The Masterbuilt Gravity Series 560 cooks with common charcoal however runs like a pellet grill.
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As barbecue grills go, the $500 Masterbuilt Gravity Series 560 is an outlier. It cooks with the large taste of charcoal, but provides the set-and-forget digital temperature management of a pellet smoker. To get that mixture you’d usually should improve an extraordinary charcoal grill or kamado with an aftermarket product. Examples are the Smartfire and well-liked DigiQ devices.
LikeBurns lump or briquette charcoalAutomatic temperature controlMeat probe included (4 supported)Smokes and sears meals with loads of taste
Don’t LikeCould be extra efficientNot waterproof
Another upside to the Gravity Series is that it may possibly burn both customary briquettes or lump charcoal. Both forms of gas are a lot simpler to search out at your native grocery store than proprietary wooden pellets. This grill is flexible too, letting you smoke low and gradual or sear at excessive warmth.That mentioned, the Gravity Series 560 is not flawless. It’s not as gas environment friendly as Traeger pellet people who smoke I’ve used. It additionally tends to eat extra briquettes than my trusty Weber Classic kettle. You can also’t use the 560 within the rain because it is not climate resistant. Still, this charcoal cooker is comparatively reasonably priced, succesful and handy. That makes the Gravity Series 560 good if you need basic charcoal barbecue taste with much less stress and hands-on time tending your fireplace.
The Masterbuilt Gravity Series 560 undoubtedly has the look of a pellet smoker.
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Looks like a smokerOn the skin, the Gravity Series 560 seems lots like many yard pellet people who smoke. Its black metallic physique is taller than it’s lengthy. The cart-style grill additionally stands on 4 legs outfitted with casters on the entrance and wheels on the again. A big rectangular charcoal hopper sits to the appropriate of the cooking chamber. The shelf on the 560’s left facet homes the grills controls and temperature show, together with 4 ports for meat probes. Masterbuilt consists of one probe within the 560’s field. You should purchase extra probes straight by means of Masterbuilt ($20 every). Opening the grill’s lid reveals two cast-iron cooking grates plus a pair of porcelain-coated warming racks. Altogether, Masterbuilt says they supply a complete cooking house of 560 sq. inches. According to the corporate that is sufficient for 4 racks of ribs or eight chickens.
For comparability, the Traeger Timberline 850 is roughly the identical measurement. Even so, it offers an even bigger 850 sq. inches of cooking house. Traeger says that can accommodate eight racks of ribs or 4 chickens. Regardless of the accuracy of both firm’s chicken-to-rib ratio for estimating grill capability, the Traeger pellet grill permits you to grill extra meals directly.The Masterbuilt app permits you to management the grill, watch meat probe standing, and skim recipes.
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Grill with the appLike many higher-end grills at the moment, together with the Traeger Timberline 850, the Gravity Series 560 connects to Wi-Fi. You may management it by way of a cell app. This Masterbuilt app is not as superior as Traeger’s. Traeger’s software program permits you to ship precise temperature settings and prepare dinner occasions to its grill. The Timberline will then run the directions as an executable program. It’s good to have because it means much less fidgeting with grill controls.By distinction, the Masterbuilt app offers temperature management, meat probe monitoring and a library of textual content recipes. While the app’s record of recipes is not as intensive or as flashy as Traeger’s and its many colourful images, the directions are straightforward to comply with. What’s extra essential right here is having the ability to monitor the progress and standing of your meals remotely, which Masterbuilt’s app offers. A unique sort of smokerThe Gravity Series 560 would not function like a standard charcoal or kamado grill. It would not prepare dinner meals in the identical chamber as burning charcoal. Instead, an electrical fan and vent channel warmth and smoke from lit charcoal contained in the hopper into the cooking cavity.To begin the grill, you first mild coals from the underside finish of the hopper. A charcoal grate helps the burden of charcoal within the hopper above it. The grate additionally has a slot so as to add your most well-liked fireplace starter. Start the grill by inserting a hearth starter on the backside of the charcoal hopper and lighting it.
