Every Gravity grill makes the same promise. Load a tower with charcoal, set a number, and let a fan run the fire. Of the family, the Masterbuilt Gravity Series 600 (MB20041023) costs least. It sells for around $799.99.
Something had to give for that figure. Which part of the grill paid for it? The answer this review keeps arriving at is simple. The 600 shrinks the cooking room, not the fire.
There is one catch along the way. This is sold as the small one. So its size should be the easiest fact to pin down. Masterbuilt prints it two different ways.
First Impressions of the Masterbuilt Gravity Series 600
Out of the box, the shape tells you how it works. A squat cook chamber sits on a steel cart with a lower shelf. On the right rises a vented charcoal column. That tower is the charcoal hopper, and it is nearly as tall as the lid.
A short shelf juts from the left, carrying the control panel and its screen. Two wheels sit under the hopper end. To move it, you lift the opposite legs and roll. The lower shelf will hold a bag of charcoal.
Lift the lid and the inside looks familiar. Down low, reversible cast iron grates span the whole box. A fold-away warming rack hangs above them at the back. Its boxy hood opens on a long steel bar.
Cook number one makes the method obvious. You fill the tower, light a paraffin starter and close the door. Then you press a few buttons. No chimney starter, no lighter fluid, no vents to read.
By the maker’s clock, searing heat should arrive in about ten minutes. What comes off the grate is plain charcoal cooking. Chicken skin crisps over real coals, and the smoke smells like a kettle. You simply skipped the kettle routine to get there.
Key Features of the Masterbuilt Gravity Series 600
Most of what matters here is one system, not a list of extras. Fuel drops, a fan feeds it air, and a controller decides how much. The rest supports that loop.
- GravityFed hopper. Fuel sits in a vertical chamber and slides down as the bottom layer burns. The maker quotes 12 pounds of lump or 18 pounds of briquettes per fill.
- DigitalFan control. The blower is electric, and it is the only throttle the fire has. More air means more heat.
- Control panel and app. Set the target on the shelf panel, or from the Masterbuilt app over WiFi. The app sets cook time, sends alerts and shows recipes.
- Four probe readings. Your phone shows readings from as many as four probe ports. Whether one ships with the grill, or several, goes unstated.
- Cast-iron reversible grates. One face is ridged for searing marks. The other suits gentler, lower cooks. You flip them by hand.
- Dual-wall insulated chamber. The cook box has two skins with a porcelain interior. That holds heat in, which matters most on long, cold smokes.
- Fold-away warming racks. Porcelain-coated racks fold up out of the way. They hold finished food while the rest cooks.
- Front and side shelves. A narrow front ledge and the left shelf give you somewhere to set a plate.
- Removable ash bucket and grease tray. Both slide out from under the chamber for emptying.
- Add-on path. Masterbuilt sells extras for later: pizza oven, rotisserie, flat-top griddle and cover.
Heat is the 600’s best argument. A charcoal grill that can sit at 225°F for hours and also reach 700°F is unusual. Most charcoal cookers do one well and the other with effort. Here the fan does the effort.
The maker’s figures are bold. Seven minutes to 225°F, says Masterbuilt, and ten to 700°F. One fill should last up to 18 hours at 225°F.
At full heat, the claim drops to about three hours. Those are Masterbuilt’s numbers, not ours. They are plausible for a fire with a fan blowing on it.
The fine print does not quite agree with itself. One block on the product page says low-and-slow starts at 250°F, not 225. An FAQ answer on the same page quotes “15+ hours” and names the 1150 model.
A gallery graphic goes lower still, at “10+ hours in one load”. Plan long smokes around the shorter figures. Your own grill can prove otherwise later.
That settles half of what the price bought. Nothing in the heat story reads like a cut-down model. The span, the fan and the cast iron are all present. What shrinks is the floor area under the lid, and heat never depends on that.
Build, handling and durability
The cook chamber is the strong part. Two walls with insulation between them hold heat steadily. Cast iron grates hold it again where the meat sits. Those two choices are why the temperature stays put.
The rest is painted steel, and that matters over years. The hopper holds burning charcoal against its walls for hours at a time. Paint and steel in that job will age, and rust is the long-term risk to watch. Keep it covered and keep the ash out.
The size question belongs here too. Masterbuilt’s own spec table lists 52.8 inches across, with 30.4 front to back. A maker graphic on the listing says 48 by 24. Measure your patio against the larger pair before ordering.
Running costs, upkeep and value
Every cook on the 600 is paid for in bags of charcoal. A full hopper is a real bag of fuel. Low smokes stretch it a long way. High-heat cooks burn through it quickly, so a weekly searer will buy charcoal often.
The fan also needs power. Plan for an outdoor outlet or a safe extension run every time you cook. Without power, the method stops.
Those reversible grates rust if neglected. Brush the grates while warm, then wipe on a thin film of oil. Left wet, they will spot with rust quickly.
Cleanup is mostly ash. The bucket pulls out from below, and the grease tray slides out beside it. The tower and the fan housing gather fine dust. Clear them now and then so the airflow stays clean.
Here the price question from the top finally settles. Around $799.99 buys the full fan-and-hopper method, the app and the cast iron. What the money skips is space, not features. If you cook for a household rather than a block party, little is missing.
The warranty is the soft spot. Masterbuilt gives one year, with US-based support.
That is one season of cover. It has to stretch across a fan, a controller and a hot steel tower. Use that first year hard, so any fault shows while it is covered.
Possible Masterbuilt Gravity Series 600 Complaints
- The grate is smaller than 600 suggests. The headline counts the warming racks. Masterbuilt prints no figure for the main grate alone. A big cook with sides alongside may feel tight.
- It cannot cook without electricity. A tripped breaker or a dead outdoor socket ends the cook. A long, safe cord is part of the setup.
- One year of cover is short. The parts working hardest are the electronics and the hopper. Both sit outside the warranty after the first season.
