Masterbuilt Gravity Series vs Pellet Smoker: Which Should You Buy?

The Masterbuilt Gravity Series and pellet smokers solve the same problem in different ways. Both give you set-and-forget digital temperature control. Both produce better results than a standard gas grill. The fundamental difference is the fuel: the Gravity Series burns real charcoal, pellet smokers burn compressed wood pellets. That single difference produces a meaningfully different flavour profile, a different cooking experience, and different trade-offs at every price point.

We stock both the Masterbuilt Gravity Series and the Yoder Smokers pellet range at BBQ Republic. This guide gives you the honest comparison so you can decide which suits your cooking.

The Bottom Line Up Front

Buy the Masterbuilt Gravity Series if: you want genuine charcoal flavour with digital convenience, you cook at high heat regularly, or you want real charcoal results without managing a fire manually.

Buy a pellet smoker if: wood smoke flavour variety matters to you (you can change the flavour profile by changing pellet species), you want the most refined set-and-forget technology, or you prioritise a polished app and connectivity ecosystem.

Neither is better in absolute terms. They produce different results from different fuels and serve slightly different buyers. The decision comes down to whether you want charcoal flavour or wood smoke flavour, and how much the technology ecosystem matters to you.

How Each System Works

Masterbuilt Gravity Series

The Gravity Series uses a gravity-fed charcoal hopper. You load lump charcoal or briquettes into the hopper on the side of the grill, light a small amount of starter charcoal at the base of the firebox, and set your target temperature on the digital controller. A fan-driven system regulates airflow to maintain that temperature automatically. As the charcoal at the base of the hopper burns, gravity feeds more from above.

The fuel is real charcoal. The smoke comes from charcoal combustion and from fat and juices dripping onto the hot charcoal below the food. This is the same fundamental mechanism that produces the flavour in a traditional charcoal grill or kamado — the Gravity Series just automates the fire management.

Pellet Smokers

Pellet smokers use compressed hardwood pellets fed from a hopper by an auger into a firepot. The pellets ignite and the combustion produces both heat and wood smoke. A fan circulates the heat and smoke around the cooking chamber. You set your target temperature on the controller or app, and the auger adjusts feed rate automatically to maintain it.

The fuel is compressed wood pellets, typically made from hardwood species including hickory, apple, cherry, pecan, and mesquite. You can change the flavour profile of your food by changing the pellet species. The smoke character is mild to moderate and consistent throughout the cook.

Flavour: Charcoal vs Wood Pellets

This is the most important difference between the two systems and the one that should drive your decision if flavour is your priority.

Charcoal Flavour (Masterbuilt Gravity Series)

Charcoal produces a robust, direct smoke flavour when fat and juices from the food drip onto the burning coals below. The flavour is what most Australians associate with a proper BBQ: the distinct character that comes from direct contact between rendered fat and live fire. It is more intense than pellet smoke and less variable — charcoal flavour is charcoal flavour regardless of the wood species used to make the charcoal.

On long cooks like brisket or pork shoulder, charcoal produces a darker, more pronounced bark and deeper smoke penetration than most pellet smokers. Cooks who have used both consistently describe the charcoal result as having more depth and a more authentic BBQ character.

Wood Smoke Flavour (Pellet Smokers)

Pellet smokers produce a cleaner, more nuanced smoke flavour than charcoal. The smoke is lighter and more aromatic, with the specific character of the wood species used. Apple pellets produce a mild, sweet smoke suited to chicken and pork. Hickory produces a stronger, more traditional American BBQ smoke suited to beef. Cherry adds a subtle fruity smoke character to any protein.

The ability to change flavour profiles by changing pellet species is a genuine advantage of pellet cooking that charcoal cannot match. If flavour variety and the ability to dial in specific smoke characters for specific proteins matter to you, pellets offer more control than charcoal.

The trade-off is that pellet smoke is generally milder than charcoal smoke on long cooks. Some cooks find this preferable (less chance of over-smoking) and some find it lacking (less depth and bark development). Both are valid assessments of the same characteristic.

Temperature Range and Searing

This is where the Masterbuilt Gravity Series has a clear technical advantage over most pellet smokers.

The Gravity Series reaches 370 degrees Celsius (700 degrees Fahrenheit). That is genuine searing temperature, equivalent to the surface temperature of a cast iron pan on a high-flame gas burner. At that temperature the Gravity Series produces proper steakhouse-quality crust on steaks, with real Maillard reaction browning across the full surface of the meat.

