Steppin up our game

[jeepin&grillin]

Hi! Long story made as short as possible: My sister moved in beside me a few years ago with an electric Masterbuilt smoker. We are ready for an upgrade. My husband has a green egg and keeps on about wanting a pellet grill. We added a pool last year and are about to start plans for an outdoor kitchen. I am really liking the idea of either the Masterbuilt gravity series 800 or the Oklahoma Joe Tacoma. We want that good smoke flavor when we meal prep on Sundays but I love the idea of being able to use the Masterbuilt as a griddle, pizza oven, and grill. If its as good as it sounds, it would really reduce the clutter of multiple cookers in the kitchen area and allow for more countertop space. I know a lot of people harp on Masterbuilt's quality, but Im wondering since that's where we are already as far as quality, would we be happy with the 800? Or are we better off with a pellet grill and use wood chips like in the electric smoker for the flavor? My sister does have a blackstone, but it would be a hassle to roll it over to my kitchen area by the pool as needed. It could be done though. Thoughts/opinions on which direction we should go? I'd say my budget is pretty open for the "right" one. Before her electric one went out, we smoked almost weekly.

 

[Colin1230]

Welcome to the forum Ms. Jeepin, glad you joined us. I have to admit that I'm a huge Weber fanboy. They just have good stuff and are a very reputable company with excellent CS. They pretty much have the whole outdoor cooking spectrum covered. Now with that said, I have found the convenience of a pellet grill is hard to over look. RecTeq pellet smokers are highly recommended around here.
Again, welcom.

 

[normanaj]

That Masterbuilt is far from dead. A simple rewire and the addition of PID controller will turn into an insanely good smoker. Also using an Amazen tray or tube to generate smoke relieves you of having to load chips every half hour.

Oh and by the way welcome from RI.

 

[fxsales1959]

Hi! Long story made as short as possible: My sister moved in beside me a few years ago with an electric Masterbuilt smoker. We are ready for an upgrade. My husband has a green egg and keeps on about wanting a pellet grill. We added a pool last year and are about to start plans for an outdoor kitchen. I am really liking the idea of either the Masterbuilt gravity series 800 or the Oklahoma Joe Tacoma. We want that good smoke flavor when we meal prep on Sundays but I love the idea of being able to use the Masterbuilt as a griddle, pizza oven, and grill. If its as good as it sounds, it would really reduce the clutter of multiple cookers in the kitchen area and allow for more countertop space. I know a lot of people harp on Masterbuilt's quality, but Im wondering since that's where we are already as far as quality, would we be happy with the 800? Or are we better off with a pellet grill and use wood chips like in the electric smoker for the flavor? My sister does have a blackstone, but it would be a hassle to roll it over to my kitchen area by the pool as needed. It could be done though. Thoughts/opinions on which direction we should go? I'd say my budget is pretty open for the "right" one. Before her electric one went out, we smoked almost weekly.

hello from a fellow jeep person. I'm in
SE Florida and had run the gamut on smokers from electric, to stick burner, egg, and so forth.
Finally thought I'd bought my last smoker when I got a MB 560 (smaller than the 800).
For me it was a good smoker, except the damn door switches, which I replaced under warranty.
The guys on the forum here kept on and on about the Weber Smokey mountain. Finally boke down and got a 18.5 version. Now it sits by my MB560, which I haven't fired since I got the WSM.
Probably won't do everything you want, but in my opinion, after a patio full of other smokers, I think I get the best final product from it.
Just my opinion.
John

 

[sandyut]

I m a huge Rec Teq fan. I would give them a look. They have stand alone and built in models for your outdoor kitchen. Ive had mine longer than I can recall and it works as good today as day 1. I really love my pellet grill, Makes great product consistently.

Welcome to SMF

 

[Brokenhandle]

Welcome from Iowa! Can't really help with your smoker question but will add a second vote to also getting your Mes going with a pid. Will warn you that you might need a bigger outdoor kitchen though... these guys are great at enabling you to what we think you need!

