Masterbuilt And Chargriller Gravity Charcoal Grills /Can You Use Full Splits of Hard Wood?


 
Joe Anshien

Joe Anshien

TVWBB Platinum Member
Tom posted this and I thought it super interesting. He stuck a full split in his Masterbuilt. Hell of a smoke ring!
 
Wow, so much there I don't know where to start ..................

That's how I load the chute on MB560, except I take the size split he uses, and split it again, and then stack one on top of the other. I also put chunks in the ash pan. I get thin blue smoke.

It was hard to tell the color of the smoke from his video. He did not get a good angle of the exhaust and did not keep the camera on the exhaust long enough. But I've been amazed at how this GF produces clean smoke. That split is going to smolder in the chute. A clean fire comes from wood in open flame. But somehow the smoke that exits my MB560 is thin blue.

When splits are loaded in that manner, the fire travels up the split faster than it travels through the charcoal. I was not surprised that he could not find any part of the split.

I thought the appearance of his chuck roast was too dark, looked over smoked to me. Smoke ring doesn't have anything to do with smoke, I thought Amazing Ribs destroyed that idea long ago.

Last month, I cooked spare ribs on the MB560, the WSM, and my offset stick burner. Everything the same, cept the smoker. There was a large diff between the stick burner and the WSM, the charcoal/chunk flavor was different. But the MB560 ribs were closer to stick burner than WSM. I don't really understand that since the MB is also charcoal/chunk.

On another note, I see no value in the front shelf on that smoker. Ya got a shelf on the side. And ya can't set something on the front shelf and then open the cook chamber door. I have a cart that I can wheel around that I use for all my grills and smokers, it works just as well. And the front shelf makes it difficult to work inside the smoker, gotta lean over or reach into the smoker. I had one on my Old Country Brazos and it was in the way more than a help.

I also don't think it needs that cover on the exhaust. I want it wide open, get as much air flow through the cook chamber that I can get. The only time I can see that being useful, is if ya needed to snuff out a grease fire. I avoid grease fires by keeping the smoker cleaned out and I don't use it for a grill, where the temps are higher. But Tom likes to work in his shop and mod the " land of grills " .
 
Lynn Dollar said:
Wow, so much there I don't know where to start ..................

That's how I load the chute on MB560, except I take the size split he uses, and split it again, and then stack one on top of the other. I also put chunks in the ash pan. I get thin blue smoke.

It was hard to tell the color of the smoke from his video. He did not get a good angle of the exhaust and did not keep the camera on the exhaust long enough. But I've been amazed at how this GF produces clean smoke. That split is going to smolder in the chute. A clean fire comes from wood in open flame. But somehow the smoke that exits my MB560 is thin blue.

When splits are loaded in that manner, the fire travels up the split faster than it travels through the charcoal. I was not surprised that he could not find any part of the split.

I thought the appearance of his chuck roast was too dark, looked over smoked to me. Smoke ring doesn't have anything to do with smoke, I thought Amazing Ribs destroyed that idea long ago.

Last month, I cooked spare ribs on the MB560, the WSM, and my offset stick burner. Everything the same, cept the smoker. There was a large diff between the stick burner and the WSM, the charcoal/chunk flavor was different. But the MB560 ribs were closer to stick burner than WSM. I don't really understand that since the MB is also charcoal/chunk.

On another note, I see no value in the front shelf on that smoker. Ya got a shelf on the side. And ya can't set something on the front shelf and then open the cook chamber door. I have a cart that I can wheel around that I use for all my grills and smokers, it works just as well. And the front shelf makes it difficult to work inside the smoker, gotta lean over or reach into the smoker. I had one on my Old Country Brazos and it was in the way more than a help.

I also don't think it needs that cover on the exhaust. I want it wide open, get as much air flow through the cook chamber that I can get. The only time I can see that being useful, is if ya needed to snuff out a grease fire. I avoid grease fires by keeping the smoker cleaned out and I don't use it for a grill, where the temps are higher. But Tom likes to work in his shop and mod the " land of grills " .
Click to expand...
You should ad the MB to your signature. How do you like it compared to your other smokers? I would love to find a deal on one some day to try one out.
 
I keep thinking I'm gonna sell it because it does not get much use, but every time I cook on it, I like it even more. Problem is finding the right cook for it. Brisket , pork butt, and yardbird, I'm gonna put that on the Franklin offset. I don't use the MB as a grill, I don't like it all for that purpose. A Kettle is far better, IMO. The MB is a smoker. So that does not leave much for the MB.

I've got a rib cook planned, a recipe comparison. Gonna do three racks of baby backs on the MB, each one with a different recipe. Its good for that kind of thing. Or if I want to do one rack of ribs and don't want to fire up the offset. My comparison smokes have told me that there's not a lot of diff between the Franklin and the MB when it comes to ribs. Soooo, depends, do I wanna feed splits to the Franklin or just set the temp on the MB and come back later ?

I double smoked a spiral cut ham in the MB, worked really well for that kind of cook. If I was gonna smoke a pot of beans, I'd do it on the MB. Its got an oven quality like a pellet smoker. Just set the temp.

So it really just depends upon the cook and what kind of mood I'm in.

I've had my 18 WSM since 2002, but as long as I have this MB, I don't see the WSM getting any use.

