Dave's Masterbuilt 1050 Gravity Feed Experiences

[Dave - Unixadm]

So if any of you have checked out my other posts about the Smokefire EX6 and the Campchef Woodwind 36, this will be a similar thread. Initial assembly, to burn-in, to mods, to various cooks. I'll post up my honest opinion but that opinion is just that, an opinion.

I ordered the Masterbuilt 1050 after YouTube suggested a video of it to me while I was watching some cooking programs. I didn't know what the heck it was, so when I checked it out I was intrigued. I found some forum posts and videos, which I proceeded to do my homework. It was a bit different than the Smokefire, since I didn't buy it straight at launch time. As of today, I believe it's been out for 60-90 days. Right now it's hard to come by one, but stock seems to be building back up. I ordered it from Amazon at the MSRP price of $799. It shipped quickly and I received it in less than a week. Assembly took place on August 11th, 2020.

My initial impressions of this cooker is actually quite good. It doesn't have the robustness of the Smokefire or the overall polished fit and finish. With that said, it comes with a lot of bang for the buck which is impressive at this price point:

• Double-wall construction
• Cast-iron reversible cooking grates (Sear/Smoke)
• Safety switches
• Extra hardware
• Three cooking levels
• Folding front and fixed side shelves
• WIFI enabled controller
• Four probe ports
• Four wheels for easier mobility
• Bottom shelf
• 160-700 Degree temperature operating range. Temperature control from reading reviews seems to show fairly good even control.
• Rotisserie capable
• Good accessory offerings (Rotisserie and cover)
• Easy to follow assembly instructions.
• Solid feeling after assembled. I was surprised but it feels more solid than the Smokefire EX6 or Woodwind 36
• 225 Degrees in 7 minutes and 700 in 15 minutes. This appears to be accurate and some folks show the grill beats that.
• Wood chunks can be placed in the chute or in the ash pan
• Runs well on briquettes or lump charcoal
• Well packaged for shipping (though mine did have one ding on the body)

There are some cons, some of which I noticed:

• 32-step assembly process.
• Somewhat thin exterior sheetmetal
• Rubberized firebox and hopper gaskets
• No insulation (air gap only)
• The marketing material and adhesive. I almost feel like it's a tailgate of a 2000's Toyota Tundra it has so much stuff going on.
• Firebox design shows heat damage with limited use (from my research)
• Grate temps can vary across the cooking space
• Controller temp and set-point may not match
• Potential for grease fires (similar to that of the Smokefire's design without a diffuser/drip-tray)
• Limited grease cup. Potential to overflow when cooking multiple large cuts of meat at one time.
• Grease cup placement is pretty piss-poor IMO. Going to be a pain in the *** to clean it and not make a mess.

In terms of OEM or aftermarket accessories, I purchased the following:

• Grillgrates (17.3") with Griddle
• Rib-O-Lator 17" Rotisserie accessory
• Masterbuilt OEM Rotisserie kit (works with both the 560 and 1050)
• Masterbuilt OEM 1050 cover

In terms of initial mods, this is what I ordered:

• L.S.S. Mods Stainless firebox liner
• L.S.S. Mods Stainless heat tent cover
• L.S.S. Mods Stainless water tray

Normally I've not purchased mods before getting the grill/smoker, but in this case my research showed that these were good mods to have to improve the clean-ability. I'm not going to do my burn-in until I get the firebox liner which is due to arrive on August 12th. Once I get that, I'll have to partially disassemble the firebox/chute to install it. From there I can do my burn-in. Once I do my burn-in, I'll update the thread with more details. I just completed assembly and am going to go out and set up the rotisserie and Rib-o-lator since both of those arrived before the grill did.

My initial impressions are quite positive after assembly and the reviews have been pretty positive as well. I went into this with some knowledge, so I didn't have to wing it as much as I did with the Smokefire EX6. No fitment issues - went together without much hassle. The next post will be the initial assembly pics. If this thread should be moved, just let me know.

