Hello Missin 44! While the 1 & 2 Star both have the same amount of cooking surface, the 2 Star, with the Warmer/Smoker Box and FlameZone direct cooking set up would be the way to go. You could add the FZ to the 1 Star for an additional $400.00 if you wish. That would bring you to $2100 without any options.
Alot of people choose the 2 Star because the main cooking chamber, pellet hopper and warmer/smoker box lids are all 304 Stainless Steel. Whereas the 1 Star is constructed of aluminized steel with a high-temp powder coat.
Personally, I like the ease of cleaning the SS on my 2 Star. And the FZ makes grilling easy as well. Its also easy to cold smoke cheese, nuts, meats, salt, brown sugar, black pepper-which you can use in your dry rubs. The main difference in pricing is the amount of stainless steel in the 2 Star. It is NOT an in-expensive metal.
A grill cover, 3/4 upper grate and if you love barbecuing ribs, then our 8 slab rib rack is incredible. Wi-Fi accessory is also very popular with our grill owners.
I have been cooking on pellet grills since 1991. I switched from using WSM's myself. Pellet grills made the ability to turn out REAL BBQ so much easier and hassle free. MAK is the pellet grill that all the other manufacturers are copying. Quality only hurts once.