My results have been so good with this gravity feed, that I've been looking at the better built, higher priced GF's, like the Old Country , or even the Southern Q Limo or the Assassin. If I did not have an offset stick burner, I'd probably put $3,000 into a quality GF. IDK how it produces the thin blue smoke, but it just does it.

Weber has really missed the boat by not developing a gravity feed.
 
Lynn, I built a monster gravity fed smoker a few years ago. Weighs something like 1,200 lbs, fully insulated with a minimum of 2" of rock wool insulation all the way around, holds around 20 lbs of charcoal in the fuel column and with a HeaterMeter controller, holds pit temps to +/- 1 degree F generally. Oh, and 5 cooking racks, each 25" x 28". I really love this thing. I enjoyed building it, I've thoroughly enjoyed cooking in it, and it's already travelled something like 2,200 miles on a trailer, and probably another 1,200 miles this summer. Would I do it again? IN A HEARTBEAT.

I keep looking at the Chargriller, Masterbuilts, and other manufacturers of the economy gravity feds, and I know there's a market for them.I'm sort of surprised that the pellet grills have taken over so much, when I think I get better food out of a gravity fed.

Getting back to the original post..... one thing you do have to remember is that you really cannot afford to have bridging in the fuel column in a gravity fed. This is why the fuel columns are built with a slight reverse taper, wider at the bottom than at the top and with no edges to catch anything on the way down. I do use fist sized wood chunks in the fuel column as well as just lobbing them into the firebox. Otherwise, anything should be fair game.
 
Lynn Dollar said:
My results have been so good with this gravity feed, that I've been looking at the better built, higher priced GF's, like the Old Country , or even the Southern Q Limo or the Assassin. If I did not have an offset stick burner, I'd probably put $3,000 into a quality GF. IDK how it produces the thin blue smoke, but it just does it.

Weber has really missed the boat by not developing a gravity feed.
Click to expand...
Did you see this Deep South GC28 gravity fed https://tvwbb.com/threads/deep-south-gc28-gravity-fed.90448/
1647402014080.png
 
I did not look closely. That's a lot of smoker. Even the small quality GF's provide far more capacity than I would ever use. They're really intended for comp cooks or caterers. Put an ATC on them and its set and forget.

I've yet to find the perfect patio model, a quality build with a realistic capacity, and a reasonable price tag.
 
Saw the MB for the first time yesterday at Farm and Fleet. Still don't get how they actually work and how the whole darn mess of fuel just doesn't burn right up
 
LMichaels said:
Saw the MB for the first time yesterday at Farm and Fleet. Still don't get how they actually work and how the whole darn mess of fuel just doesn't burn right up
Click to expand...
The secret is that the fuel column has to be completely air tight, there's no air circulation in it above the firebox. Air comes in through the inlet, through the firebox and out to the cook chamber.

@Lynn Dollar the GF I built has 2 more shelves than that Deep South...... and doesn't seem to make much difference if I'm just smoking a pork loin or 3 full racks of food, charcoal consumption runs around 1.5 lbs/hr. If you have a place to keep it.......and that's really a good price on it.
 
LMichaels said:
There is an open grate at the bottom. How is that air tight? SMDH
Click to expand...

The fire has to have oxygen.

Think of a charcoal chimney with a lid on it , and no air holes in the side. The fire really does not travel up the chimney, The charcoal drops down the chute into the fire.
 
LMichaels said:
There is an open grate at the bottom. How is that air tight? SMDH
Click to expand...
Larry, the firebox itself has an air inlet below the grate, and a direct outlet into the cook chamber. The fuel column is directly above the firebox. The firebox itself cannot be airtight, as you've noted, but the fuel column above it has to be air tight, including the loading door above it. There's no air circulation or movement in the fuel column (okay, maybe a little smoke rising as the fuel settles,) so there's no combustion that takes place.
 
So if the fan should quit than all bets are off? IDK. I saw the one at F&F and it certainly was cheap enough. And how to you "stop" it? I get the pellet grills. Turn off the auger and fuel supply and fire goes away. But, to me charcoal is kinda like Chernobyl
 
There's an air intake port and then a port opening to the cook chamber. It has two " blades " that can seal the ports. They are removed during the cook. Put them in after the cook and almost all air to the charcoal chute is cut off.

I have them pulled out a little ways, the top blade is the cook chamber port, bottom blade is air intake.

20220316_114933.jpg
 
Major diff between the MB and the Chargriller, is the MB fan is located under the cook chamber. While the Chargriller fan is located on the outside of the charcoal chute.
 
Another reason I don't like the MB as a grill, when higher grilling temps are dialed up, the fan speed increases the air flow into the firebox, and its increased enough to blow ash into the cook chamber. Get up to 600* and the fan is really humming.
 
Larry -- I think you are missing the fact that the charcoal stack is moving slowly as it burns.

Think of a vertical Minion or snake method. The fire spreads slowly from the burned to unburned.

If the lid was open and the bottom more closed, then the fire would climb vertically up the chute. But with the top closed and the bottom open, the fire stays at the bottom of the column.

The air comes across the bottom of the stack. And as the charcoal pieces burn, the pieces get smaller and fall through the grate into the ash bin. Gravity pushes the fresher coals down to the bottom of the column. Rinse and repeat.

It is a fairly clever system. The fan and gravity feed very simply duplicate the action of the augur in a pellet grill.

I do think Weber missed an opportunity by not making the Smokefire a charcoal gravity feed.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top