Masterbuilt
Masterbuilt Gravity Series XT
The Gravity XT is Masterbuilt's current gravity-fed flagship and a direct response to the #1 complaint about the original 560/800/1050 series: build quality. The XT gets dual-wall FuelSaver insulation, a porcelain-coated interior, beefier hardware, and a 3-year warranty (up from 1), while keeping the party trick that made the line famous - real charcoal flavor with pellet-grill automation, from a 225F smoke to a legitimate 700F cast-iron sear in minutes. Owners and reviewers consistently call it the best-cooking gravity smoker you can buy, with better fuel efficiency and steadier temps than the old 1050 and the Char-Griller Gravity 980. The honest caveats: at $1,799 it costs nearly triple what a Gravity 800 street-prices for, it's a 199 lb two-person assembly job, and the electronics-in-a-charcoal-grill concern hasn't vanished - fans, switches, and control boards remain the failure points owners report, though XT-generation complaints are notably rarer. The hopper's 12 lbs of lump or 18 lbs of briquettes genuinely runs an overnight brisket. If you want charcoal taste with an app and don't want a Big Green Egg's learning curve, this is the class leader.
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Specifications
Features
Pros
- ✓Real charcoal flavor with pellet-grill-style automation
- ✓700F sear capability with reversible cast iron grates
- ✓Massive 1,260 sq in capacity - 16 rib racks or 20 chickens
- ✓Dual-wall insulation makes it fuel-efficient and cold-weather capable
- ✓Four probe ports and solid WiFi app monitoring
- ✓24-hour hopper runtime covers overnight briskets
- ✓3-year warranty triples the old Gravity Series coverage
Cons
- ✗$1,799 is premium pricing for a brand with a budget reputation
- ✗Electronics (fan, lid switch, board) remain the long-term failure risk
- ✗199 lbs and a lengthy two-person assembly
- ✗Charcoal ash cleanup is still messier than any pellet grill
Owner Insightssummarized from owner discussions
The Gravity XT is the current version of the cooker that made gravity-fed charcoal mainstream, and it exists because owners of the 560, 800 and 1050 spent years complaining about build quality. The XT answers that with thicker steel, an insulated gasket and a reworked controller, and owners who have compared generations are clear that it is a large step up. What it buys you is the same trick as before: charcoal and wood in a hopper, a fan underneath, and a set-and-sleep overnight cook. Owners describe that specific capability - loading a brisket at 10pm and actually going to bed - as the reason they keep one, and several call the food better than anything a pellet grill produced for them.
The practical experience has three well-documented catches, and owners will tell you all three before you ask. Grease fires are real; the manifold layout means high-heat cooking on a dirty grill is genuinely risky, and a large number of owners simply cap theirs at 300°F and finish steaks on a kettle instead. Fuel consumption is heavier than the marketing suggests - a full hopper of briquettes at 250°F runs seven to eight hours rather than a day. And the app remains poor, with owners reconnecting WiFi mid-cook. Temperature stability itself is good and gets much better with a third-party controller: one owner with 18 months and 70 cooks reports holding within about 5°F over 12 hours after swapping it. Briquettes beat lump for long cooks because lump bridges in the hopper, and owners load wood splits vertically in the center of the charcoal.
It suits someone who wants charcoal results without fire management and has a clear-eyed view of owning a steel box full of electronics that lives outdoors. The direct rival is the Char-Griller Gravity 980, and the split is simple: the 980 is regularly half the price and owners call its metal flimsy, while the XT is the heavier, better-warranted machine that costs what it costs. Above it sit the Old Country gravity feed at a similar price with no onboard electronics and a tank-like build, and Stumps and Southern Q well beyond that. Owners who prize reliability over convenience keep steering newcomers toward a Weber Smokey Mountain and a fan controller for a fraction of the money. The honest caveat is the one an experienced owner put best: gravity feeds are excellent when they work, and when a main board fails you are out of options.
What owners like
- +The XT is the generation that fixed the Gravity Series' reputation - thicker steel, an insulated gasket and a better controller. Owners note Masterbuilt essentially absorbed the aftermarket mod catalog that existed to patch the older 560, 800 and 1050 and built those changes in
- +Overnight cooking is what owners single out. Being able to load the hopper, set a temperature and sleep is described repeatedly as the thing the Masterbuilt does better than anything else they have owned, including offsets that needed feeding every couple of hours
- +One owner with roughly 70 cooks over 18 months reports 12-hour sessions within about 5°F of the set point end to end, once he replaced the stock controller with a third-party unit
- +Wood goes in the hopper, not in a tray - owners stand a split in the middle and pack charcoal around it, so smoke is something you dose rather than something the machine decides for you
- +It genuinely does both jobs: low and slow up top, and owners put a grate over the charcoal hopper itself to grill directly over the fire when they want char
- +Masterbuilt's support gets credit where the hardware does not. An owner whose control board failed had a replacement sent immediately with no questions asked
- +Briquettes run better than lump for low and slow - cheaper, less likely to bridge in the hopper, and owners say they cannot taste the difference. Lump is the better choice when running it hot
Common complaints
- −Grease fires are the line's signature hazard. The manifold design means that if it is not kept scrupulously clean, running at high heat risks a fire, and owners either buy an aftermarket manifold or simply refuse to take theirs above 300°F
- −It eats charcoal. A full hopper of briquettes at 250°F is about seven to eight hours for owners of the earlier models - real overnight capability, but not the 24 hours the spec sheet implies, and expensive if you buy good fuel
- −The app is the complaint that survived the XT redesign. Owners describe reconnecting the grill to WiFi repeatedly, sometimes several times within a single cook
- −The stock controller is the part owners expect to replace. The common advice is that the XT fixed most of the old quality problems except the controller, and that a third-party controller is a question of when rather than whether
- −Electronics failures run through the whole line's history - fans, lid switches and control boards. One owner's unit went haywire electrically inside two months and went back to the retailer; another gave his away when the board got erratic
- −Smoke flavor divides owners. Some say it matches their offset stick burner; others had a hard time getting good smoke out of one and went back to a bullet smoker. The mechanism is that fat drips into the ash pan or deflector instead of onto live coals, so you lose the flavor burst direct charcoal gives you
Common Questions
Is the XT actually better built than the old 560, 800 and 1050?
How long does a hopper of charcoal really last?
Are the grease fires a real risk or an internet story?
Do I need to replace the controller?
Lump or briquettes?
Does it give the same smoke flavor as an offset?
Compare the Masterbuilt Gravity Series XT
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