Sneak Peek: UPDATED Review - Masterbuilt Gravity Series 560 Grill + Smoker!

[Uncle Bob]

A couple of oft repeated situations are reinforced here. One is the disappointments that emerge when a product prioritizes being built down to a price instead of up to a standard. The second is how this adjustment to the rating and the thorough explanation of the whys underscores the integrity of the product reviews on this site. Particularly noteworthy considering the undue poop storm over the Smokefire dance earlier.

[DavidNorcross]

This review process has been great to watch and read. Thank you

[Bkhuna]

NEVER EVER buy the first run of a model. Stick with companies that have a proven track record. There are exception of course but in general, you get what you pay for.

I would never again consider a Masterbuilt product.

[Huskee]

I've said many times in conversations with my colleagues that they'd have been better off, in my personal opinion, making this a $600 or $700 cooker and used better parts. I am with you there. But, still, if you can change a fuse then you can bypass the switches if they go bad ("not that I officially endorse bypassing safety switches").

[Huskee]

For sure. (and thanks!)

[Huskee]

Agreed

[rickgregory]

thanks for the update. I can't see spending the money on something, though, that breaks like this, regardless of price point. They obviously designed this to the $499 price point vs just saying "OK, we'll use better wire and switches etc" and increasing it to $599 or even $749.

I and I think others would seriously consider it at that price. Decent pellet grills start there, after all

[STEbbq]

Huskee Well done. Appreciate the update! What are you going to do with yours? Keep it I hope?

[Polarbear777]

Silver is about right. They still haven’t shipped replacement switches to me but I don’t really need them. If you have some expertise it’s not that hard to keep it running and when running is a joy to cook with. They could have at least used better switches and wire greater than 20 gauge.

I’ve run it through dozens of long and short cooks now and the firebox brick seems to be holding up ok, even though it looks awful in there.

[Huskee]

Our updated review of this cooker is finally live.

Max and I worked hard to address the quality issues many of our readers experienced, that I eventually faced as well. We contacted Masterbuilt many times, had some disappointments, some beneficial interactions, and he and I spoke at length many times before deliberating on how to adjust the review.

The main review, here, has been updated as of today 7/20/2020. We dropped our Platinum rating to Silver.

Faults notwithstanding, we still feel this is a groundbreaking cooker. The quality issues, while alarming and shouldn't be part of the experience only a few months in (much quicker for others), aren't impossible to get around. We hope Masterbuilt chooses to use some higher quality components for future versions. But, the fact remains it's a $500 cooker, not a $2100 cooker, so we feel we're being as fair and transparent as possible in our re-deliberation and re-reviewing.

[RichardCT]

And I did buy one. I had already assembled the 560 and was starting the first burn-in, then I saw the platinum award had been removed due to a number of issues.
I have smoked a turkey, a Boston butt, and a tri-tip; seared up some rib-eyes; cooked chicken thighs a couple of times and pork chops. So far I have had no issues with the MasterBuilt and every cook was easy to set-up with great results. This is my 5th cooker in my colelction and I have not used anything else since. So far, so good!

[STEbbq]

Polarbear777 Thank you for all of the education and work you have shared on this smoker. Truly Appreciated!

[Andrrr]

Part of me thinks this unit is the sacrificial lamb. I think there were a few attempts at gravity fed charcoal grills but this one seems like the first one that kinda broke some ground so to speak. Not too often the first one knocks it out of the park. There will be lots to learn for MB and others in terms of price points, quality and such and I have no doubts that future iterations will be pretty awesome. Looking forward to hearing about your experiences going forward.

[Polarbear777]

On most of my rigs if the control system fails, I can pull out the fan and set the vents and keep cooking.

Not so easy with pellets or this cooker, but the control and ability to remotely monitor and set temperatures is hard to let go once you get accustomed to it, especially for long cooks.

[Polarbear777]

This thing does cook awesome. If they had just used thicker wire (seems like about 20 gauge or smaller) and more robust electric components (Safety switches that live near the firebox) it would definitely be in the recommended category.