That's all folks, good bye to brisket cooking.

[Chasdev]

My vintage 2019 Masterbuilt 560 has quit and while I could fix it, I'm going to sell or recycle it.
It's just too hot to even go outside and work on it much less do a 14/16 hour cook.
Plus the cost of a good quality brisket and pro/comp charcoal is getting to be a bit much.
I can take $100 and go buy Valintina's in South Austin and get a better meat than what I can cook anyway.
So from now on, it's grilling over charcoal for me!
Spatchcock birds, steaks, burgers and pork chops will be the name of the game, plus store bought cooked brisket.
I'm going to sell the 560 cover and roterssie (fits 560 and 1050) when I get around to it FWIW.

 

[mike243]

Hate to hear it, I almost pulled the trigger on 1 last year for $250 new, I had made up my mind I wasn't going to get 1 due to cost of charcoal and the reports of problems, pellets lack some smoke but I work around it and they are still a lot cheaper than charcoal.

 

[DonP]

C Chasdev What type of cooker are grilling on?

 

[Rafter H BBQ]

My vintage 2019 Masterbuilt 560 has quit and while I could fix it, I'm going to sell or recycle it.
It's just too hot to even go outside and work on it much less do a 14/16 hour cook.
Plus the cost of a good quality brisket and pro/comp charcoal is getting to be a bit much.
I can take $100 and go buy Valintina's in South Austin and get a better meat than what I can cook anyway.
So from now on, it's grilling over charcoal for me!
Spatchcock birds, steaks, burgers and pork chops will be the name of the game, plus store bought cooked brisket.
I'm going to sell the 560 cover and roterssie (fits 560 and 1050) when I get around to it FWIW.

Ok, here’s the thing… I get that MB didn’t work for you… it may work for some but not you!

My take on the MB is purely from reviews… some are very good experiences and some are very bad experiences and always the in betweeners… Just basing off reviews!

So, you stated charcoal is still your preferred method… so get a Weber Smokey Mountain smoker… they come in 18” or 22 “. Dual level.
Very fuel (charcoal) friendly and pretty easy to get dial in temps!
I’d recommend the 22”! I have the 18” just cause of a good deal I got on it! But them 4” sometimes comes in handy! That’s what I’d recommend for a smoker!

The nice thing bout the WSM is it’s versatile… you can smoke with it one cook and then disassemble it if you want and direct or indirect cook!

Just an ol rednecks perspective… happy to help if any other questions.

 

[Fueling Around]

I've avoided the MB gravity for the same reason I have a MB pellet pooper. Just not convinced of the quality.
I too love the flavor of charcoal. Recently did a batch of pork burgers on the Blackstone and they just lack that flavor.
I have no experience with a Weber Smoky Mountain (WSM), but have smoked and grilled on my 22" and 16" kettles.
One of these days I'll get a WSM.

 

[Chasdev]

C Chasdev What type of cooker are grilling on?

I have three Webers, small, medium and large..
Plus a pellet spitter.
Also just sold a Kamado.

 

[Chasdev]

Ok, here’s the thing… I get that MB didn’t work for you… it may work for some but not you!

My take on the MB is purely from reviews… some are very good experiences and some are very bad experiences and always the in betweeners… Just basing off reviews!

So, you stated charcoal is still your preferred method… so get a Weber Smokey Mountain smoker… they come in 18” or 22 “. Dual level.
Very fuel (charcoal) friendly and pretty easy to get dial in temps!
I’d recommend the 22”! I have the 18” just cause of a good deal I got on it! But them 4” sometimes comes in handy! That’s what I’d recommend for a smoker!

The nice thing bout the WSM is it’s versatile… you can smoke with it one cook and then disassemble it if you want and direct or indirect cook!

Just an ol rednecks perspective… happy to help if any other questions.

I had nothing but good experiences with the Masterbuilt, the customer support was fantastic and all the problems I had were easy fixes.
It's the best cooker I ever owned, including stick burners.
MANY briskets met their fate on mine and all of them were quite satisfied with their treatment.
(Having said that, I've never owned a high dollar stick burner, just the $500 level units).

 

[bbqjefff]

Personally I love the Masterbuilt. I have an electric one and have had it for years. It's great.

