Outdoor Cooking Equipment > Charcoal Smokers

First Cook on the Masterbuilt 560

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GusRobin:
Yesterday I did my first cook on the Masterbuilt 560.
Here it is firing up



A while back HighonSmoke showed some pork short ribs he did. Looked good so I ordered some. Here they are rubbed down and in the smoker.



Basically did a 3-2-1 variant. Here they are sauced at the end.



Plated



Overall they were very good. I think I should have left them in a little longer but I was hungry.

Thoughts on the 560:
I like the convenience of self feeding charcoal. My 6 hr cook used about 60% of the bin of coal. So using simple math, a bin should last about 9-10 hrs. This is not exact as I didn't weigh what I put in and it was mix of lump, briquettes, and wood chunks.

The controller ran at 235* but the extra temp probe I put in the middle said about 189*. Not sure which was off. But that is no big deal in that once you are aware you can compensate. At one point the controller shut down for no apparent reason and I had to restart. But it was ok after that. About 2/3 thru I lost WiFi and couldn't reconnect. Others have had issues with the wifi some have not. The overall concensus is that it is a poor unit.

I like the idea of being able to shut it down and save the unused charcoal. That function seems to work well.

Mods I made/will make:

While as with any smoker you will find numerous mods on youtube etc.,some needed, some just because they can. Here are the ones that I did/will do:
1) The stainless firebox insert. There is a debate if needed, but I want this to last a long while so I bought one. ($115).
2)While wifi is not that important, I decided to buy the new fireboard controller with the built in fan drive ($245). Many are ok with the current controller so I am not sure if this falls in the "needed" or "nice to have" category. Either case I can ue it on other smokers if desired.
3) In the ash bin at the bottom of the charcoal bin there were gaps on the sides. This needs to be airtight in order to shut down and save the unused coal when done. Just needed to run a line of high temp silicone along the seam.
In summary, I am happy with this and will be using a lot. I like the charcoal/wood flavor that you can't get with a pellet grill.

TMB:
Looks good Gus!

smokeasaurus:
I think the ss firebox insert was a good call  :)

Ribs sure look good by the way

HighOnSmoke:
Great looking cook Gus! I did mine just like I would do beef ribs. Probe tender at 200 plus.

Lines:
Looks awesome Gus, Thanks for the review and pointers.

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