The Masterbuilt Gravity Series 800, model MB20040221, sells itself as three cookers on one cart. It smokes, it grills, and it griddles, all over charcoal. The griddle leads the name, so it deserves the hardest look.
A gas flat top gives you a wide steel plate and a knob for every zone. Here a flat plate drops into a fan-fed charcoal box run by one set point. So does a charcoal griddle earn its place, or is it a passenger on a smoker?
The answer depends on which cooker you really wanted. This review argues it from both sides.
800 sq inTotal cooking space, racks included
225 to 700°FRange the fan holds
14 minMasterbuilt's claimed time to 700°F
1Set point for griddle and grates alike
First Impressions of the Masterbuilt Gravity Series 800
The shape explains the grill before you read a word. A tall perforated tower stands on the right side. That tower is the hopper.
The cooking box sits beside it, squared off and upright. A brushed stainless shelf runs across its front, and a dial thermometer sits in the lid.
The control panel juts out on the left like a small drawer. Big wheels carry the hopper side; small casters carry the panel side. Nobody will mistake this for a kettle.
The griddle plate comes in the package, not as an upsell. That matters, since the name promises it.
Masterbuilt insists on seasoning before the first meal, and it takes some ceremony. Step one runs the empty box at 250°F for sixty minutes. Step two holds 400°F for thirty more. After a cool-down and a wipe of oil, you repeat at 350°F.
Lighting is plain. A paraffin fire starter goes into the charcoal, and the fan takes over. One step catches new owners out: the hopper slides must come fully out before cooking. Masterbuilt says to hang them on the side shelf hook.
Over lit charcoal, the plate starts to justify itself. Smash burgers and fajitas cooked over lit charcoal pick up a smoky edge. A propane plate cannot give you that.
Key Features of the Masterbuilt Gravity Series 800
The list below makes more sense once you know the trick. The fire feeds itself from above, and a fan decides how hard it burns. The griddle plate simply borrows that fire.
- Gravity-fed hopper: Charcoal slides down from the tower as the fire below eats it. Masterbuilt rates a full load at up to 10 hours, with no setting attached.
- DigitalFan control: A fan pushes air from the hopper side into the cooking chamber. It speeds up or eases off to hold your number.
- Panel and app control: Heat and a timer can be set at the grill itself. Over WiFi, the Masterbuilt app does the same and sends alerts.
- Four probe channels: The app can follow up to four meat probes at once. The probe count in the carton goes unstated.
- Flat-top griddle insert: The plate sits where the grates go, for eggs, stir fry and smash burgers. Its size and metal go unpublished.
- Cast-iron grates: They flip over. One face suits a hard sear, the other a slow smoke.
- Stainless steel: The front shelf facing and the control housing are brushed stainless. The rest of the body is black.
- Porcelain-coated warming racks: They ride above the grates and hold finished food warm.
- Wood chunk smoke: Want more smoke on the plate? Fist-sized wood goes into the ash bin. Each dose lasts about 2 to 3 hours.
- Add-ons: A pizza oven, a rotisserie kit at $99.99 and a cover at $69.99 are sold separately.
For low and slow work, the 800 is easy to like. You set 225°F, and the fan does the vent work a kettle hands to you. Masterbuilt claims the box gets there in 8 minutes and reaches 700°F in 14. Those are the maker’s numbers, with no test conditions attached.
Put the plate in, though, and a limit appears. On a gas flat top, the left burners can roar while the right side idles. The 800 holds one number for the whole chamber. So the whole plate sits near one heat, and finished food goes up to a rack.
Still, that heat comes from real charcoal, and it can climb to 700°F. A plate over that fire sears hard and carries smoke into whatever sits on it. The 800 is a smoker that can griddle, not a griddle that can smoke. Judge the plate as a bonus on a good smoker, and it pleases.
For smoking, the hopper is the real gift. A long cook needs no refuelling for hours, and the fan never forgets to adjust.
Build, handling and durability
The heavy-duty parts are the ones that touch food. Reversible cast-iron grates and porcelain-coated racks are built to take heat for years. The box itself is black metal on a squared cart. Masterbuilt prints no steel gauge and no mass for the assembled grill.
Measure your patio twice, because Masterbuilt gives two answers. The spec panel says 54.7 by 51.1 inches, width first. A Masterbuilt gallery image gives 52 across and 61 high. Plan for the taller figure, since the hopper lid lifts upward too.
Durability is where the 800 asks for trust. The fan and controller sit right beside a charcoal fire. Masterbuilt covers the grill for one year, which is short for electronics in that spot. The maker also warns that regular seasoning is what keeps rust away.
Running costs, upkeep and value
Our price check on 2026-09-23 found Amazon asking around $889.99. That is $110 under the $999.99 on Masterbuilt’s own page. For that money you get the smoker, the grill and the griddle plate together. A separate gas flat top would bring its own tank, cover and patio footprint.
Fuel is lump charcoal or briquettes, both easy to find. The spec panel says the hopper holds 15.9 pounds. The feature copy says 10 pounds of lump, which is lighter for its bulk. Both may be fair, depending on what you pour in.
Upkeep is mostly ash and grease, and both trays pull out. The griddle adds a chore a grate does not. Masterbuilt never says what the plate is made of. Until you know, scrape it and oil it after each cook, as with any flat top.
One small trap sits in the add-ons. The $69.99 cover offered beside this grill carries the word “Small” in its name. Check the fit before you order it.
Possible Masterbuilt Gravity Series 800 Complaints
- One heat for the whole plate: The fan holds a single set point for the chamber. You cannot sear burgers on one side while buns toast gently on the other. It bites hardest at breakfast, when eggs want gentle heat and bacon wants more. The workaround is timing: cook in waves, and park finished food on the warming racks.
- A thin paper trail: The griddle’s size and metal are unpublished. The page also gives two hopper figures, two sets of dimensions and two different low ends. None of it spoils a cook. It does make side by side shopping hard.
