That's all folks, good bye to brisket cooking.

[Chasdev]

I'm totaly addicted to gravity feed set and forget.
Almost as easy as a pellet spitter but smoke flavored meat.
I gaze longly at the multi-thousand dollar gravity rigs.

 

[Smokin Okie]

I'm totaly addicted to gravity feed set and forget.
Almost as easy as a pellet spitter but smoke flavored meat.
I gaze longly at the multi-thousand dollar gravity rigs.

Have you looked at the Old Country Gravity Feed ?

 

[Chasdev]

Not in person but I've read some negative comments plus the price is not "right".

 

[hecklar56]

This is my first season with the 880. Did my first pork butt yesterday and came out ok. Really loving the flavor but can see where the quality can be a concern.

 

[Smokin Okie]

Not in person but I've read some negative comments plus the price is not "right".

I don't think there will ever be a quality GF for less than a $1,000. The OCGF may be the lowest priced. The cabinet needs to be insulated. It needs to be built from at least 1/8" steel with the firebox getting 1/4" steel.

I came close to buying the OCGF, in fact, if there had been one in stock here in OKC I'd probably own one today.

The primary issue I had with it was air flow, because of how they directed the flow into the cook chamber with a baffle. The most negative comments I've read involves the air flow, some saying it took hours to get up to temp and if the cook chamber door was left open for anytime, it would take a long time for the cooker to recover.

On the MB560, the firebox is below the cook chamber, so the entry port for air into the cook chamber is level. The only restriction is the manifold. It has good air flow. That's how a GF should be built.

Some say putting an ATC on it solves the problem. Maybe so, but I think its in the design. First, the baffle directs hot air down, that's not good. Hot air wants to rise. And then the baffle forces it through two 90* turns, that's not good either. Flowing air likes curves, whether its A/C duct in the house or exhaust headers on an engine.

My plan was to take it to a welder and have that baffle re-worked to something similar to what Southern Q does with the Limo Jr. Which has a baffle and directs air down, but its one large 45* angle. I would bet a welder would rebuild the baffle for less than $200, maybe a lot less.

The only other problems I've seen, are uneven heating side-to-side, which I think a better designed baffle would help solve, and ya have to find one that the cook chamber door is a good fit. The only one I've seen in person had a huge gap in the upper left hand corner, which seems to be common.

 

[Smokin Okie]

Not in person but I've read some negative comments plus the price is not "right".

Here ya go, apply for an Academy credit card and get 5% off purchase price.

And then buy on-line and get 20% off.

OCGF = $1400 X 20% off = $1,120 X 5% = $1064

A Masterbuilt 1050 is $900 and the OCGF is a much more substantial smoker and far more dependable.

 

[Chasdev]

My 560 is gen 1, purchased Dec 2019.
Have they made improvements or upgrades since then?
I loved it when it was new and frisky, but after hundreds of cooks it's looking bad.
And not running at all.

 

[Smokin Okie]

Frustrating huh ?

Love my MB560 as a smoker. Wish it was bigger, like the 1050. But I know it won't last. It screams cheap.

And therein is the dilemna. IDK why GF's have to be so expensive ???

I spent a good amount of money on an Assassin 17, far more than I wanted to spend. But MB560 sold me on GF as a set and forget smoker.

I have a Franklin offset. But there's times when I can't stay with it to feed it splits for various reasons. And there's certain cooks that just aren't worth firing it up. The MB560 excelled at that.

I don't understand why GF's aren't far more popular than they are. Its the set and forget part of pellet poopers with a smoke flavor close to stick burner.

 

[BrianGSDTexoma]

honestly wish I'd have kept one for times when I need to just get going fast. Here is a pic of the point from a brisket he did a couple days

I would own one if not for the price of charcoal.

 

[bill1]

I would own one if not for the price of charcoal.

You're not alone. You hear of folks here getting MB560's at end-of-summer prices of ~$200 but at $1/# for charcoal, you can go through a similar $200 in fuel mighty quick.

I'm using my pellet grill more and more. I'm not saying it's the best flavor, but flavor per dollar spent is pretty darn good. (And they can be had for <$200 initial investment as well.) Also, flavor per hour (of time tending it) is great.

I used to occasionally use charcoal pellets in the thing but am having trouble finding them. Maybe they just didn't catch on, or maybe the price of creating charcoal has significantly increased (safety? EPA regulations?) for any wood-based fuel source and pellet customers just won't pay the premium price for them. Especially considering you go through them twice as fast as wood pellets since ~half the energy content has been lost in creating the charcoal. (Or at least that's my experience.)

I note Amazon already has the MB560 at <$400 and it's not even mid-July yet. I just wish I understood what's driving the cost of charcoal so I could estimate whether this is just a temporary supply-shortage type of issue or whether high prices are here to stay, or potentially going to worsen.

I'm actually quite surprised at how stable (and reasonable) pellet prices have become. Costco Kirtland prices are now even less than Walmart Expert Grill prices have ever been. So I don't think transportation or general lumber prices are what's driving the charcoal prices.

 

[Smokin Okie]

I just bought 3 bags of B&B briquettes for $8 for 17 pound bag at Academy. That's 47 cents a pound.

Usual price at Academy is $10. They had a site wide 20% off sale on-line this week. I bought it on-line, went and picked it up.

Got two 20# bags of B&B lump for $12 a bag, usual price $15.

 

[Smokin Okie]

The official Masterbuilt site has the 560 on sale at $400 , free shipping.

I've got one that I'm gonna try to sell soon, but I don't think it has any value. I've gotta hunch its not gonna be worth the trouble.

 

[SmokinAl]

OK fellas, this thread is about smoking, not politics, so the thread is locked.
Al