Ryan

 

[JLinza]

One of my cookers is a Masterbuilt GS 1050. I've had good luck with mine and I've had it for probably 3 years +. And I've used and abused it. FXSALES1959 is exactly right about the door switches though. But I found when I lube them with some electrical helper every now and then they work fine. Worst part is, I know not all people have had the same luck with Masterbuilt. But have heard people complain about not getting great smoke flavor with pellets too. This was a slice of boneless pork shoulder roast I did a while back. Had a nice looking ring on it. So you definitely get the smoke on it from the Gravity Series. Good luck with what ever you choose. Hope this helps one way or another.

 

[JLeonard]

Welcome from Mississippi! No help on your questions. But, when does the pool open?

Jim

 

[clifish]

I have the MB800 and have had very little issues with it. It came with the griddle parts and they are still in a box for the last 2 years. The weight of the top and swapping the manifold for each time you want to use it is a messy issue. Easier to get a blackstone so you can smoke and griddle the same time.

 

[Fueling Around]

Greetings from Florida.
I use my Weber kettles the most of any of my inventory. 90% of our outdoor cooked meals are grilled and a kettle fits the ticket most of the time. Need to get another gas grill up north as that's how my my wife prefers grilled chicken.
In Minnesota, I have a pellet grill (pooper) and it is mostly used for pork butt (pulled pork), smoking sausage, or brisket. To get better smoke flavor in a pellet grill requires using a smoke tube filled with pellets that puts out clean smoke or what the forum refers to as thin blue smoke.
Oddly, I get pretty much the same results on a gas grill using a smoke tube as the pellet grill.

If you used the Master Built (MB) many times and loved it, repair it with the tallbm fix and the separate PID temperature controller as posted above.

 

[jeepin&grillin]

That Masterbuilt is far from dead. A simple rewire and the addition of PID controller will turn into an insanely good smoker. Also using an Amazen tray or tube to generate smoke relieves you of having to load chips every half hour.

Oh and by the way welcome from RI.

oh we know we can fix it up, we've already "fixed" it twice. we were thinking it may be time to move on to something new. thanks for the welcome!

 

[jeepin&grillin]

I have the MB800 and have had very little issues with it. It came with the griddle parts and they are still in a box for the last 2 years. The weight of the top and swapping the manifold for each time you want to use it is a messy issue. Easier to get a blackstone so you can smoke and griddle the same time.

I did wonder about the ease/convenience of swapping between smoking/griddling. thx for the insight!

 

[clifish]

I did wonder about the ease/convenience of swapping between smoking/griddling. thx for the insight!

the griddle itself is kind of heavy, add to that it will be greasy or oiled. Then you have to swap the manifold under it. I know I would be too lazy to do this each time and would never use it. I have tried to give away the griddle top and manifold a few times.

 

[schlotz]

Welcome to SMF from Indiana! Well a number of the manufacturers claim their products will both smoke and grill. Personally I subscribe to using what is best for the task at hand vs trying to attempt to do both with one and not be really satisfied with either the results or the effort necessary to adjust the unit. Get a good smoker and a good grill then your are set for success. Budget wise there are a slew of options but to get each done right I would start my search with RecTeq on the smoker side. For a grill, first stop should be weber, they know their stuff. There are others, maybe look at Napoleon. One high end option is Hestan. It was my final pick after a lot of research to replace my 10 year old Twin Eagles which was nothing but a service nightmare. Yes, even supposedly high end units have their lemons.

 

[912smoker]

Welcome to SMF from SE GA and you've landed at the best spot on the worldwideweb!
I have the Masterbuilt Gravity Series 1050 and love it. Thought about adding the griddle but after a discussion with clifish agreed it would more energy than I wanted to exert . Know some folks that use it and love it and I planned to store it in a trash bag on the bottom shelf.

They are prone to switch issues but as mentioned, most of the issues can be eliminated with a couple of squirts of contact cleaner between use.
Or easily bypass them all.

You can get near stick burner smoke profile with the MBGF series, it that's what your after and seek.

Good luck on your quest and keep us updated!

Keith