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One crazy man's way though choosing a Premium pellet grill

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    #16
    glitchy I went through almost exactly the same process. I too selected mak. I have a mak one and the same upgragability exsists with this model too. You will never regret your purchase.

    Comment


      #17
      Thanks glitchy.

      As you can imagine, I found this process endlessly entertaining and informative as I was undergoing my own pellet search process, though a purchase won’t be happening anytime soon. I have settled on the OG Grilla, but was really curious what the premium options would offer.

      I also took a look at all of the options you mentioned too, but mainly considered the 1-Star MAK.


      Net net, if I ever move beyond the OG Grilla, the MAK 1-star looks pretty good to me, so I think your MAK 2-star purchase is a great idea.

      What I thought was really interesting is when adding a more or less standard set of options ($200 shipping for everyone but MAK, front shelf, storage shelf, insulated cover or lid, direct sear accessory, pellet dump, cover, and WiFi), the pricing across the group was really similar. I didn’t expect they would be that close. I also think you made some great points on the retrofitting with the MAKs too.

      I was a tad surprised that only the MAK and the Cookshack offered interior drawers for grease management. Perhaps the Lone Star has a viable option with the fire pot removable from outside of the grill, but not sure how that works. I guess I am spoiled with that option on the MB560.

      Smoking Bro 30: $1,844

      Like you, the lack of a true searing option doomed this one for me, plus lack of WiFi, especially at this price point.

      Blazn Grand Slam: $2,209

      Agree with your points on ownership here, but this probably stacks up as #2 for me behind the MAK 1-star.

      Cookshack PG500: $2,237

      The ash thing bothered me as well to strike it off the list, plus the awkwardness of having dedicated searing space that would interfere with say, smoking a brisket. I also didn’t see a WiFi option here.

      Yoder 480: $2,280 (over $2500 with SS grates)

      The $219 insulated cover is ridiculous pricing, the lack of an interior drawer, and the increased pellet consumption versus the MAK are pretty small things, but agree that at the same price, the MAK wins out.

      P&S Maverick 850: $2,424

      Quality option, but essentially same price as MAK 1-star with no differentiating features that would make me pick it over the MAK. The searing solution looks subpar compared to the FlameZone.

      MAK 1-Star: $2,424 or ~$2,500 with extra grates

      Lone Starz: $2,649

      More expensive than the proven MAK and doesn’t yet exist in the real world, so I’d agree with you here too.

      Questions/Comments:
      1. What about the Blazn searing option felt wonky to you? It wasn’t clear to me.
      2. Other than the MAK, did you find out if any of the other options has SS grates as standard?
      Last edited by STEbbq; February 10, 2021, 01:34 PM.

      Comment


      • ItsAllGoneToTheDogs
        ItsAllGoneToTheDogs commented
        Editing a comment
        I use it for a few extra hours when cooking jerky (4ish hours in the main chamber, then as long as I feel like in the warming box), I even used it to help make some beer!

      • glitchy
        glitchy commented
        Editing a comment
        ItsAllGoneToTheDogs I figured it’s one of those things like heated seats or dual sinks in a MBR, you think you can easily live without it, but once you get it, it’s no longer a luxury, but somehow becomes a necessity in the future. It almost steered me away too after fearing that I won’t want to ever be without it if I get it, but this sucker is gonna be around a long time.

      • Old Glory
        Old Glory commented
        Editing a comment
        The sear option for the Blazn Grill does expose the Grill Grates to flames. They are partially blocked by the Firepot plate (Round Plate over Firepot) but some direct flames get around the round diffuser.

        As soon as mine comes in I will post a video.

      #18
      glitchy thanks for the great write up! It's definitely appreciated. I'm on the MAK 2-star bus when my 13yo Traeger finally dies. Let us know how the assembly and first cooks go! Congrats on a great smoker.

      Comment


        #19
        I dunno, I keep coming back to "$2k+ for a pellet grill??" in my mind. The caveat here is I never have to deal with really cold temps in t he single digits (and if I did, I simply don't NEED to cook outside, so....) but I look at the Recteq and others in that $1k-ish price range and wonder if the difference is worth it.

        Some of the cost is better materials and design choices like insulated walls vs not.... and some of it is making things in the US. It would be fascinating to know the costs involved and how much each of those contributes to the COGS.

        Comment


        • klflowers
          klflowers commented
          Editing a comment
          See MBMorgan comment about Grilla. I was in the market for a portable pg when I got the Chimp, but even if I had gone full size I would have considered them. They mfr in overseas, but the product is solid and their service is stellar.

        • ItsAllGoneToTheDogs
          ItsAllGoneToTheDogs commented
          Editing a comment
          Wish they showed a little more metal work, but you can tell there is a lot of hands on the construction of these things, to me that's worth a few extra bucks. But the upgradability between revisions was a huge selling point for me. And they are still supporting owners of single digit Serial Number grills when the warranty was up over a decade ago, that's also got a huge value. And freight is included in the price. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWuEUE5JqUc
          Last edited by ItsAllGoneToTheDogs; February 10, 2021, 04:48 PM.

