To be fair this is an American company specifying cheaper materials from the China manufacturer. China will make things as good as the ordering company specifies. Search This Thread. There appears to be some speculation as to why this explanation wasn’t included in the instruction manual as one would expect, leading customers to remain skeptical of Masterbuilt’s response on the phenomenon. ... One issue that you will have is replacing the firebox with Stainless Steel. Have questions? ... At its crux is a patented firebox that burns logs above the cooking chamber and sucks heat and extremely clean blue smoke into the thermostat controlled oven. Ask fellow pitmasters! This is just a warning for anyone who wants to buy it. Masterbuilt MB20040220 Gravity Series 560 Digital Charcoal Grill + Smoker, Black & Western Premium BBQ Products Post Oak BBQ Cooking Chunks, 570 cu in $516.45 Camp Chef PG24MZG SmokePro Slide Smoker with Fold Down Front Shelf Wood Pellet Grill, Pack of 1, Black The metal insert is there to protect it during shipping, and to prevent the charcoal from scraping it, presumably before it has a chance to harden. Here is a new youtube video of a guy showing what the insulation actually is, and it is NOT fire brick, it is soft insulation that looks like something you would find in your attic. Press J to jump to the feed. You do get some initial firebrick degradation during burn-in and initial usage, but then degradation tends to stabilize. You first! After the warranty has expired, customers can purchase the full set of 4 firebricks and metal plates for each wall for $29.99. In your research of the Masterbuilt Gravity Series 560 and 1050 grills, you may have come across various text and discussions that mention the firebox walls burning out within the first couple months of use. And you probably saw the email floating around the internet from Masterbuilt to a customer claiming that the metal was there to hold the food safe “fire bricks” in place during shipping and that these metal plates were meant to burn away. Whats mind boggling is that actual food safe fire bricks cost less than 2 dollars, even less if you are buying for an entire grill line, and are much more robust. Again, since there has been no independent confirmation on what the material is, any other implications would be speculation. First Unread. It’s crazy. People are already reporting insulation in their ash bucket, which means it blows into the cook chamber and on the food as well. Metal shards from the firebox wall inserts, found in the ash bin. Blame the greedy holding company instead. This will protect the cheap insulation from exposure with proper thick steel. According to the official response and the live stream, the firebrick insulation is replaceable, and even warrantied. It literally disintegrated to the touch so this means the exposed insulation will rub off as the charcoal scrapes against it. Slickdeals Forums Hot Deals Masterbuilt gravity 560 $351.58. The firebrick takes the heat from the charcoal fire and is to be replaced only once a hole burns in it that is more than 0.5″ deep and 5″ in diameter. One concern is that the hole that starts to form gives the perception of a lack of durability in the firebox. In a live Facebook stream, Masterbuilt addressed this concern at 31 minutes and 49 seconds into the stream, indicating that the firebox wall is actually a raw steel metal insert that is designed to burn away as the insulation material (described as a “fiberglass fire pad”, as seen in this video) behind it hardens from heat exposure over time.. This so-called issue is obviously concerning, so let’s dive into it a bit further. Your email address will not be published. I thought it was very cool until I touched/felt the firebox. Ok so I know many of you who looked into, or own, this grill know of the firebox problem with the metal burning through after just a few uses. Both of those are flat out lies to avert a PR disaster. They use strong steel on the charcoal grate yet they cheap out on the entire firebox?? Its truely an amazing piece of hardware. Advanced Search. I’ll wait on that. Additionally, Masterbuilt’s official written response is cited in the Amazing Ribs review: The metal plates in the lower portion of the hopper hold the firebrick in place and protect it during shipping. With that said, many customers have chosen to purchase an aftermarket mod insert designed to protect the entire firebox from within, bypassing the burnout phenomenon altogether. There are multiple firebox insert mod options out there to do this. I saw it at Home Depot. This is a brand new product and we are working out the bugs. Master built has never been know for high quality products. I am returning and never, ever will purchase another Masterbuilt product again. Glad I read this. The 560 is very poorly made.