So far as my story goes...I didn't grow up in a family that did much in the way of outdoor cooking. I would say that my love and fascination with REAL BBQ started in the 1980s when a true Texas style bbq restaurant opened in the Portland area. I jokingly claim that I helped to pay off that building and help them expand to 3 locations.
From there, came the desire to do bbq on my own at home. I started out with an inexpensive watersmoker and began experimenting and cooking. In the meantime, I sought out every book on the subject, building a barbecue library-which today-is about 200 volumes. In 1991, I became a dedicated "pellethead" when I got introduced to Traeger (manufactured 22 miles from my home. I had been writing a twice monthly column for the local paper called On Barbecue.
I got a phone call from Randy Traeger asking me to come out and see this revolutionary new type of barbecue that used wood pellets. I did, and was mildly amused, because I was a barbecue purist. It wasn't until I attended the first NBBQA conference/trade show that I REALLY got hooked on pellet grills, when one of their distributors was demonstrating the Traeger and served brisket, tri-tip and ribs. Man! The smoke flavor was spot on. I got home, called Randy and said, "I want one!" He said come and get it.
So that was 1991. Between then and 1999, my wife and I cooked in bbq competitions using our Traeger and winning at least one ribbon at each competition. We were 7 points away from a perfect score in our brisket entry at a cookoff held in Albany, OR. During the state fair, we'd hang out with the dealer who was selling spas and Traegers. In one instance, my wife and I sold 10-15 Traegers in two hours! (the person manning the booth at the fair had no idea how to explain pellet grills).
In 1999, Randy asked me to come to work with him, "Papa Joe", Mark, Brian, Greg in the capacity of Director of Marketing. That gig lasted until 2009, when I left the company because all of the manufacturing had shifted to China in late 2008. The company had sold in 2006, and the new owner (who lived in NYC) was a basket case. His style of management was ruining my health, and I hit the exit door.
The day following my leaving Traeger, I headed over to Dallas, OR, where I had heard about a new company manufacturing a wood pellet grill. It was MAK GRILLS. I will confess that my expectations were pretty low. That was UNTIL I SAW THE 2 STAR. It BLEW MY MIND! It had features on it that no other pellet grill had (it was still a limited market with about 6 different brands). It was also very expensive @ $1999.00. (I laugh now because those were the "good ole days"). The higher price was due to the fact that MAK purposely chose to build a grill using AMERICAN-MADE components and materials. It was their #1 mission to help keep American-based manufacturing viable. (remember this was during the Great Recession of 2008-2010).
The following week, I approached Bob & Kerrie about doing some marketing work for them. They, fortunately, said, "That sounds like a good idea!". On January 4,2010, I became the first MAK Grills employee, and have worked there ever since.
I think that the one thing that continues to impress me about the company I work for is the dedication MAK has to constantly innovate and improve the grills we are making. The 2 Star of today has seen many improvements and upgrades.
Like so many of you, when it comes to cooking outdoors, there is only ONE unit I cook on, my MAK PELLET GRILL. It's been the only thing I cooked on in my backyard since 1991.