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Flames right here will ignite the underside layer of charcoal. As they burn, their ashes fall by means of the grate right into a detachable ash tray beneath. Additionally, heavier unlit charcoal on the prime of the hopper forces spent gas into the tray.The complete setup jogs my memory of an offset smoker, although one assisted by a fanned temperature-control system. It’s just like how pellet grills run too, save that they mechanically feed pellets from their hoppers right into a separate fireplace field inside their cooking chambers.Cooking with the Gravity SeriesMy expertise cooking with the Gravity Series 560 was a nice one. When I fireplace up my old-school Weber kettle, I often mild the charcoal in a chimney starter and allow them to burn for 15 minutes earlier than I put them within the Weber. When I’m planning to prepare dinner low and gradual for barbecue, I make use of the snake technique. This requires stacking briquettes in systematic layers in a semicircle across the kettle’s internal edge. It’s efficient, but in addition takes a while to get it going. These further steps aren’t crucial with the 560. The grill’s charcoal hopper serves as its personal chimney starter. With the hopper full (12 kilos of briquettes), a hearth starter ignited a adequate quantity of coals in about 5 minutes. Then I buttoned up the hopper, eliminated two vent consumption slides, and turned the grill on.Sensors on the lid and hopper doorways inform the fan to spin up when the whole lot is closed. Next I punched in my goal grill temperature, and it is off to the races. Providing I had a correct ignition, the Masterbuilt 560 rapidly ramped its inside warmth ranges to the place I needed them. For instance, it hit 225 levels Fahrenheit (107.2 C) in 6 to 7 minutes. From there it solely took a couple of minutes extra to leap to 350 levels (176.7 C). The similar is true to achieve the grill’s most temperature of 700 levels (371.1 C).Thermocouple readings matched the grill’s inside thermometer.
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To get a really feel for the Gravity Series 560’s chops, I cooked a number of racks of child again ribs. I set the grill at 225 levels and monitored temperatures with each thermocouple and the Meater wi-fi meat thermometer. Generally, they each matched the grill’s inside temperature sensor.Ribs smoked within the Masterbuilt Gravity Series got here out properly.
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While I noticed a number of quick spikes, issues typically stayed between 225 and 235 levels for the 5 hours, 36 minute prepare dinner time. I admit that my grumpy household compelled me to crank up the warmth in the previous couple of minutes to make dinnertime.Ah, child again ribs. A stunning sight.
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Next, I fired off two ribeye steaks. For the primary one, I used Masterbuilt’s reverse seared steak recipe provided by the app. First I flipped the reversible cast-iron cooking grates over to their searing place. Then with the grill’s wired probe, I cooked this steak (at 225 levels) till its inside temp hit 110 levels and set it apart. Then I dialed the grill as much as 700 levels. I then seared this steak and one other raw ribeye at excessive warmth till each had inside temperatures of 140 levels. As anticipated, each steaks had a pleasant quantity of sear however the second was inconsistently cooked. Steak I cooked within the Gravity Series was properly seared.
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The first slab of meat (reverse-seared technique) nonetheless, was sheer perfection. Beyond tender, it had a caramelized exterior but was rather more juicy.Roasted barbecue rooster on the Masterbuilt Gravity Series 560.
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Finally, I roasted a spatchcocked rooster at 350 levels. I gave it the barbecue therapy, a candy and smoky rub. I threw a bit of pecan smoke wooden into the grill’s ash tray, too, for further oomph. After 1 hour and 19 minutes, I used to be handled to 1 improbable chicken. Its pores and skin was crisp whereas its flesh was juicy, with a delightful smoke taste. I do have a number of issues although with the 560. The greatest one is that it isn’t climate resistant. Essentially you’ll be able to’t run it within the rain. For an extraordinary grill I would not thoughts, however for a smoker that always wants to finish lengthy cooks spanning a number of hours, it is a problem. Other electrical grills equivalent to Traeger pellet people who smoke are successfully sealed and insulated from the weather.The Gravity Series was additionally much less environment friendly than my trusty Weber kettle. While the formulation of briquettes has modified over time, one charcoal snake usually lasts me 7 to 8 hours. That’s roughly 80 briquettes, or a full chimney starter’s price, to prepare dinner child again ribs for between 5 and 6 hours. The similar process on the Gravity Series consumed about three quarters of an 8 pound bag, or about 112 briquettes. There are worse sins in barbecuing, actually, however should you’re an energetic griller particularly, you are going to need to be sure you have extra charcoal readily available than you usually would possibly.The verdictI really loved my expertise with the $500 Masterbuilt Gravity Series 560. It grills with excessive warmth, smokes low and gradual, and the whole lot in between. The 560 additionally conveniently controls its personal pit temperature like a pellet grill, but burns common lump or briquette charcoal. Almost the whole lot I cooked within the Gravity Series 560 got here out tasting fabulously good.This grill would not make sense for everybody. It’s many occasions the value of normal charcoal cookers that may ship meals that is simply as scrumptious with a bit of follow. Still, for many who search an automatic smoker that runs virtually like a Traeger, the Gravity Series is a compelling and extra reasonably priced different. Just attempt to not get it moist.