Most pellet smokers reach 230 to 260 degrees Celsius maximum. Some premium models like the Yoder YS640s reach higher temperatures through direct flame access via the Variable Displacement Damper, but standard pellet operation does not produce searing heat equivalent to what charcoal generates at full output.

For buyers who want to smoke low and slow and then sear at high heat on the same grill, the Gravity Series covers the full range in one unit. A pellet smoker handles the low-and-slow portion extremely well but generally requires a separate searing station for steakhouse-level crust development on thick cuts.

Convenience and Technology

Both systems are significantly more convenient than traditional charcoal or offset smoking. The differences are in the quality of the technology ecosystem rather than the fundamental convenience.

Masterbuilt Gravity Series Technology

The Gravity Series includes a digital controller with a temperature display and wireless meat probe. The DigitalFan system manages airflow automatically to hold your set temperature. The app connects via Bluetooth for temperature monitoring and control from your phone.

The technology is solid and functional. It does what it needs to do: hold temperature, monitor the cook, alert you when the meat probe hits your target internal temperature. It does not have the same polished user experience as the Yoder Fireboard system.

Pellet Smoker Technology

Premium pellet smokers like the Yoder YS640s use the Fireboard WiFi controller, which includes full cook-duration temperature graphing, multiple wireless probe support, cloud-based cook logging, and the ability to adjust temperature remotely from anywhere via the app. The data visibility is significantly more detailed than the Masterbuilt system.

For buyers who want to manage a 14-hour overnight brisket cook with full remote monitoring from their phone or laptop, the Fireboard system on the Yoder is the more capable platform.

Fuel Availability

Lump charcoal and briquettes are available at hardware stores, supermarkets, and BBQ specialists across Australia. Hardwood BBQ pellets are available from BBQ specialists but less common in supermarkets and hardware stores. If you are in a regional area, pellet supply is more of a logistics consideration than charcoal supply.

Fuel Costs in Australia

Lump charcoal in Australia costs approximately $25-50 per 4-10kg bag. A standard Gravity Series cook uses approximately 1.5-4kg of charcoal depending on cook length and temperature, putting the fuel cost per cook at roughly $5-20.

Premium hardwood BBQ pellets cost approximately $25-40 per 9kg bag. A standard pellet smoker cook at low-and-slow temperatures uses approximately 0.5-1kg of pellets per hour, putting a six-hour cook at $15-25 in fuel. Pellet consumption increases significantly at higher temperatures.

Both fuels are comparable in cost for typical cooking sessions. Charcoal is more widely available and more cost-effective for high-heat cooks where pellet consumption increases significantly.

Side by Side Comparison

Who Should Choose the Masterbuilt Gravity Series?

The Gravity Series is the right choice if genuine charcoal flavour is your priority and you want digital convenience to manage the fire. If you have cooked on a kettle or kamado and love the charcoal flavour but find fire management time-consuming, the Gravity Series gives you that same fundamental flavour result with a digital controller handling the work.

It is also the right choice if searing at high heat matters to you. At 370 degrees Celsius maximum output, the Gravity Series covers the full temperature range from low-and-slow smoking to steakhouse searing on a single unit. Most pellet smokers cannot match that upper temperature range.

If you are comparing on price, the Gravity Series 600 is a more accessible entry point than the Yoder YS480s. Both deliver excellent results at their respective price points — the Gravity Series gets you into charcoal smoking with digital control at a lower upfront cost.

Who Should Choose a Pellet Smoker?

A pellet smoker is the right choice if wood smoke flavour variety matters to you. The ability to change the smoke profile by changing pellet species — apple for poultry, hickory for beef, cherry for pork — is a genuine advantage that the Gravity Series cannot match.

It is also the right choice if the technology ecosystem is important. For buyers who want full WiFi remote monitoring, multi-probe temperature graphing, cloud-based cook logging, and the most refined set-and-forget experience available, the Yoder Fireboard controller is the most capable system we stock.

At the premium end, the Yoder YS640s is a fundamentally different type of cooker to the Masterbuilt Gravity Series. The 10-gauge steel construction, 10-year firebox warranty, and direct flame searing capability (via the Variable Displacement Damper) put the Yoder in a different category to both mid-range pellet smokers and the Gravity Series. If you are comparing the Gravity Series to the Yoder specifically, read our dedicated Yoder buyers guide for a full breakdown.

See Both in Our Wetherill Park Showroom

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