Dave's Masterbuilt 1050 Gravity Feed Experiences


 
Dave,
Even though you haven't used it a lot yet, can you comment on how it is holding up? Seems like people enjoy using them but report some weaknesses in construction. I did see an article that Masterbuilt has improved the design in a number of areas for 2021.
 
Char-Griller has made a gravity feed, Tom Horsman reviews it. There's several features on this that I like better than my Masterbuilt 560. Being able to lift out the charcoal hopper would be handy. The grease management looks easier to clean. The manifold is a better design. The exhaust is better and its adjustable , and this is larger.

 
Lynn Dollar said:
Char-Griller has made a gravity feed, Tom Horsman reviews it. There's several features on this that I like better than my Masterbuilt 560. Being able to lift out the charcoal hopper would be handy. The grease management looks easier to clean. The manifold is a better design. The exhaust is better and its adjustable , and this is larger.

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Thanks for pointing that out. This will lead to another great grill segment by Tom. Can't wait to see how it stacks up against the MB. It really is a great time for grillers. Just wish Weber would innovate in this space.
 
Joe Anshien said:
Thanks for pointing that out. This will lead to another great grill segment by Tom. Can't wait to see how it stacks up against the MB. It really is a great time for grillers. Just wish Weber would innovate in this space.
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Just from what I saw in that vid, this is better than my Masterbuilt. In a lot of ways.
 
Lynn Dollar said:
Just from what I saw in that vid, this is better than my Masterbuilt. In a lot of ways.
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I think that your MB is great. This is untested as of yet and who knows how it will hold up. I think the grates on your MB are much better. The MB is also supposed to get to and hold temp wonderfully. Those 2 things are about 75% of the worth of the grill. The other 25% is how it holds up. I don't think any pellet, MB, or CG is going to hold up for 20 years like an old Weber kettle, SM, or Gasser.
 
Joe Anshien said:
I think that your MB is great. This is untested as of yet and who knows how it will hold up. I think the grates on your MB are much better. The MB is also supposed to get to and hold temp wonderfully. Those 2 things are about 75% of the worth of the grill. The other 25% is how it holds up. I don't think any pellet, MB, or CG is going to hold up for 20 years like an old Weber kettle, SM, or Gasser.
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Again, just from what I saw in that vid.

The MB has a large grease tray, very similar to Weber gassers. It funnels the grease into a small pan. I'm lining that grease tray with foil or else I have a nasty clean up job. I'm also putting foil on the manifold. Its a bit of job to get the MB ready to cook. The manifold does not come out nearly as easy as that Char-griller manifold, which also was porcelain covered. That would make easy clean up without having to use the foil. It also appeared to be much easier to take out and put in place, it even had two handles. I liked how the CharG funneled grease into that tube, that then ran into a grease pan.

I also liked how the CharG manifold had small openings near the firebox and the openings got larger, the further away. That's gonna come closer to get even temps across the grate.

For smoking , the cast iron grates on the MB are useless. Its best to cook on the second level. The heating is far more even. And a drip pan on the bottom level is almost a necessity to keep from having grease fires on long cooks, or to save a clean up. There are people who make mods to the MB manifold so a drip pan could fit under the cast iron grates, but I'd just as soon put meat on the second level.

And being able to remove that inner liner on the charcoal hopper would be nice. I like to start with a new load of coals on each cook and load chunks of diff type wood in the hopper. The only way to do that on the MB is use tongs and dig out each piece of charcoal.
 
Lynn Dollar said:
Again, just from what I saw in that vid.

The MB has a large grease tray, very similar to Weber gassers. It funnels the grease into a small pan. I'm lining that grease tray with foil or else I have a nasty clean up job. I'm also putting foil on the manifold. Its a bit of job to get the MB ready to cook. The manifold does not come out nearly as easy as that Char-griller manifold, which also was porcelain covered. That would make easy clean up without having to use the foil. It also appeared to be much easier to take out and put in place, it even had two handles. I liked how the CharG funneled grease into that tube, that then ran into a grease pan.

I also liked how the CharG manifold had small openings near the firebox and the openings got larger, the further away. That's gonna come closer to get even temps across the grate.

For smoking , the cast iron grates on the MB are useless. Its best to cook on the second level. The heating is far more even. And a drip pan on the bottom level is almost a necessity to keep from having grease fires on long cooks, or to save a clean up. There are people who make mods to the MB manifold so a drip pan could fit under the cast iron grates, but I'd just as soon put meat on the second level.

And being able to remove that inner liner on the charcoal hopper would be nice. I like to start with a new load of coals on each cook and load chunks of diff type wood in the hopper. The only way to do that on the MB is use tongs and dig out each piece of charcoal.
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No indication of how to clean or remove that grease tube yet. I see that as a potential failure point, just like their grills that have that almost flat pan that always rusts out after a year or so.
 
