MAK 2 Star Pellet Grill Review

[HighOnSmoke]

We fight over who gets to clean the grill because it is sooo easy and satisfying.  In our household, I do the grilling (the wife) and the spouse looks on.  Had steak yesterday and will try pulled pork again tonight/tomorrow am.  This will be the second time I’ve ever tried a long cook.  Did the pork butt on 225 but maybe I’ll try it at 210? Seemed a tad dried out (we gobbled it up) even though I let it rest for an hour in cider and double foiled.

What was the internal temperature of the butt when you pulled it off the smoker? I normally take the butts to an internal temp of 203 and let rest in foil for an hour or so and it is never dry. Pork butt needs to breakdown all the connective tissue thus the internal temp. I have pulled them anywhere between 198 to 205. Even if I don't wrap the butt in foil during the stall I have found the finishing temp keeps it moist.

[mrbbq]

Scott & Wendy---I would recommend smoking the pork butt using the SMOKE MODE (170-185F), then bringing up the heat to finish. This way, your butt gets nice and smoky and you are able to get the connective tissues broken down for tender, succulent pulled pork. Some grill owners just leave the grill in Smoke Mode for the entire cooking session.

[smokeasaurus]

Scott & Wendy---I would recommend smoking the pork butt using the SMOKE MODE (170-185F), then bringing up the heat to finish. This way, your butt gets nice and smoky and you are able to get the connective tissues broken down for tender, succulent pulled pork. Some grill owners just leave the grill in Smoke Mode for the entire cooking session.

We will definitely do that on our next pork butt cook. 

[teesquare]

Scott & Wendy---I would recommend smoking the pork butt using the SMOKE MODE (170-185F), then bringing up the heat to finish. This way, your butt gets nice and smoky and you are able to get the connective tissues broken down for tender, succulent pulled pork. Some grill owners just leave the grill in Smoke Mode for the entire cooking session.

Bruce points out an often overlooked feature - a TRUE program mode on your MAK....I leave my MAK in smoke mode for about 4 hours. Sometimes I will baste or spritz with a concoction of dissolved rub and apple juice during smoke mode....Surface moisture helps the smoke adhere to the meat. Then I will turn up the MAK to 225F for a couple hours, then 250F for a couple hours. If needed to finish the bark the way I want - I will sometimes turn up the temp to 275F until finished.

I use 205F as a "reference"...but as always - I probe the pork  with a toothpick to  make sure it is done enough, just like you do your briskets.....

[smokeasaurus]

I think it is time to finally smoke something in the MAK 2 Star!!!!

Sparky will like our choice............Ribs!!

Now our local market only had three racks on hand that morning, and I did not care for any of them......but I wanted ribs and had the day off so I bought the best of the three.

The MAK grills has some recipes in the back of their owners manual so we followed (some of it)

We mixed up a couple of MAK rubs with some yellow mustard


I also seasoned the pc of (I think it is breast meat) that runs along the underside of St Louis cut ribs, they make a good snack.


Set the grill up for indirect cooking with a large foil pan on the bottom for drippings and the 3/4 rack for the ribs


Time to start the 250 degree journey


One hour before I pulled the ribs, Wendy brought out her "Death by Potatoes" to get hot and smokey for supper


5 hours later here were our finished ribs


Plated up and ready for devouring.............fall off the bone, just the way we like em


So how did the MAK do for our first smoking session??       Perfectly.

Everytime I fire the MAK up I get as happy as a pig laying in the sunshine. 

At 250 degrees we had plenty of smoke throughout the cook.

Now there are two reasons I went with the MAK on the upper rack. Tim suggested I do this because it sure helps the flamezone stay clean. Hey why not?

Shane Draper (inventor of the rub Moo'd Enhance) and resident grill expert over at Grilla Grills loves to cook on the second shelf as much as possible. He claims to get better smokey results.

With the headroom of the MAK 2 Star this is very easy to do and you will see lots of that set-up when we smoke indirect.

