to my dad. He has offered to give it back to me, but between the 1050 and my gasser I don't really have room to bring the WSM back.

I'm with normanaj , I'd be on a 26" kettle right about now.
Or perhaps the Char-Griller 980 GF.
That blows your MB GF didn't work out.

From what I am reading the Char-Grillers have different problems than the Masterbuilts, but still problems. I don't think a lateral move would bring much change in that.

Ha, I am on Ham Radio daily, and many of us talk about smoking and a whole lot of other topics. I jumped in sideways. I agree with others, it is nice to have the motorized electronic whistles and bells, but it is good to have a "manual" backup of some kind handy. Good luck to you.

Funny, I have considered getting my HAM license, but just haven't pulled the trigger on learning and the exam.

My Masterbuilt gravity rig has stopped working three or four times in three years (in between failures it produces some excellent Q) and each time Masterbuilt has sent me free of charge (out of warranty and including free shipping) the bits that fixed it.
I guess I'm lucky in that I pretty much cook for myself alone these days and the bbq I have vac sealed in the deep freeze feeds the need during the down time while the repair parts are being shipped.
I wish I had the stamina and patience to baby sit an offset, I really do miss the 12 to 16 hour cooks (other than drinking way too much beer during them) and the smoke flavored meat was sublime but getting meat that is almost as good as offset stickburner quality with near zero effort is worth the downtime, to me anyway.

Masterbuilt service has been great, and they are sending me everything under warranty and are trying to solve the problem - they just don't have the controllers and can't tell me when they're going to arrive. They are suffering the same fate as many the last eighteen months -- shipping delays and chip shortages.
I understand why they don't have them but there are enough reported problems with these units that I lack sympathy at their inability to solve the problem in a timely manner. If the unit was reliable and "just worked" as advertised the external factors they're citing as the reason for the delay wouldn't matter.