Gravity Series Grill

jgabehart84

Re: Grills Gravity Series
Jonathon Here’s my dollars worth on the Masterbuilt Gravity Series - buy one. I was in the market for a new smoker this spring and I have had an electric Masterbuilt, offset smoker, charcoal can smoker, weber grill, etc. I was pushing towards a pellet because I like the idea of temperature control. Call it lazy but I had been doing sole stick burning for 6-8 months and just a time drain with our growing family. So, a buddy of mine pointed me in the direction of the gravity series but said you should wait until the 1050 comes out but this looks to be great. I went to BassPro, they had one and I felt it was good quality and enough space if I got an extra rack. I left that day with it and have enjoyed ever since!. After getting it home, I used the hell out of it! Now that was a 560 and why did I upgrade? The buddy who recommended it waited and was dropped shipped a 1050, he ordered a cover and got a call from freight company about a 350lb delivery and low and behold he was shipped another 1050!! We contacted BBqHQ and paid for the new unit and I sold my 560 the same day.

Best description I tell people is this is a convection oven with charcoal as its heat source. If you cook some pork shoulder, fatty brisket or bacon, you’ll need to be careful (LIKE EVERY GRILL) about grease build up before firing up to over 400. I haven’t had any issues yet and take the time to clean up or have a drip pan if its something really fatty. The food area is not above the fire box so you will have to clean semi-regularly. A good burn off helps every now and then too but you’re not on top of the fire.

I looked into modifications and have made a couple but I have gone back to the original grate covering. It allows for better smoke on wood chunks in the ash pan. You can also use all wood if you want in the hopper too as a side note. They designed it a certain way and it works great. Nothing I have done is permanent, the metal cover can come off and I do save charcoal but did really well with the char logs from B&B on original grate. I did put a firebox insert but only because I have access to plasma cutter and welding equipment to do it myself. Inherently, many smokers are tinkerers and I think that’s why people are doing more modifications, because you can. One of the cool additions I have done is use a power bank to power the grill, its a solar unit so you can move it around a little more if you want to. This wasn’t a need and more convenience thing.

The most common drawback is the app and using it. It has its ups and downs and they need to work on keep it connected easier to your phone. Not really needed but a nice addition to have. They only send one temperature probe and you have to use Masterbuilt brand or get an error.

Burgers are great, chicken, ribs, brisket, loin, bacon, sausage, etc. I can get a range from 175ish to 700. i’ll try to share a couple pictures. I"ve done some great steaks and did my first tri tip on it. turned out amazing. PVJG8481[1].JPG

jgabehart84

tried posting a couple more but flagged as spam.

Jonathon

jgabehart84 First, thanks for the review, very detailed and I am sure that is what a lot of the guys were looking for. 2nd I think you are gonna fit in well here! How does it do when it is as stacked as the picture you have above? I am assuming well, or you would have said something but just want to be sure!

Grease fires are always something to be aware of, I had one when I was being stupid in my GMG with ribs and now it gets cleaned between any fatty jobs. At one point it was so bad that I caught the chimney on fire, it looked like a portal to hell!

Thanks again!

jgabehart84

Jonathon That amount of bacon had it maxed out. I rotated top and bottom after and hour and a half, followed by a filp and seemed to do well. the bottom definitely cooked faster as it was closer to the heat but all tasted great!

Tex_77

Meathead is retracting his Platinum medal for this grill, because they have found major flaws since its first review. I’d keep an eye on your grill for the same issue. https://amazingribs.com/ratings-reviews/combination-grills-smokers/masterbuilt-gravity-series-560

TexLaw

Tex_77 Good gracious. The prelude to that review was something like “this car was the most amazing thing we’d ever driven . . . until the wheels came clean off.”

Joe Hell

TexLaw Sadly, thas been my experience with the numerous Masterbuilt products I have owned.

Surg

Tex_77 hey wondering if you ever looked into the gravity fed any further. They got an 800 out now that has a griddle too. At Wally mart for $550. Thinking it may be worth pulling the trigger. ( I do keep looking at the 1050 as pictured above, but not sure I need all that room) I Would love a stick burner but with the kids and work schedule it would be tough. Was eyeing up pellets but then came across these which seem to be closer to an offset with the ability to get hotter. Curious your or anyone else’s thoughts.

Tex_77

Surg i never pulled the trigger on one.

Randie N

I picked one up I was able to get on clearance. Got it right before I found my pk100. It got too cold out and it is still sitting on my porch in a box. It’s gonna wait until spring until it gets opened. People have come out with mods for these also they may/may not help with some issues.

Surg

Randie N thanks

Randie N

Surg people are also putting splits in with the charcoal to act more like a stick burner and also have made raised racks to put wood in the Ash bin to also add smoke similar to a stick burner. I know there have been issues with the safety switches and other things but it is the same as a lot of things. There are people who don’t have any issues but you don’t normally hear those because people who have issues are the loudest.

Surg

Randie N true. Yeah that’s kinda what got me looking into it was the ability to tweak it and burn wood Keep waiting for a sale but haven’t seen any yet. What size did you get. I’m torn between the 1050 and the 800. I have a lil griddle that I can throw on it so don’t need the 800 for that feature alone. Keep going back to the 1050. Like everyone says you never hear someone complain about having too big of a grill.

Randie N

Surg I got the 1050 for $299. Couldn’t pass it up to at least try it out. Even if I have some issues to work thru it will be annoying but not as annoying if I paid the $900 or whatever full price is now.
The 800 is a walmart exclusive as far as I know (has griddle). I wanted the biggest one because I was going to try to use it to get different smoke flavor for snack sticks, sausage, etc. Wasn’t sure how low I would be able to get Temps but once again for the price I paid it was hard to pass up.

Surg

Randie N oh man. That’s a steal.