Can a MAK sear?

[rwalters]

10 1/2-lb burgers. 450° w/ Flame Zone covers removed, using the MAK sear grates. Yes, a MAK can sear

[teesquare]

Looks good enough to eat...ALL OF THEM!!!!

[rwalters]

Looks good enough to eat...ALL OF THEM!!!!

[akjeff]

Looks great!! Sure wish they'd offer the sear grates without the teflon coating.

Jeff

[ArkieKBQ]

This prompts me to revisit the question....Grillgrates, the MAK sear grate, or both?

Huge fan of the Grillgrates on my Genesis.  That said, since I took delivery of the MAK last month I can see the possibility of the only Weber in my future being my Performer.  :-)

I fully get the concerns of blanketing the entire surface of the MAK with the Grillgrates.  That would not be my intention so I don't mean to rekindle that discussion.  But I've so appreciated the ability to utilize both sides of the Grillgrates.  Hence my question for those further down the road with their MAK's. 

Thanks!

[rwalters]

This prompts me to revisit the question....Grillgrates, the MAK sear grate, or both?

Huge fan of the Grillgrates on my Genesis.  That said, since I took delivery of the MAK last month I can see the possibility of the only Weber in my future being my Performer.  :-)

I fully get the concerns of blanketing the entire surface of the MAK with the Grillgrates.  That would not be my intention so I don't mean to rekindle that discussion.  But I've so appreciated the ability to utilize both sides of the Grillgrates.  Hence my question for those further down the road with their MAK's. 

Thanks!

For what’s its worth, I had a set of GG’s from an older Weber Genesis when I bought my MAK. 4 GG panels cover about 90% of the MAK cooking surface. I tried them several times on the MAK and didn’t care for them. Bought the MAK sear grates and much prefer the performance/results. I get much better browning between the sear marks with the MAK sear grates.

[TentHunteR]

This prompts me to revisit the question....Grillgrates, the MAK sear grate, or both?

I have both GrillGrates and MAK Searing grates.  Without a doubt, my vote goes to the MAK searing grate.

[sschorr]

Robb - how long to do you preheat at 450?  It may be the pellets I used, but it took my 2 Star 45 minutes to get up to 415 (as read on the PB), so I ran out of time and cooked at that temp.  Not quite as good a result as yours! 

[smokeasaurus]

The MAK can sear as well as a gasser. Maybe even better with those sear grates.

[rwalters]

Robb - how long to do you preheat at 450?  It may be the pellets I used, but it took my 2 Star 45 minutes to get up to 415 (as read on the PB), so I ran out of time and cooked at that temp.  Not quite as good a result as yours!

45 mins to 415° does not sound right to me...  You have a newer 2 Star with the Funnel Flame Zone, correct? Living in California, the coldest weather I probably ever cook in is the mid 30’s. My MAK might take 30 mins to hit 450° in that weather, but other than that it’s typically no longer than 25 mins. As far as pellets I’ve been cooking with Cookin’ Pellets Perfect Mix since day one. I did recently get in on a group buy of LumberJack pellets. I was able to get 8 40-lb bags of pure oak at a steep discount. It’ll be interesting to see how they perform.

One thing I fo religiously is empty the fire pot after every cook. I then place a handful of fresh pellets in the fire pot to help jumpstart the MAK the next time I fire it up. Have you tried that?

[tomcrete1]

Awesome lookin Burgers!!!

[sschorr]

Robb - like you, I always clean out the firepot between cooks regardless of how long or hot, so that is not a factor.  I live in San Clemente, CA - it may have gotten down to 60 overnight lately, but it has been in the low to mid 70's lately during the day, as during this sear attempt.  I used CookinPellets' wine barrel oak that had maybe 25% alder in it (a camp chef bag I'm trying to use up).  No, I did not prime the firepot, but really ignition with the MAK is pretty quick from "scratch".  Yes, I have the newest FZ and I use MAK's grill grates.

I'll try some 100% Oak I have next time.  I thought it might be the pellets, so I guess I need to try that before calling the MAK gang about it.

[rwalters]

Robb - like you, I always clean out the firepot between cooks regardless of how long or hot, so that is not a factor.  I live in San Clemente, CA - it may have gotten down to 60 overnight lately, but it has been in the low to mid 70's lately during the day, as during this sear attempt.  I used CookinPellets' wine barrel oak that had maybe 25% alder in it (a camp chef bag I'm trying to use up).  No, I did not prime the firepot, but really ignition with the MAK is pretty quick from "scratch".  Yes, I have the newest FZ and I use MAK's grill grates.

I'll try some 100% Oak I have next time.  I thought it might be the pellets, so I guess I need to try that before calling the MAK gang about it.

I  am stumped. Something just doesn’t sound right. Any chance the pellets you are using have been exposed to moisture? That would mess things up. I fired up my MAK for bacon this morning. Set the Pellet Boss to 250° and set a stopwatch. 12:10 to hit set point. Another 10-12 mins I know I would’ve been at 450° if thats what I wanted.

[fryfour]

im not a big fan of the teflon on mine either. would much rather have bare cast iron sear grate.

[sschorr]

I  am stumped. Something just doesn’t sound right. Any chance the pellets you are using have been exposed to moisture? That would mess things up. I fired up my MAK for bacon this morning. Set the Pellet Boss to 250° and set a stopwatch. 12:10 to hit set point. Another 10-12 mins I know I would’ve been at 450° if thats what I wanted.

No moisture - I keep my pellets in large plastic painters tubs with tight lids, and then stored in a cabinet in my garage.  I have about 10 lbs of pure, 100% oak I'll use this next week and watch the time carefully to measure when it gets to 450.  Hopefully just a fluke of the pellet mix I used last time.