Did these two suggestions work? Yup. No clean up and the ribs were absolutely perfect.

Let me tell you about the MAK Chipotle rub.  That concoction is in it to win it!! 

Lets Talk BBQ's resident rub pusher recommends it highly.

There is so much more coming up, we have barely gotten started. Gonna be a long tasty ride folks   

Oh, Wendy owes you some recipes. Look for them this weekend. You will get her puff pastry pizza and Death by Potatoes for your enjoyment.

[TentHunteR]

Those ribs look great , Smoke!

Here's a nifty trick to keep in mind with the MAK:  If you're wanting to cook at 250°, then try 245° instead. It's only 5° less, but you'll get better smoke because the fan kicks into high speed at 250° and up!    

[teesquare]

Those ribs look great , Smoke!

Here's a nifty trick to keep in mind with the MAK:  If you're wanting to cook at 250°, then try 245° instead. It's only 5° less, but you'll get better smoke because the fan kicks into high speed at 250° and up!    

THAT should be a sticky in the MAK forum!

[rwalters]

Those ribs look great , Smoke!

Here's a nifty trick to keep in mind with the MAK:  If you're wanting to cook at 250°, then try 245° instead. It's only 5° less, but you'll get better smoke because the fan kicks into high speed at 250° and up!    

Really?!?! I had no idea! What about the higher temps? I have heard that 450° or Grill are a much better temp setting to use when you want to come up to grilling temps vs 400-425°. I have heard that the MAK is more aggressive in the way it feeds and stokes the fire. Any idea if there is truth to this?

[fryfour]

thanks for the heads up on 245 vs 250.. will keep in mind

[HighOnSmoke]

Great looking bones Smoke!

[smokeasaurus]

Great looking bones Smoke!

They cleaned up nicely 

[Harriska2]

What was the internal temperature of the butt when you pulled it off the smoker? I normally take the butts to an internal temp of 203 and let rest in foil for an hour or so and it is never dry. Pork butt needs to breakdown all the connective tissue thus the internal temp. I have pulled them anywhere between 198 to 205. Even if I don't wrap the butt in foil during the stall I have found the finishing temp keeps it moist.

It was 201.

[HighOnSmoke]

What was the internal temperature of the butt when you pulled it off the smoker? I normally take the butts to an internal temp of 203 and let rest in foil for an hour or so and it is never dry. Pork butt needs to breakdown all the connective tissue thus the internal temp. I have pulled them anywhere between 198 to 205. Even if I don't wrap the butt in foil during the stall I have found the finishing temp keeps it moist.

It was 201.

Here are a couple of other ways I check to see if it is done. I will take a fork and insert it in the middle and twist. It should twist really easy and be ready to pull. You can also check the bone and if it is loose and starts to fall out then it is probably tender enough to pull. Other than that it looks like you did everything right. Some cuts of meat are just tougher than others. Not much you can do about that. I had a chuck roast one time that I normally will take to 210 internal to pull and I had to take it to almost 220 to get it to pull. Just the way it goes I guess.

[smokeasaurus]

There are so many great features on the MAK 2 Star that I have forgotten to mention one of the coolest....or should I say the hottest?

The Flashfire Ignition.  Only on a MAK

Scorching hot air that reaches over 2000 degrees (now that will start a fire) )

Let me tell you how fast. I have not time it.

I turn the Pellet Boss on  (on my, I still haven't talked about the Pellet Boss yet)  glad this is long review.

After setting my target temp, I go and sit down and pop a top and I aint kidding, I start smelling wood smoke.

Nothing, and I mean nothing, has a lighting system like the MAK. There is no hot rod sticking out in the firepot. The auger opening where the pellets fall out is above the opening that the Flashfire resides in. No problems of burn back with this set up.

A MAK pellet grill gets up to cooking time faster than any of its competitors.

Just another ground breaking feature that has set MAK so ahead of the game, it will be hard for anyone to get close. Just that plain and simple.

[CDN Smoker]

Dang I wish I lived closer