SO just to update this, I feel I've mostly dialed in the MAK. I'm more comfortable trying new recipes but have yet to attempt a full packer (more because of price/quality available than fear). Also I've made some minor mistakes and found some minor concerns in the grill. Do note a new 2019 MAK is out in the wild which addresses every issue I've had except one.
1. Concern 1 was under very certain circumstances water could get into the bottom of the pellet hopper, resulting in a mess. MAK came through with a design fix and a free part. All 2019 MAK grills have this part preinstalled. I didn't reach out to MAK for this part, they reached out to me. They wanted feedback on installing it and how it worked and communicated very promptly about it. Top notch stuff right there!
2. Concern 2 is that while you can actually pack a surprising amount of meat on the thing, it does feel lacking when doing a larger jerky batch. While I will be rectifying this with a jerky rack, MAKs new grill has 4! racks. This is the only item they don't have available as an upgrade for older grills (though I have some ideas I'll be sending them).
3. Concern 3 was the unique probes they use were very expensive. Well, their new unit uses the K style probes which are abundant and come in multiple price/quality options.
4. Concern 4 was the complaints some users had with the wifi upgrade/MAK mobile. Supposedly this is 100% fixed now and will be my next purchase in combination with upgrading my pellet boss to accept the new probes. This combo will allow me to bypass my intended purchase of a better quality wifi thermometer and come out to roughly the same cost.
The biggest mistake I made was smoking cheese the other week. It was mid 50's so I used the "cold smoker box" (warming box) and started smoking away, I almost lost a block of swiss because I forget metal things in the sun get hotter than ambient so temps went a little warm. I could have worked around this with a tray of ice in the box, but I didn't lose the cheese
The only other mistake I made early on was not cleaning the thermocouple as well or as often as I should. A quick rub with some steel wool does the trick after a long cook and helps keep temps where I want them.
Finally another big improvement is the new programing allows the grill to be set in increments all the way to 600 degrees above the grate. Actual grate temp should be hotter than that as many were getting around 700 below the grate with the old programing that was only specific to 450 and then went to a grill setting.
Overall I'm super happy with my purchase. I never regretted the money, but my wife was grumping for the first few months. She hasn't said a word about the cost lately, so I think she's happy with it too now
1. Concern 1 was under very certain circumstances water could get into the bottom of the pellet hopper, resulting in a mess. MAK came through with a design fix and a free part. All 2019 MAK grills have this part preinstalled. I didn't reach out to MAK for this part, they reached out to me. They wanted feedback on installing it and how it worked and communicated very promptly about it. Top notch stuff right there!
2. Concern 2 is that while you can actually pack a surprising amount of meat on the thing, it does feel lacking when doing a larger jerky batch. While I will be rectifying this with a jerky rack, MAKs new grill has 4! racks. This is the only item they don't have available as an upgrade for older grills (though I have some ideas I'll be sending them).
3. Concern 3 was the unique probes they use were very expensive. Well, their new unit uses the K style probes which are abundant and come in multiple price/quality options.
4. Concern 4 was the complaints some users had with the wifi upgrade/MAK mobile. Supposedly this is 100% fixed now and will be my next purchase in combination with upgrading my pellet boss to accept the new probes. This combo will allow me to bypass my intended purchase of a better quality wifi thermometer and come out to roughly the same cost.
The biggest mistake I made was smoking cheese the other week. It was mid 50's so I used the "cold smoker box" (warming box) and started smoking away, I almost lost a block of swiss because I forget metal things in the sun get hotter than ambient so temps went a little warm. I could have worked around this with a tray of ice in the box, but I didn't lose the cheese
The only other mistake I made early on was not cleaning the thermocouple as well or as often as I should. A quick rub with some steel wool does the trick after a long cook and helps keep temps where I want them.
Finally another big improvement is the new programing allows the grill to be set in increments all the way to 600 degrees above the grate. Actual grate temp should be hotter than that as many were getting around 700 below the grate with the old programing that was only specific to 450 and then went to a grill setting.
Overall I'm super happy with my purchase. I never regretted the money, but my wife was grumping for the first few months. She hasn't said a word about the cost lately, so I think she's happy with it too now
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