This Smart Charcoal Grill Is Worth Checking Out
The Masterbuilt Auto Ignite 545 Smart BBQ took seven excruciating hours to assemble using poor instructions and mislabeled parts. By the time it was ready to use, I was ready to hate this grill. It didn’t help that Masterbuilt grills are gravity-fed, which requires a whole learning curve that had me falling down a YouTube hole for hours. Still, after all this, I’m enjoying Masterbuild. Even though it requires charcoal rather than faster fuels like gas, the grill heats up faster than you’d expect. The smart technology is put to good use, allowing you to set and control the temperature using an app, and it connects easily. The grill has decent space and the grill can reach decent high (650 F) and low (250 F) temperatures and these temperatures can be maintained thanks to the smart app.
I have a few reservations. The lack of flames underneath the active grill space means the only place to sear is at the top of the hopper, which is quite small. This makes the Masterbuilt more of a smoker than a grill. Some coals fly around due to the design of the ashtray, so you need to keep an eye on them. Finally, some aspects of the app could be better, such as the recipes feature, which is hard to find. But (if you’re paying someone else to assemble the grill), I think the Masterbuilt Auto Ignite 545 Digital Charcoal Grill ($499) is a great deal. Compared to grills that cost twice as much, the 545 has durable construction, consistent smoke, and is easy to control with a smart app.
Pay someone else to put it together
At the time I started collecting 545, there were no instructional videos (thankfully there are now ). This makes up for the inexplicably poorly illustrated paper instructions. Assembly was so annoying and tedious that I would recommend purchasing the grill from somewhere that has assembly, or paying to have someone else do it. Once assembled, the 545 is one of the most durable grills I’ve tested. The grill seems quite heavy, its parts do not bend or vibrate. I rolled the grill 50 feet from where it was assembled and it made almost no sound and no parts moved.
This is a wide grill with an active grill space, a collapsible warming grate and a charcoal hopper under the hood. In addition to the warming grate, there is 545 inches of active grilling space and searing space above the cast-iron hopper. The lid is heavy, with a durable metal handle that never gets hot to the touch. The grill has two platforms, one on each side of the grill. The left side houses the electronics, while the right has a storage area that can be flipped over to save space. Underneath the grill is a cabinet with a large open space and a swing door, and the entire grill rests on wheels that are large and strong enough to handle most off-road terrain. I noticed that most modern grills or barbecues are very light: the metal seems thin, the handles do not inspire confidence. But the 545 is the opposite: it’s built like a tank, which seems appropriate for a giant smoker.
A highly functional, no frills app.
The Masterbuilt app quickly connected to the grill. While no smart grill will allow you to turn it on remotely, once the grill is already turned on, you can set the temperature or timer. The best part is that the 545 will reach and hold that temperature for as long as you need it, as long as there is enough charcoal in the grill. You can use up to four food temperature sensors (one is included with the grill). The app has a recipe-only tab, but I found it to be virtually useless as there is no search option, so all you can do is browse protein-based recipes. The recipes themselves were often reduced to the point of uselessness. (The brisket recipe was just three steps. 1. Season overnight. 2. Smoke the brisket until the bark sets. 3. Leave the brisket until ready to carve.) Also, these recipes couldn’t be sent to the grill like some other smart grills would do. The best part about the app is that you can see previous sessions, or “cooks,” displayed by date in a graph, including grill temperatures and gauges. It might be more useful if you were allowed to name the cooks so you could find your previous steak cook and rib cook, which would be completely different.
Learning to rock
No matter what fuel the grill uses, if it’s smart, it will need electricity to power the brains of the grill – most smart grills use this to also include auto-ignition, including the 545. This is the first place where the learning curve begins. and if you buy this model, I would recommend watching videos on the gravity feed process and how this auto-igniter works. Using the grill’s control panel or app, you’ll set your target temperature and then press “Light.” The auto ignition unit warms up for about 45 seconds, after which you insert the Masterbuilt ignition washer and push it into the auto ignition unit. If you do it right, the grill will start breathing like a dragon when the fan comes on and your charcoal starts smoking. If you do it wrong, your puck will go out and you’ll have to start over – the grill will warn you if this happens. Once you understand this, you will succeed every time. While the flame burns, you load the cast iron hopper with charcoal. Masterbuilt wants you to use lump charcoal: This was my first time doing this (I used the Masterbuilt brand they sent me to test and I would buy again) and I was impressed with the difference between lump charcoal and the briquettes you buy. in the shop. The charcoal lights up quickly and is ready to go surprisingly quickly thanks to the fan. The grill will start heating immediately and you will reach even the highest temperature (650F) within 20 minutes. The app will alert you when the temperature reaches the set temperature.
Gravitational heat
This is the second place where the learning process begins. The charcoal is not located under the cooking grate, but rather in a hopper on the right side of the grill. The flame is located at the bottom of the bunker and burns the coal from the bottom up. As it heats up, the fan blows hot smoke onto the rest of the grill underneath the grates. The grill will get hot, but not from direct heat. In fact, there is no fire under the grates – it is contained in the bunker. So if you’re looking for a fire-grilled burger, this is not the grill for you. However, you can set fire to the top of a cast iron hopper, this works but has its problems. Firstly, you won’t be able to open the hopper if there is a steak in it – so you won’t be able to check the fuel level, add smoke chips, etc. Secondly, the hopper is not very large, so you can grill one steak or several hamburgers, but not two steaks. If you have a steak and some onions that you want to grill, you’ll have to choose which one gets the hopper lid. Third, although the food will eventually leave grill marks simply due to the heat of the smoke heating the grates, it takes a long time for this reaction to occur. Again, heat is present, but only from hot smoke, not direct flame. In fact, Masterbuilt has designed a drip-proof grill active zone that completely prevents fires. If you understand that the purpose of the 545 is to be a smoker, not a griller, you won’t be disappointed.
Somewhere between a smokehouse and a grill
Once I calmed down and realized that it was more of a smoker, I started to feel really happy with the results. The chicken thighs turned out great and eventually developed grill marks and a nice smokiness. I made a small brisket (I ditched the book and used my own recipe) and was very happy with the results. Shrimp, salmon, steak, pineapple, cauliflower, grilled onions, sausage – all turned out very well once I accepted the 545 for what it was and stopped trying to make a fire grill out of it. Nothing I made was too smoky. The grill runs on charcoal, but adding pieces of hardwood to the hopper will allow you to control the flavor and amount of smoke entering your food. Compared to wood pellet grills I’ve tested where the smoke was strong, this was a nice, smooth smoke.
Bottom line: great buy
Ironically, the grill I hated so much turned out to be the one I’m most likely to recommend to anyone looking to make the transition from gas to charcoal and smoking. On its own, without any hookups, it makes a great smoker once you learn how to use it, with some additional searing and cooking capabilities. The app adds remote control and monitoring features to the 545 without any extra frills. Sure, I’d like to be able to light a real flame underneath the cooking area, and I’d like the app to have better recipe interactivity, but that’s not a deal breaker. Overall, this is a great buy – just don’t assemble it yourself.