I'm seriously thinking on taking the plunge on the Char-griller based on that video and Lynn's comments.
Our Nephew has the MB and loves it so I'm sorta torn... Decisions, decisions..:unsure:
 
timothy said:
I'm seriously thinking on taking the plunge on the Char-griller based on that video and Lynn's comments.
Our Nephew has the MB and loves it so I'm sorta torn... Decisions, decisions..:unsure:
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Wait till Tom Horsman does a cook.

Like Joe says, temp control is the name of the game. But hey, I gotta think CharG has it figured out. Still, lets see what Tom has to say.
 
Gravity style charcoal feeders with draft control are a well proven concept for low and slow smoker/cookers. It's been around for at least 10 years before the Masterbuilt released their new model. While it's fun to try new things, and read about them, I'm skeptical when it comes to longevity of both the Masterbuilt and Chargriller and their attempts to achieve high heat cooking with this design. I love the simplicity of the WSM and old fashioned offset cookers. And if I want high heat, I'll hopefully always have a kettle or PK Grill for that.
 
The good quality gravity feeds are expensive, names like Assassin, Southern Q, Stumps, Myron Mixon ...... the comp guys use those GF's. But they're priced in the plus $3,000 range. Even the smaller ones, like the Assassin 17 and Southern Q's Limo Jr are between 2 and 3 thousand. Old Country has built solid GF and it sells for $1300. If you can find one. I've been searching cause I'd to look one over , in person.

I'm not sure about longevity of my MB but I think it will last me a long time because I don't run it up to 700* and its not my primary smoker. I got a lot of options on the patio. I wanted a " set and forget " for the winter time when I can't run my stick burner and this MB was on sale for $250. No brainer purchase.

It has advantages over a WSM. It has much better air flow. It can grill and smoke. Disadvantage .... the MB is a fuel hog, it will flat go through some charcoal. And it has to be kept very clean to keep from getting ash in the cook chamber. Fans and ash , just don't mix.
 
Earlier this week, the Academy web site said my local Academy had an Old Country GF in stock. I went to look at it and if they had one , it wasn't on the floor. And the web site said that a lot of Academy's within 250 miles of me had GF's. There aren't any within 250 miles today.

Very high demand. But not only did my local Academy not have the GF, they did not have any Old Country smokers on the floor, which is unusual. They will always have a Brazos and a Pecos and most of the time they will have other models. And they only had one Oklahoma Joe and it was the half smoker / half gas grill model. I wonder if demand for all smokers is sky high , right now.
 
My MB rolled thin blue, if not clear smoke all yesterday afternoon. If all GF's produce this kind of smoke, then its hard to go wrong. Every time I cook with this MB I'm impressed with the smoke. It has the appearance of the same smoke I get from my stick burner when I'm running a good clean fire. On the stick burner, most of the time, the smoke is almost clear, hard to see anything coming out of the stack except for heat waves.

And the aroma of pecan burning takes over my patio, just like it does when I'm running the stick burner.
 
Tom Horsman picked a winner between the CharGrill and the MB , and he went with the CharGrill and made it sound like it wasn't a contest. He's cooked a lot with the MB and only one cook with the CharGrill, so I would guess, the CharGrill is a major improvement.

I like the CG grease management system much better than my MB. And being able to take out the charcoal hopper is a big plus.

Here's Horsman's vid

 
Lynn Dollar said:
Tom Horsman picked a winner between the CharGrill and the MB , and he went with the CharGrill and made it sound like it wasn't a contest. He's cooked a lot with the MB and only one cook with the CharGrill, so I would guess, the CharGrill is a major improvement.

I like the CG grease management system much better than my MB. And being able to take out the charcoal hopper is a big plus.

Here's Horsman's vid

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I watched that last night. It looks really nice, but after seeing so many rusted out Chargrillers, I can wait to see what happens longer term, and what else may come out next. Though if I had to buy a grill tomorrow that would be at the top of my list.
 
Dave - Unixadm said:
3/4", 1" and 2" reflective high temperature insulation. Hi Dave, can you tell me what areas you put the different thicknesses of insulation into? I see the cook chamber area in your photos, but it looks like only one peice was used there. Were there other areas, for example the lid? Thanks very much.
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Joe Anshien said:
Did you know they actually make a rotisserie for the Masterbuilt Gravity: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0873SVFVB/?tag=tvwb-20

Wow - I need to find a deal on one of these to play with
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OK Now after reading through the whole thread I realize that Dave did a whole section on modifying the MB for a Ribolator. But I do have what may be a stupid question. If you want to just put something on a spit most grill setups have slots, so you can truss and spit your bird or what ever else you want to put on the spit inside the house, then just lay it into the slots and motor. The MB has one hole and a bracket. Does that mean you have to spit and un-spit the chicken in the grill and put the motor on the spit last? Am I missing something? Shouldn't there be a slot instead of a hole?
 
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