 

[TripleLindy]

Man, don’t give up brisket just because you’re going to charcoal! One of my best briskets ever was cooked on a 22” kettle with SnS. A kettle is one of the most versatile grills you can find and is really inexpensive. While I still have my kettle, I’ve graduated to a Kamado Joe, which maintains steady temps just like a pellet grill, but with no worries about electronics or hoppers or motors or any other stuff that can break. And it also uses charcoal!

I also tired of 15+ hour cooks long ago. Gave away my offset last year. Loved it, but don’t miss babysitting a fire or chasing temps up and down.

 

[Chasdev]

I tried a large Kamado but did not like the taste profile on briskets.
My favorite is offset stickburner "pale blue smoke" but I never could figure out how to get post oak flavor out of it OR my pellet spitter, no matter how many "smoke adders" I used.
So off the Kamado went to an eager buyer a few months ago.
Gravity feed smokers come as close as can be to offset flavor.
If I had the frogpelts, I'd get a high quality gravity rig.

 

[jcam222]

Hate to hear it, I almost pulled the trigger on 1 last year for $250 new, I had made up my mind I wasn't going to get 1 due to cost of charcoal and the reports of problems, pellets lack some smoke but I work around it and they are still a lot cheaper than charcoal.

I bought and sold about 14 of these a couple years ago. Of those one person had a control board failure that MB promptly replaced. I gave one to my buddy who helped me pick them up and resell them. While I LOVE my Lang it's impossible to tell the difference in results between it and his MB gravity. Flavor , smoke ring etc are PHENOMENAL. I honestly wish I'd have kept one for times when I need to just get going fast. Here is a pic of the point from a brisket he did a couple days ago.

 

[gmc2003]

I'm a Weberholic. My current lineup is a 22" WSM, 22" Kettle, and a 26" Kettle. The 22 gets used for high heat cooks, and the 26" is used for smoking. I haven't used my WSM in a few years since it's just the wife and I. I keep it around for larger gatherings.

Brisket on the 26" It could have easily been done on the 22".

Chris

 

[Smokin Okie]

I tried a large Kamado but did not like the taste profile on briskets.
My favorite is offset stickburner "pale blue smoke" but I never could figure out how to get post oak flavor out of it OR my pellet spitter, no matter how many "smoke adders" I used.
So off the Kamado went to an eager buyer a few months ago.
Gravity feed smokers come as close as can be to offset flavor.
If I had the frogpelts, I'd get a high quality gravity rig.

Have you thought about a Fireboard controller for your 560 ?

 

[Chasdev]

I must be thick headed but I can't make heads or tails out of their website.
I'll go back and dig deeper later.

 

[Retired Spook]

No sane person endeavors to cook a brisket during the 11-month nuclear chain-reaction they call summer here in the ninth circle of hell.

Much much wiser to just go purchase some and let the nuts in the brisket joints deal with the most detestable climate on planet Earth...

 

[Chasdev]

What he said..
I just read that Valentina's has opened a new brick and mortar joint in Buda, a few miles south of my house!
I can almost taste the dino bone ribs..

 

[bill1]

So Chasdev, how much of this is based on the current price of charcoal? I agree it's outrageous. I kept thinking it was seasonal and I'd stock up but it's 7/4 weekend and it's still at $1-per-pound.

I agree that's got me down too. I'm using more pellets and less charcoal because of it, and I don't have a gravity feed that can really eat up the coals. But I'd recommend not doing anything rash. Park your 560 and see what charcoal costs in a year.

Here's hoping you get some temp relief out your way. The days are getting shorter so some quick late-evening grilling should be in your near future.

 

[Chasdev]

It does consume a fair amount of charcoal but the Costco sale price is unbelievable, under $10 for a jumbo tall bag of the comp/pro variety in a two pack.
The price of beef is a bigger culprit plus the wife is not a fan of brisket so I still have a freezer full of what I smoked last year.
It's just getting old is all.

 

[bill1]

....It's just getting old is all.

Totally understand.

 

[ConrodM]

WSM all the way and a kettle. That will do what ever you want at this point. JMHO.
Got both but since owning my stick burner the WSM hasn’t seen a spark in 2 years Kettle only used for occasional steak or cedar plank salmon