Let's Talk BBQ
FORUM SPONSORS => MAK Grills => Topic started by: MadFoodScientist on May 14, 2018, 02:40:27 PM
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:D 8) :thumbup:
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Congrats!! :thumbup:
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Not gonna believe you until I see that box opened, "whatever" is in the box assembled, and smoke rolling ;)
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Awesome!
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Now the fun begins. :D :D
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Yeaaahh booooyy!
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i see you've put it in your signature but not outed yourself as to whether it's the 1 or 2 star general... the suspense!!!
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Congrats on the new grill. You're gonna love it.
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I remember when mine arrived back in 2016. I was transported back to when I was a kid opening LEGO sets on Christmas. Enjoy!
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Congratulations. Wait until you open that carton and see that beast setting there just waiting to cook delicious meals for decades to come.
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Thanks guys. I am having fun with my new grill! So what was in the box.... a Mak 2 Star General!
I assembled with a friend which was a must. Some of my powder coat was scrapped off during shipping. Luckily the damage to the powder coat is inside the pellet hopper and the cold smoke draw so not a big deal. Looks like some of the parts (the grease draw in the pellet hopper and the grease tray in the cold smoke box) that are in these areas during shipping moved around and caused the scrapes. Bruce and Dennis at Mak are sending me some high temperature paint to touch up these areas!
Build quality on the grill is excellent. I love the finish on the stainless steel as it will conceal scratches really well. I have had other stainless steel grills before and trying to clean without scratching was a major pain so I appreciate the finish!
We had some friends over for dinner the same night it was assembled so I made some burgers. I had the grill set at 450F with the flame zone covers removed. They are not kidding when they call this a flame zone! I am not sure if this is what is supposed to happen or if it was a grease fire caused by the grease dripping onto the hot flame zone pan but I think I will get leaner ground beef next time (I had 80/20 mix)! The burgers came out great :)
The next day, I attached the Mak Mobile to the grill which was not too hard to do. I then did some cold smoked cheese. Had the cheese in the smoker for about 25 minutes and it took on a ton of smoke flavor and was delicious!
I then decided to attempt a tri-tip. It was my first time doing a tri-tip. It came out ok. I put the Mak on smoke mode for an hour. The Mak held it temperature incredibly well. I then raised the temp to 220F to get the meat to an internal temperature 110F. I then removed the flame zone cover, attached my searing grate and raised the grill to 450F. I then seared the meat.
I had a probe plugged in as well. The probe temperature was on the graph but when I unplugged the probe, the log of the probe temp disappeared from the graph on Mak Mobile. Anyone know how to prevent that?
I look forward to doing some more cooking on this beast!
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Nice looking grill and tri-tip
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Congrats!
I just wish I could see the photos (photobucket limits third-party viewing unless you pay for the subscription).
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TentHunteR- I did not realize that. I will switch the photos to attachment until I get that figured out. Thanks!
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Congrats! You will love how easily it assembles. Very well thought out.
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LOL!! I'm digging that flaming pic with the burgers.
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MAD----since your grill is brand new, the amount of heat refraction on the very shiny steel really keeps the heat flowing. I would recommend turning down you temperature a bit until the grill is well seasoned. Once the interior steel dulls down, the refracted heat will be a little bit less. I would not move away from 80/20 burger meat. Otherwise it is too lean and will fall a part and have no flavor. FAT=FLAVOR.
You need to save and name your graphs before you unplug the meat probe. Also, the probes should not be used above 350F in your grill. They are not meant for high heat cooking.
Welcome to the MAK Grills family! Looks like you are well on the way to living a more flavor-filled life!
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Fantastic pics! Looks like you have hit the ground running :)
Regarding the flare-ups... I cook 75/25ish burgers more often than not. Even with my well seasoned MAK, I find 450 to be a bit to much for the FATTY meats. Cooking the fattier meats like 75/25 with the Pellet Boss set to 375-400 with the Flame Zone covers removed, turns out amazingly good burgers with no flare-ups. Keep in mind that the cooking surface is a good 100+ degrees hotter when the FZ covers are off, than what the PB displays. I did some fatty ribeyes a couple of weeks ago with the Pellet Boss set to 450. I had just a few licks of flame, but it was perfect. On the other hand, fatty burgers are just a bit to much for that intense heat.
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MAD----since your grill is brand new, the amount of heat refraction on the very shiny steel really keeps the heat flowing. I would recommend turning down you temperature a bit until the grill is well seasoned. Once the interior steel dulls down, the refracted heat will be a little bit less. I would not move away from 80/20 burger meat. Otherwise it is too lean and will fall a part and have no flavor. FAT=FLAVOR.
You need to save and name your graphs before you unplug the meat probe. Also, the probes should not be used above 350F in your grill. They are not meant for high heat cooking.
Welcome to the MAK Grills family! Looks like you are well on the way to living a more flavor-filled life!
Thanks MrBBQ! That makes sense on the seasoning and I will stick to 80/20 which has always been my go to for burgers. I only used the probe for the initial smoking on the tri-tip. I removed the probe when I removed the meat to turn up the grill for the final sear. I will make sure to save my graphs prior to removing the probe in the future. I appreciate all the helpful tips!
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Fantastic pics! Looks like you have hit the ground running :)
Regarding the flare-ups... I cook 75/25ish burgers more often than not. Even with my well seasoned MAK, I find 450 to be a bit to much for the FATTY meats. Cooking the fattier meats like 75/25 with the Pellet Boss set to 375-400 with the Flame Zone covers removed, turns out amazingly good burgers with no flare-ups. Keep in mind that the cooking surface is a good 100+ degrees hotter when the FZ covers are off, than what the PB displays. I did some fatty ribeyes a couple of weeks ago with the Pellet Boss set to 450. I had just a few licks of flame, but it was perfect. On the other hand, fatty burgers are just a bit to much for that intense heat.
Thanks Robb! Those are some good tips. I am hoping to grill some steaks tonight for dinner (as long as it does not rain tonight).
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I found that when I had my Traeger Jr I would curse not being able to get it above 300. Now with the Mac 350 is almost overkill. But I’m no pro and don’t care about grill marks.
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LOL!! I'm digging that flaming pic with the burgers.
Burger King ain't got nothing compared to MAK flame kissed burgers! LOL!
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The food off your MAK is looking good already!
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Congrats on your new cooker! Food looks delicious! For those that are having problems with the Photobucket photos, here are the links to a Photobucket fix. It is a browser add on for Chrome and Firefox. Not sure about Safari. It works great and is virus and ad free.
Firefox add on: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/photobucket-embedded-fix/?hotlinkfix=1526518049377
Chrome: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/photobucket-hotlink-fix/kegnjbncdcliihbemealioapbifiaedg
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Very Very Nice ;D