That GF is interesting. I've often wondered how difficult it would be to build a GF smoker with 1/4 " . The electrical components aren't rocket science. Many people have traded out the MB controller with other brands. The fan is nothing but a computer fan.
They don't say anything about grease management. That's a problem on MB GF's, but I really think its only a problem when people try to run it at high temps to grill. To get high temps the fan speed increases and it can blow embers into the cook chamber. I could easily live without the grilling function.
There's also no pics of what kind of manifold they use to distribute heat.
I'm not much help on this one Steve, I've neither seen nor heard of it. I've noticed that more smoker producers are getting into the gravity feed market for the same reasons noted in the link you provided; more perceived wood flavor compared to most pellet poopers. Competition for targeting those, mostly, casual back yard chefs who want the smoke flavored experience without the increased attentiveness required by the equipment most noted for smoke flavor.
I can't help but wonder if the gravity feed market has been tainted in the short term by the reported poor quality of the early Masterbuilt attempts that suffered a comparatively high number of complaints about weak materials, rapid rusting issues, and electronic component failures in a short time frame. There are probably some happy owners out there who don't have those complaints, but bad news travels faster than good.
I've been wondering why more builders aren't entering the GF market. MB and CharGriller seem to be the only two that are reasonably priced. Which does not include those Georgia companies, like Assassin, Southern Q, Stumps, Myron Mixon, et al.
I've always thought its the perfect smoker for Weber. And there's some others at the Virtual Weber Bullet forum who also think that. But Weber went pellets.
STEbbq they look to be pretty decent pits, overall. I looked through a little bit, good quality stuff.
I've been kicking around the idea of building a gravity feed or two. My concern is just not being able to sell them once I do... it's kind of a niche that a lot of people aren't aware of, but they can be great cookers and very versatile.
If building one, I think 1/4 steel would be fine, except at the firebox and a short ways up the charcoal chute. There's some pretty high temps in those areas, I would look for 3/8 to 1/2 steel in that area.
And also, on the Old Country GF's, the side of the cook chamber near the charcoal chute runs hotter. Owners have to rotate meats. I just ran a biscuit test on my Assassin and it does not have that problem, although for some reason the back of the cooker runs hotter.
I think the tricky part to building a GF, is the ports where air from the fan enters at the coal bed. And the port between the coal bed and the cook chamber.
Both MB and the CharGriller units have some kind of flap, that closes when the fan is not running. I think the initial CharGriller had a problem with it melting ?? My memory is not good these days.
And then there must be some way to shut down air to the coal bed, or it will just continue to run.
There is no way to close the port between coal bed and cook chamber on my Assassin 17. Air input is controlled with a ball valve. It takes a long time to cool down. The saving grace is its very well insulated and air tight.
At a $1500 price point, it looks to me like MB has solved a lot of problems with their XT . I posted this vid in another thread, but it provides a look at some details on the XT that I like, especially the heavy gasket around the cook chamber door. My only draw back to the XT, is I don't need the grill function. I just want a smoker.
This fella may have an earlier vid detailing the XT, IDK, I'm not a follower .
Last edited by Lynn Dollar; May 26, 2025, 04:58 AM.
I owned an OG MB560 for several years. It made great food, and the newer versions are much better. I’d recommend it for folks that understand its limits but I’d prefer to upgrade to a better version some day.
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