New Masterbuilt Gravit Feed

picked up a new one today. going to get it together and see what damage we can do this weekend.

You'll have fun with it, provided everything works well on it. Not saying it won't. Check out the FB page if you haven't already. Lot's of the issues show up there, with solutions as well. Have fun with it.

texun said:

picked up a new one today. going to get it together and see what damage we can do this weekend.

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HINT: If you do any type of smoking with a high fat content, use the middle rack with a drip pan on the main grates. Avoid a fire like a lot of others have had by not doing that. Fast and hot, not so much, but longer cooks like briskets can be fun when you see flames licking out of the lid

What’s the consensus on these?

I like my 1050 for what I've done so far. Butts, turkey cut into pieces (easier to move certain parts around as needed) burgers, meatloaf, small pieces of beef ribs, chicken pieces. Yet to try a brisket, got to find the time..

Definitely heed rexster's advice above. When I was cooking the beef ribs, everything was good at 225. Put together a meatloaf, put it on (ribs had been on for hours), and turned the heat up to 285 I believe it was. A while later I looked and notice smoke that didn't look good, figured the chunk of.wood I had put in ash bin was burning dirty for some reason. Opened the lid and helps fire met me. The increase in heat whooped up on the rib fat, it got all on and n the manifold and there was an inferno. Had to take "ribs" off and put them out. The bones were actually burning. A few were salvageable. Definitely a drip/water pan underneath next time....

Edit:I do have one issue with mine... there is something going on with the lid open/closed sensor. Either it's not settling and activating it right, or there's a short in it. I often have to mess with for it to sense that the lid is closed for the temp controller to not say "open". And sometimes the controller will beep and go from the temp to open, when the lid hasn't been touched....

Well, I have mine covered, but outside and it's holding pretty well after a few years. Actually, it's lasting longer than I thought it would. You can do low and slow on any grate, however like many cookers, the middle shelf is better just because the heat comes over from the coals and up through the bottom. I have several smokers, but this one is the easiest and most fun to use.

I found the 560 at Walmart for $250 two years ago this month.

I love it for a smoker. I don't like it for a grill. I prefer my Kettles. Something about grilling with indirect high heat that doesn't set with me. And I think the people who've had the most problems are the ones cranking the heat up to 500* plus. I can't say that's a fact, its just an impression Ive gotten from reading places like the Facebook Masterbuilt group, etc.

Grease fires are also possible with the high heat. To get the high heat, the fan has to be ran at high speed. This blows embers into the manifold and they can enter the cook chamber. They hit a puddle of grease and boom .. ignition.

But I love it as a smoker. It has good air flow. It produces a thin blue smoke which I found surprising. I expected white billowing smoke but that only occurs when first fired up until a good charcoal coal bed is formed. In Season 5, Episode 7 of BBQ Pitmasters, the GF inventor, Walter " Stump " McDowell, says that the super heated air in the charcoal hopper cleans the impurities from the smoke. All the smoke has to travel through the coal bed in the bottom of the hopper to get into the cook chamber. When I first heard that, I was skeptical, but its fact.

I don't smoke on the lower grate. Its too close to the heat coming out of the manifold and I think there's some radiant heat from manifold. I use the middle grate. Also, I think I get better convection on the middle grate.

It holds temps great. The controller works very well.

I've bought some mods. I had an expanded metal middle grate made. Much better than the cheap porcelain grates that came with it. I bought a manifold cover/brackets from LSS mods, so I could put a water pan on top of the manifold and below the bottom grate. I also bought a hopper cover for the top of the hopper that seals up a leaky lid. Total cost about $230.

Had my first problem couple months ago when one of the three fan switches failed. The fan would not come on. I found replacements for all three on Amazon for $21 total. Easy to replace.

That said, I'm sure mine does not get as much use as most. I have an offset for the big meats, brisket and pork butt and sometimes ribs. I use the MB for ribs, pork tenderloin, pork steak, double smoking ham, sometimes yardbird.

I've become a big fan of gravity feed smokers. And this time of year its great to be able to set the temp and go inside the house rather than feed splits to the offset. I've been watching Brickseek and Amazon for a winter sale on the 1050. From looking at them at Academy, they seem to be heavier built and the extra room in the cook chamber would be nice. I missed a sale at Amazon in late October of $475 for a 1050.

I've not cooked in really cold weather. I have noticed that the middle grate runs cooler because the temp probe for the controller is level with the bottom grate.

