Two years ago I bought a Smoke Vault for father's day (great deal). I cooked up two slabs of baby backs for my father's day meal. I hated to process so much that was my last cook on it. I adjusted literally a millimeter clockwise and the temp rose 50-75 degrees. Millimeter to the right, and it dropped 50-75 degrees. I did this infuriating dance for 6 plus hours. I knew right then I will eventually get a pellet smoker.
Now I am in the final stages of deciding what I want. For over a year I KNEW I wanted a Rec Tec 680. It has the be the absolute best value in pellet smokers. Then a couple months ago they came out with the 700 with Wi-Fi and meat probes. FOR THE SAME PRICE! That made the value simply unbeatable. So, as of last week, I was going to get the RT-700 for $1200 and I was 90% sure I would have swung for the competition cart for an extra $300. It makes it look so much stronger and durable.
And then all of YOU horrible people!
MAK grills this. MAK grills that. You guys have placed the seed of doubt and its driving me crazy. There is no way I can justify spending $2700 for the MAK 2. I can do a lot of overtime and come up with the money, but I can't make that purchase and not feel guilty to my family. I also know with the accessories, it will easily be over 3k. And I had been completely discounting the 1 Star due to size. Then I came across another plea for help and someone put up a picture with 8! Boston Butts on that sucker. What I desperately need to know is, will it a complete packer brisket? Brisket is thee item I intend on learning to cook.
So, a 1 Star runs 1700, vs $1500 for a Rec Tec with a cart.
1 Star with the double rack comes to 858 square inches.
Rec Tec with the large grate comes to 1052 square inches.
Rec Tec has double the hopper capacity. Plus I love how it is on the back, greatly reducing augur length, ie durability.
I am almost there with the MAK, but the extra $500 ($200) is a big hurdle. I need something that adds value/features to the MAK to make the final decision. (If you cannot tell, it's not that I'm cheap, I'm value driven and I do believe in the law of diminishing returns)
See what your MAK Grills evangelizing has done!