 

[Dave - Unixadm]

The only tools you need to build it:

Performing the flip. It's a bit heavy but was manageable. If you have a bad back or have limited strength, ask for help. Lifting it from the chute/firebox side is required since that's where the weight is:

Once I flipped it, I noticed a ding in the front of the cooker body:

So let's fix this dent and install some high temperature 2" insulation while I'm in there. This was NOT the plan, but if I've got to tear into the thing, why not add some insulation since I literally had it sitting on the patio for another project which I didn't move forward with. Insulating this cooker could be a fun project using 3/4", 1" and 2" reflective high temperature insulation. Servpro, like it never happened:

 

[Dave - Unixadm]

Let's get that insulation installed. The interior cook chamber front panel is removed in this shot:

Let's button it back up. You'd never know I had installed that in there. Fit like a glove:

Some interior shots:

Exterior shots:

The chute:

More to come!

 

[Dave - Unixadm]

Worked on installing the rotisserie. By default, it was the easiest install I've ever done. However, the updated version of the rib-o-lator lightly contacts the back wall. The sleeve doesn't fit the square rotisserie shaft either. I ordered a 13.5MM drill bit to bore out the sleeves which will help center the rib-o-lator a bit better. I also milled the holes larger in the end bracket and opened up the hole where the rotisserie goes through the side wall just a little bit. Helped but not quite there. What I could do is make another rotisserie location about 2" in the front of the current hole and add some new nutserts into the side wall for the bracket. I think you guys know I will make it work but it turned out just to be a little bit more work than I expected. Such is life.

More to come as I work through it.

 

[Bruno]

Honestly I just don’t have room for this on my team, but these guys should be stoked you are reviewing this. I trust no one going today more than you.

 

[AlfonzoW]

Picked the 560 up when it was released but sold it after 6 months of use. Put out some killer bbq just didn't like the build quality. Have the ex6 now and enjoying it but the 1050 has been calling my name a bit lol. So use to charcoal and wood chunk flavor.

 

[Dave - Unixadm]

Honestly I just don’t have room for this On my team, but these guys should be stoked you are reviewing this. I trust no one going today more than you.

I know what you mean. I'm out of room. I gave away my Timberline 1300 just to make room and like three days later order this darn thing. I appreciate the complement and will do my best. I'm likely going to take a stab at making some videos since I've picked up a few more lenses and a nice gimbal stabilizer for my Sony A6600.

Picked the 560 up when it was released but sold it after 6 months of use. Put out some killer bbq just didn't like the build quality. Have the ex6 now and enjoying it but the 1050 has been calling my name a bit lol. So use to charcoal and wood chunk flavor.

Yeah. I think I've seen what you mean about the 560. For the price point of this cooker at $800, I didn't find it to be lacking in quality. From what I understand this one is better made then the 560. Would I pay double for more stainless, thicker materials, a bit more polish and insulation? You betcha, but overall I'm actually pretty surprised by the bang for the buck. I can tell they saved some cost on labor, because you have to do a lot more work with assembly than I've had to do with any other smoker I've purchased. However, it's not hard assembly, just a bit time consuming. Looking at the design closer today, I do like the little things they've done. Like the silicone flapper by the draft fan to limit oxygen intake during fan off cycles for example. I had an Assassin 28" gravity feed and there were two things I didn't like. The first was when you'd open the door to tend meat (larger capacity so it takes time), the charcoal would go roaring off and then it was hard to maintain the set temperature after that. The second is when it was sealed up, it was almost too airtight causing some dirty combustion when using something like a BBQ Stoker to control the fan.

That thing was a beast with a ton of capacity though. Ran very efficiently too but in the end, I just didn't fall in love with it. Hoping for a better experience with the 1050.

 

[Dave - Unixadm]

Since I'm on vacation this week, I don't have a whole lot going on. In preparation for the stainless firebox insert to show up, I've dissembled the chute. I figured I may as well do it when it's cool out on the patio. Disassembly is easy to get the chute apart. Took me maybe 5-10 minutes to break it down. Checking out the actual firebox area, Masterbuilt used some type of lined fiber style bricks. The OEM liner material is magnetic and not overly thin. This breaks down pretty quickly from what I've seen, so the heavy duty stainless liner should hold up better. I'll post up some additional pics when it shows up today and I get it installed.

Doing this replacement when the cooker is new is recommended. I was able to salvage the gasket and the stock liner material being new will facilitate the stainless liner sliding into place much easier. I've seen guys having to beat on the new liner with a mallet to install it because of the deformation of the stock liner.

 

[Shane - glitchy]

Excited to see this thread. I've been intrigued with the MB Gravity since the 560 was first announced and have been temped a couple times to pick one up on sales. It will be interesting to see how reliable the 1050 is for you.

