. They gave a preview today of a new addition to the popular Gravity Series, and new charcoal grill that uses a similar technology in a conventional grilling format.){kind=link}
Much like the new electric grill brand, Current Backyard, Masterbuilt is launching new smart grills this year at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). They gave a preview today of a new addition to the popular Gravity Series, and new charcoal grill that uses a similar technology in a conventional grilling format.
Our Gravity Series grills have always been the leaders in digital charcoal cooking since the launch of the series in 2019 and through continuous improvement, we’ve enhanced them with stronger, more rugged designs with several new Masterbuilt models for 2024. In addition, we continue to roll out the first fully digitally connected kamado grill, the Konnected Joe, after unveiling it to home cooks this past summer.
Cara Finger, president of Middleby Outdoors
Masterbuilt AutoIgnite Series 545
The Masterbuilt AutoIgnite Series 545 is a new design with familiar technology. It has a traditional grill look to it, but with all the technology that Masterbuilt has introduced in their other Gravity Series grills.
It’s dubbed the AutoIgnite because to light the grill you load the hopper with charcoal, slide in a fire starter from the side, then press the ignite button. The internals look similar to their Gravity Series Portable where the hopper is inside the grill itself, attached to a manifold that stretches the length of the grill.
Like the rest of Masterbuilt’s charcoal grills, you can select the temperature of the grill on the controller that’s built into the side shelf. It also interfaces with the Masterbuilt app to control and monitor your cook from anywhere.
Features and Specs
- Retail price of $499 – Will be available in February 2024 at Home Depot nationally
- Temperature range of 250°F to 650°F to cook a variety of food
- Hopper holds 5 lbs of lump charcoal or 7 lbs of briquettes, for up to 8 hours of use
- The side shelf without the controller folds
- The bottom of the grill is closed storage
- Cast iron cooking grates
- Includes a warming rah
- Capacity for 4 meat probes and includes 1
- 545 square inches of cooking area
- 1-year warranty
One neat feature that’s an improvement from the Gravity Series Portable is the top of the charcoal hopper isn’t just wasted space anymore. It’s made out of cast iron, so you can use it for quick, high heat searing.
Masterbuilt Gravity Series XT
The popular Gravity Series gets a new top of range model with the Gravity Series XT. The letters XT stand for “extra tough” construction. It includes strengthened areas, such as a fiberglass mesh gasket, and a new U-shaped manifold to minimize flare ups. That’s welcome improvement, because the other Gravity Series models were definitely more prone to flare ups in our testing.
The XT has a new controller that will look familiar, because it’s shares with the Konnected Joe. It has a better quality feel to it that other Gravity Series controllers and has more advanced features like temperature mapping. Like the other models, you can set the temperature you want on the controller, or control it with the Masterbuilt app.
Features and Specs
- Retail price of $1,499 – Will be available in April 2024 at Masterbuilt.com
- The hopper will hold 12 lbs of lump charcoal or 18 lbs of briquettes, for up to 14 hours of cook time
- Improved fuel saving hopper that provides better moisture and heat retention to give 33% longer burn time than other Gravity Series grills
- Full body grease tray that pulls out from the side of the grill
- Has 4 levels of cooking space for up to 1,260 square inches of cooking space
- Stainless steel cooking grates
- Includes 2 meat probes and has capacity for 4
- 3-year warranty
One other improvement from previous Gravity Series grills is the shutdown slides are now integrated. Before you had to pull the two slides out to start the grill, then put them back in place to shut it down. The new design has a lever that you slide into place, which is a cleaner way to do it.
Conclusion
We’re big fans of the Gravity Series line, so we’re excited to see it expand. As we noted in our review, it gives pellet grill levels of convenience with more smoke flavor. These new grills add a unique take with the AutoIgnite and an expansion on the top of the model range with the XT.