Grills

[Darkfish89]

Tex_77 The biggest thing ive done so far is to large chuck roast. turned out so good. cant wait to do a pork butt. let me know how yours turns out.

[Tex_77]

Darkfish89 Well I smoked a pork butt today, and it turned out great! The temperature control of the PK360 far exceeded my expectations. I never had to add any fuel and it held an avg temp of 250, with very little intervention by me.

[Jonathon]

Darkfish89 Excellent pics man! What seasoning, injection or wizardry did you use?

[Tex_77]

Jonathon I made that not Darkfish. I injected with Butcher BBQ Pork Injection and Rubbed with Bad Bryon’s Butt Rub.

[Jonathon]

Tex_77 Sorry about that, I saw your Darkfish89 and misunderstood!

[Tex_77]

Jonathon Joe Hell PapaSop Parksider Looks like since the Weber Smokefire’s have started to ship in the last week or so many people are having serious issues with them, from grease fires, to pellets not feeding correctly or jamming the auger. Just Google or go on YouTube and search for Weber Smokefire issues, and there is a lot to read and watch about the issues. Weber may have got the cart before the horse on this one. If there is anyone on this forum who actually has this grill, please share your thoughts and a review of it!

[Parksider]

Tex_77 You know I’m a Weber fanboy, but jeez…I haven’t heard many good things beyond the market hype event they did with Kevin Kolman and Harry Su. I’m surprised they got it this wrong and are this late to the game…BUT…that doesn’t mean I wasn’t drooling on one at Lowes yesterday!!!

[Jonathon]

Tex_77 Yikes, that’s not a great start. The one I watched had grease fire, start-up problems, shutdown problems, & ash everywhere BUT he did say that his might have had some shipping damage. Seems like the biggest issue is going to be the grease fire and the pellets not falling into the chute effectively. I’d imagine they need to create some sort of traditional grease tray to funnel the grease more effectively.

[Tex_77]

Jonathon I did see a video from the testers at BBQ Guys say they recommend putting drip pans on the flame tamed to catch grease on long slow cooks. As with any new products there are always kings to work out. I wonder also if Weber’s pellets aren’t maybe leaving more as than other brands. I know I’ve seen difference in that when using different pellets.

[Jonathon]

Tex_77 Yeah, ash can be about pellets sometimes. I watched a review that was pretty clear that the instructions say you dont need a grease tray at all which just seems unrealistic. All of the reviews I skimmed through bent over backward trying to say that they weren’t intentionally being overly negative, seems like this is something to wait until they come out with a second version of.

[glen]

Many pellets use fillers that can lead to more ash

[Tex_77]

Here’s a good review of Masterbuilt’s Gravity feed grill/smoker by Amazing Ribs, it earned there Platinum medal. https://amazingribs.com/ratings-reviews/combination-grills-smokers/masterbuilt-gravity-series-560

[Joe Hell]

Tex_77 as much as I love Masterbuilt products when they work I’ve had too many issues over the years to invest in them again. More importantly the customer service leaves much to be desired. It shouldn’t take over a year to solve an issue.

[Jonathon]

Tex_77 It looks like they knocked it out of the park with that one but I’m sort of with Joe, if the reviews continue to be amazing maybe I will change my mind but too many horror stories about subpar support and products breaking down. However…ALL of that for $500 is hard to ignore…maybe if I can sell my GMG for some money it would be worth the upgrade? I’ve never liked charcoal but that is all based on the cleanup and it looks like they have that handled?

[Tex_77]

Jonathon With no experience with Masterbuilt products, I guess I can’t form an opinion on there level of customer service. I will say my experience with customer service really depends on the person you are put in contact with. I’m currently in the midst of dealing with a customer service issue with a bank that is now getting close to have drug on for a week, but that’s a story for another day.

I would say at a $500 price point, it is probably a great deal, there seem to be some very professional users who are raving over it, mainly Kosmos and Meathead, an those are both pretty high endorsements. I’d just sell your pellet grill, they are a dime a dozen on Facebook market place if you need to buy another one. Now if you were to hit the lottery or something I would look at a Fast Eddies Cooker, Memphis, Yoder, or may a Treager Timber Line.

[Jonathon]

Tex_77 Yea, that kosmos review was a really good one that initially interested me in it. Did anyone here who has a @Weber have the pellet grill?

[Parksider]

I’m soooooooo close to getting one, but then I go on youtube and see them catch fire and I back out…

[Tex_77]

Parksider They say a drip pan stops the grease fires. Maybe hold off until they come out with an update version? Or maybe you should looked into the Masterbuilt Gravity Feed charcoal grills. I’m still seeing a lot of high praise for them.

[johnsbrewhouse]

I’m sticking with my old Texas Elite Traeger, it’s reliable, you can buy most all the parts for it, including upgraded electronics. Nothing fancy about it.

[Joe Hell]

Tex_77 I’ve seen a ton of complaints about how thin the metal is on the new gravity feed. Longevity isn’t something Masterbuilt seems to take into consideration. I’m on 6th Masterbuilt smoker so…