 

[JKalchik]

Dave, I welded up my own monster gravity fed charcoal smoker. Ain't never gonna look back at anything smaller. I looked at the MBs after starting on mine...... and I'm not unhappy in the least with what I've made. The MB really looks to be built for the mass market big box outlets, although I will admit that your comments on the 1050 make it appear better than the 560.

 

[BFletcher]

You have shared excellent detail, as-is always the case from my perspective! Since January 2016 I've acquired quite a collection of Weber outdoor cookers, all of which I am very fond. But beginning in September 2019 I also acquired two pellet smokers from other manufacturers and I also purchased the 560 in May 2020. I'm not a modder, nor do I tinker, but I'm well-pleased with my MB Gravity. And I think it is the only outdoor cooker that I have employed for ~225f cooks through 600f cooks. Since the time that it has been up and running my only frustration is reinserting the manifold into the support plate during cleanup; in my feeble mind, I wonder if I might be able to remedy that issue by removing one of two alignment bolts. I did have two or three ill-fitting components during installation but nothing that required any major manipulation. And it took a day of experimentation by trial-and-error to connect to WiFi while other Wifi-enabled outdoor cooker devices connected without issue.

 

[MikeCantell]

I reckon I will wait to get 1 of these, I was all in till the firebox issue came out, I have to fix stuff all day at work and really rather have something that just works. Love the idea of it but fuel hog and designed to fail quickly dont set well with me. I see them correcting it within a year and if not that sez a lot about a company imo

 

[BFletcher]

RE: the firebox issue - is Masterbuilt's marketing expertise downplaying the concern, or is social media distorting this issue? If the walls disintegrate as MB explains as intentional what are the ill effects? For me and my experience thus far I say "okay, so what; I'm still using it and enjoying it." If it were available in 1990 my only opinion would be my own.

 

[Dave - Unixadm]

I have no idea if the firebox is an issue or not. I guess for me, I wanted to avoid the issue, so I spent the money on the stainless insert which arrived today. I'll be posting an update here shortly since it's out on the patio humming along at 450 degrees during the burn-in. I've heard the 560 isn't built as nicely as the 1050. This thing isn't going to get the reputation as a tank, but the design is pretty nice. It is certainly targeted at a price point above the entry level pellet smokers but below the higher end units. I get a really good feeling about price vs. value of this thing. It's a pretty impressive unit thus far and I like the simplicity. If you look at all of the work I've done on my Smokefire with parts replacements and tweaks, it's nice to know I won't be fussing around with an auger issue.

 

[Dave - Unixadm]

The L.S.S. stainless firebox insert showed up today, so I was at the point when it arrived to quickly get the 1050 put back together.

Hello my friend! I have been waiting for you! L.S.S. stainless firebox insert and a big box of lump charcoal from Walmart.com:

The L.S.S. stainless firebox insert:

Partially installed:

Fully installed:

As I had read, the time to install this is when the cooker is new. It dropped right in, no fuss, no muss. One last pic before the maiden voyage:

 

[Dave - Unixadm]

Let's get this party started. I fired up the 1050 using a stomped on tumbleweed fire-starter. I had read lots of people complained that they don't fit. I guess those people don't have feet, a shoe and a few stomps in them. Did that and it slipped right into the holder. Lit it with a torch, waited about 8 or so minutes with the 1050 opened up before closing it down and firing it up.

Just closed up:

This thing came up to 350 degrees in 6.5 minutes and 400 degrees in around 7 minutes. It's a dang rocket ship in terms of how fast this thing can heat up. I thought, this might be BS so I went and grabbed my Thermoworks Smoke and Smoke Gateway. If you guys have these, Thermoworks just released a new app which is MUCH better than the old one. Unfortunately, I had to go through a process of creating a new account, pairing my Smoke Gateway again and getting it dialed in. I decided to install two ambient pit temperature probes, one on the left grate and one on the right:

There was no doubt the 1050 was hot when I was doing this. Mental note, do this BEFORE you fire up the pit the next time, dummy! I waited a few minutes for the probes to come up to temp at a set-point of 400 degrees. This is what it showed:

I decided to bump the temp to 450 degrees so I could spray some olive oil on the cooking grates and then see how the temps reacted. I will say this thing went from 400 to 450 in like a minute. It's really impressive how well this thing controls the temperature and gains temperature:

So here's what I've observed initially about temperature variation. Initially the temps match pretty closely, but once the pit reaches its set-point, the right grate will hold closer to the set-point, while the left grate will start dropping in temp. I believe what's likely going on is when the fan is running full tilt, it's pushing a good amount of air through the manifold. However, when the fan slows down, the air flow isn't making it to the left end of the manifold quite a swell, thus the temps drop. The heat is rising out of the manifold on the right side, thus holding better temps. I do think there's some "trickery" going on with the controller, such as an offset for the probe temp. I'm going to mount one of the Smoke's probes right next to the controller probe to see if they match. I don't think they will based upon what I'm seeing, but I could be wrong.