And the 560 has an exhaust vent across the back that's 1.5" wide and 15" long. It has to be positioned down wind. And I think it still lets in some air. Its odd to be able to walk around behind the cooker and look in and see the meats. I could actually use a Thermopen from there.

Conversely, that big exhaust really helps the air flow.

I would think the 1050 to be better in cold weather.

I agree with Lynn totally. I've had ours for almost three years. Repaired a few minor issues, added a few aftermarket improvements, most of which were not needed.


Great smoker, grill not so much. Keep it below 400*F and it's a pleasure to use and operates flawlessly. Much above this and you'll have a blowtorch irregardless of how much you clean it.



Use it once or twice a week. Weather not a concern but I do have it on a patio positioned where the wind isn't much of a factor.


I love the way it cooks. Fast and easy. I can cook many things in less time than my wife can get our oven through the preheat stage... ha. Smoke flavor much better than anything I've had in my backyard. I haven't experienced a stick burner and suspect the overall flavor, smoke, etc. may be better on one but don't know. Lynn, can you comment on this?


Think I may have another year or so on this one. But it may surprise me since it already has produced more food than I expected it would. I'm constantly looking for the next step and next grill, but at this point I'd buy another Masterbuilt, probably the 800.





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I also use the second grate for most of my cooks. I will use the main grate when I want to firm up sauce or crisp wings.

About a year or so ago, I did a comparison cook to satisfy my own curiosity. Three racks of whole spare ribs, one on the Franklin offset, one on the MB, and one on the WSM. All three seasoned the same, on the smoker for about 3 hours, then wrapped.

Taste is subjective, but I thought both the MB and stickburner were clearly a better flavor than the WSM. The MB was closer to the stickburner than the WSM. But I still enjoyed the stickburner flavor the most.

There was one flaw in my cook, however. Managing three smokers, I got distracted and forgot to put some chunks in the MB during the cook. I don't think it got as much wood smoke as the others. I've been thinking about doing it again.

But IMO, the MB does not produce charcoal/chunk flavor.

It seems to be similar concept to a ceramic cooker (BGE), but not as weather proof, more that can go wrong, cannot grill, and not as good of warranty.

I really have no complaints other than the app loses connection frequently. I don't have any mods but, I do use foil on the manifold fashioned like LSS one. I have cooked in the dead of winter here in MI at low and hi temps without issue. It did go through the fuel faster at 600* doing pizzas but, that is to be expected. I say get one

Lynn, I also have a WSM and have observed the same with respect to performance between the two. Initially I was having problems getting level/quality of smoke desired from my MB560. The MB recommendations for loading the ash bin with wood simply didn't work because ashes kept killing any burning wood. The wood either smoldered (not good) or went totally out. I could load up the fire box with a mix of charcoal and wood which did make a difference. But this is a pain to manage.


I solved this issue by fabricating a simple grate for the ash box which holds the smoke wood up out of the ashes. Smoke wood now burns with a flame (good thing) and burns completely. I generally add wood every 30 - 45 minutes during the early stages of the cook. This made a significant difference in the level of smoke and quality of smoke on my cooks. Very pleased with the MB560 at this point but its no stick burner. On the other hand, it's quick, easy and economical to operate, and makes some mighty fine BBQ.

Sudz said:

I solved this issue by fabricating a simple grate for the ash box which holds the smoke wood up out of the ashes. Smoke wood now burns with a flame (good thing) and burns completely. I generally add wood every 30 - 45 minutes during the early stages of the cook. This made a significant difference in the level of smoke and quality of smoke on my cooks. Very pleased with the MB560 at this point but its no stick burner. On the other hand, it's quick, easy and economical to operate, and makes some mighty fine BBQ.

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I've done that also.

Had a firebrick that had broken in half. Put the two pieces in the ash bin and cut a piece of expanded metal to lay on top. I've had the same experience with wood chunks in flame. With no adverse effects, so far.

I go to the trouble to completely reload the charcoal hopper before every cook. I pull out the charcoal grate and let the charcoal fall down into a bucket. LSS mods makes a little ramp to make this easier, but any piece of metal or wood can be made to fit.

What about placing wood chunks below the charcoal grate in a WSM....

Ran across some pics of biscuit test on the MB560 . From these pics, its easy to see whey I like to cook on the middle grate. There's a very definite hot spot.



First pic is the top of biscuits on both grates, just to show where they were located.






And here's a clearer look, front row is bottom grate, top row is middle grate , first is top of biscuits, and then biscuits flipped over