# Masterbuilt 560 help



## isonmatt (Jul 28, 2020)

Recently bought a used masterbuilt 560 for $100. Needed some work but didn’t want to turn it down because it was so cheap. 
Wanted to see if anyone had any pointers on placements of wood. Is it best to put some chunks mixed in with the charcoal in the stack, place wood in the ash tray or do a mix of both. Curious if anyone had mastered the smoke with the 560.

thanks!


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## pc farmer (Jul 28, 2020)

Type 560 in the search and it will bring up alot of info.


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## Chasdev (Jul 29, 2020)

I want to simulate an off-set stick burner, smoke profile wise, so first I place two large chunks of oak (around 3 inch square) into the charcoal chamber, then dump about 6 inches of coals and repeat until the chamber is full, so around 6/8 chunks of oak mixed with charcoal.
(I've used Kingsford comp briquettes, Fogo  and KamadoJoe lump and while the lump is better, the Kingsford will do the job)
Then I place two of the same size chunks in the ash catch bin and as soon as the temp comes up in the cook chamber I bang and rattle the removable grate to encourage burning coals to fall on the waiting wood chunks to get them going early and then replace them every hour.
Don't go crazy on wood in the ash catch bin, the temps will go crazy (don't ask how I know this).


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## worldbfreebase (Jul 30, 2020)

Chasdev said:


> I want to simulate an off-set stick burner, smoke profile wise, so first I place two large chunks of oak (around 3 inch square) into the charcoal chamber, then dump about 6 inches of coals and repeat until the chamber is full, so around 6/8 chunks of oak mixed with charcoal.
> (I've used Kingsford comp briquettes, Fogo  and KamadoJoe lump and while the lump is better, the Kingsford will do the job)
> Then I place two of the same size chunks in the ash catch bin and as soon as the temp comes up in the cook chamber I bang and rattle the removable grate to encourage burning coals to fall on the waiting wood chunks to get them going early and then replace them every hour.
> Don't go crazy on wood in the ash catch bin, the temps will go crazy (don't ask how I know this).



what exactly did you figure out here? I have had more success getting a consistent thin smoke with wood just in the ash can. The thickness seems to vary when it is in the hopper.


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## Chasdev (Aug 1, 2020)

I like a lot of smoke flavor in my brisket so  what I found out is that if I add lots of wood to the upper area and to the lower area, I get a lot of smoke.


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## whistlepig (Aug 1, 2020)

The wood chunks burn quickly in my stack but I still get the smoke flavor I want if I have a couple of large chunks every 4"/6" in the stack, I can tell when the smoker is in between chunks because the smoke will die down. When the wood chunks ignite the fan causes the chunks to put out a lot of smoke.  I throw the small peices fron the wood chunk bag in the ash pan. Doing both gives me good flavor.


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## worldbfreebase (Aug 11, 2020)

i have found that the smoke coming from chunks in the hopper is thick and white until the chunk gets to the end of its burn and then it thins to a good blue. It seems the wood does not get enough O2 to burn hot enough for good combustion.  I have been fairly successful at keeping a thin blue smoke only using the ash can, but then you have to babysit it more. I have this idea in my head of trying to mod the thing for gravity fed/timed auto wood release directly into the ash can.

Are you using lump and/or did you do a grate mod? I just read an article on another site and it got me thinking that my issue may have more to do with the fuel source and the gravity fed coals not cooking off enough.


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## isonmatt (Aug 11, 2020)

worldbfreebase said:


> i have found that the smoke coming from chunks in the hopper is thick and white until the chunk gets to the end of its burn and then it thins to a good blue. It seems the wood does not get enough O2 to burn hot enough for good combustion.  I have been fairly successful at keeping a thin blue smoke only using the ash can, but then you have to babysit it more. I have this idea in my head of trying to mod the thing for gravity fed/timed auto wood release directly into the ash can.
> 
> Are you using lump and/or did you do a grate mod? I just read an article on another site and it got me thinking that my issue may have more to do with the fuel source and the gravity fed coals not cooking off enough.


I did my first smoke the other day and was pretty successful getting a nice thin blue smoke With 2-4 inch chunks In the hopper and ash pan.
 I didn’t do the mod for the grate yet only because I want the ash to fall into the pan as quickly as possible so I can throw chunks in.
I’ve been using lump charcoal for a cleaner hotter burn, also lights up faster. 
Is it possible that the wood chunks that you’re using are a little damp and that’s why they smoke white until the end of its life?


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## worldbfreebase (Aug 11, 2020)

anythings possible. I did buy it from lowes. However, chunks out of the same bag smoke thin and blue in the ash can.

It just seems to me that there could be enough heat going through the stack of charcoal that the combustion process starts on wood farther up in the stack but doesn't reach the sweet spot temp.

gonna have to play with it. Maybe it's the charcoal I'm using. Seems to be worse with KBB than Ridge. Might try some lump or try to find some B&B


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