Looking at the temps, it's settled in at about 445 degrees on the right side and 431 degrees on the left side. Set point is 450 degrees. I'm running Stubb's briquet charcoal which is damn near old enough to be of drinking age, but it seems to be working just fine. I bought this stuff quite a number of years ago when Amazon was selling it dirt cheap, and it's been stored in my shed. I figured I'd start off with the old stuff. LOL! The red line is the right grate and the yellow line is the left grate for reference:

I do think with some insulation the fuel consumption could be reduced. A lot of the fuel consumption occurs after these cookers are shut down, so using the right amount of charcoal for smaller cooks would likely help with managing fuel consumption. On longer low and slow cooks, it likely will burn 1.5-2 LBs per hour. If you can buy charcoal pretty cheap, it's in the ballpark of pellet expense. If you order your lump from Amazon, then you're going to be pretty disappointed in the fuel costs.

To sum it up thus far, I'm very pleased.

 

[Dave - Unixadm]

I feel it might be a little premature to post my initial thoughts but at first glance this thing is a winner. It runs very well. What impresses me the most is this. I ran the grill up to 450 degrees. I've jacked around with the temp settings, 400 -> 450 -> 350 -> 400 -> 225. The grill will make it happen and that's what I find the most intriguing with a charcoal fired unit. I also found that it runs pretty close to the set-points on the grate, especially at the 225 set-point. There was less than 10 degrees between all three probes and I think that's quite good.

I took advantage of it running to grill a Costco burger patty at 400 and it came out great. I tossed a small bunch of pecan wood chips into the ash pan just before I put the burger patty on. Really tasty. Unless this thing decides to go completely off the rails, I'm really liking this thing. At 225 it just cruises along. I'm projecting I'll get about 5 hours of burn time out of those 15 pounds of briquettes. It definitely blows through the charcoal at higher temps, but what doesn't at those temps?

The wild temp swings were when I was grilling my burger. After that I set it to 225 and you can see it just drop down and hold.

I put some accent lighting on for the 1050:

Ash pan at 400 degrees:

My really weak burger:

However, after being out on the patio in near 100 degrees weather for most of the afternoon/evening, I didn't need much to make me happy. That black ooze on the plate is teriyaki sauce. It was quite tasty.

Smoke output at 350 degrees:

Almost burned through a full chute of charcoal:

 

[LMichaels]

Would really like to see an explanation of how a gravity feed unit works

 

[JKalchik]

You have a vertical charcoal column directly on top of a firebox. The firebox vents sideways into your cook chamber, and has an ash box below (yes, there's a grate,) and an air inlet with a shutter control of some sort. As the charcoal burns in the firebox, the charcoal column drops. The column should be built with a reverse taper, wider at the bottom than the top to prevent bridging. Here's the key: the column has to be air tight. That's what keeps the column from going up immediately (that's called a runaway, and is a bad day.

Usually, these burn pretty controllably simply by controlling the inlet air volume. Add electronically controlled air flow, and temp control of +/- 1 degree F is pretty easily achievable.

I found this design here on the HM subforum a couple of years ago, and the 5 watt bulb began to glow. After a couple of months of ruminating on it, my g/f finally smacked me and said "BUILD IT,doggone it. You've been complaining about your smoker [nb: leaky horizontal offset] for a long time, this is what you want." She's right (as usual.....,) this has been the perfect smoker for me. The commercial equivalent is several thousand dollars (look at the Assassin Dave shows above.) I'll burn 1-2 lbs. of charcoal per hour to maintain anywhere from 225 to 275 F in the cook chamber. Fully insulated w/ 2" of rock wool, at -6 F ambient, it doesn't radiate enough heat out the bottom to melt snow.

 

[LMichaels]

I just can't picture it. Sorry. Can't see how you just don't get a whole column burning no matter how it's "shaped"