        • STEbbq
          STEbbq commented
          Editing a comment
          I think that's a good point on the upgradability over time by MAK as I noted earlier too.

          It will be interesting to see how Grilla handles the WiFi upgrade rollout. I expect it will definitely allow existing owners to upgrade to WiFi, similar to what MAK does, but we will see about the costs.

        #20
        Here's the excel I put together. I assume the MAK 1-star comes with 429 inches of space, so I factored in another $75 to $85 bucks to add extra upper grates to get me over 500 inches in space.
        Attached Files

        Comment


        • GolfGeezer
          GolfGeezer commented
          Editing a comment
          One more item: Both MAK's come with a pellet hopper dump built into the hopper. Sorry for the stream of notes, but thought it important to be accurate. And both grills' bodies are 16 gauge 304 stainless.
          Last edited by GolfGeezer; February 10, 2021, 04:19 PM.

        • ItsAllGoneToTheDogs
          ItsAllGoneToTheDogs commented
          Editing a comment
          I thought 1 star has no stainless steel other than the flamezone internals, the entire body is aluminized steel

        • STEbbq
          STEbbq commented
          Editing a comment
          Thanks for the additional details on the pellet hopper. I wasn't able to find all of the details I wanted during the time I gave myself on this effort, so will keep updating the spreadsheet.

        #21
        glitchy Congrats on the new cooker! Looking forward to seeing pics of it and hear how great it is! Although I'm not looking at pellet grills, I love reading about how people come to choose any cooker. I hope you get tons of great service from it!
        Last edited by jpietrantone; February 10, 2021, 06:47 PM.

        Comment


          #22
          If zero_credit and glitchy are not engineers they would have made good ones.

          Comment


          • STEbbq
            STEbbq commented
            Editing a comment
            I am a professional stock analyst.

          • STEbbq
            STEbbq commented
            Editing a comment
            I trust that is the case PJ. No pics required.

          • glitchy
            glitchy commented
            Editing a comment
            I second that, we’ll take your word for it this one time.

          #23
          Congrats! I have a MAK and have spoken to their support for close to a decade. They have great people at MAK and they are lifetime grills. They replace great people with great people, Bruce retired a few years back and was awesome. I’ve called many times since and the service is as good as ever.

          Comment


          • glitchy
            glitchy commented
            Editing a comment
            Thanks for sharing that. I’ve actually talked to Caleb on the phone and emailed with him a bit. He’s great. I hear from others that Dennis is the main support guy and that everyone loves him. I’m pretty stoked about the way they seem to do things and like seeing the names I know from there showing up on some forums helping customers out.

          #24
          Adding a slightly updated spreadsheet and some formatting prettiness. I'm still coming down with the MAK as the best bet, given the dollars involved.

          Attached Files

          Comment


          • DavidNorcross
            DavidNorcross commented
            Editing a comment
            This is impressive.

          • glitchy
            glitchy commented
            Editing a comment
            $100 gets you a full SS upper for the 1 star, doubling capacity for stuff that isn’t too tall. I was going to buy that and skip the storage shelf to start if I went 1 Star.

          • STEbbq
            STEbbq commented
            Editing a comment
            I’d agree the upper grate would be the first purchase. I have that noted as the MAK red comment there.

          #25
          Congrats on your new MAK. I think you will find the warmer box more useful as you get more comfortable mastering the MAK.

          Comment


          • glitchy
            glitchy commented
            Editing a comment
            I’m sure I will, If it ever gets here. I actually play to smoke some cheese right away as I’ve never done that before. I’m sure I’ll use it for reverse seared steaks too and learn to use it to hold items that finish at different times.

          #26
          Howdy,

          Thanks for the writeup! I'm in roughly the same boat as you, trying to finalize my decision for a new pellet smoker (why they call them grills, who knows)...every review pretty much says they're not very good at searing.

          My first choice would have been a vertical pellet smoker, but I can't seem to find any with stainless steel interior and exterior parts. I am "graduating" from a vertical electrical smoker whose parts are rusting through (both steel and aluminum disintegration).

          I came across a used 2-Star General that's local, but it's the older (2012) version. I don't so much care about K connectors, but it appears that there are a LOT of other improvements.

          Any comments?

          Thanks in advance...

          Comment


          • ItsAllGoneToTheDogs
            ItsAllGoneToTheDogs commented
            Editing a comment
            The 2012 models can't support a few of the upgrades, they are fine smokers and there is a flamezone upgrade for them. I believe they have a standing rack for the 2nd shelf instead of a slide in one. You can still upgrade the software which you would need to do for better smoking and grilling capability. There is a 2018 2 star for sale in the for sale section of this forum though

          • ItsAllGoneToTheDogs
            ItsAllGoneToTheDogs commented
            Editing a comment
            As for the full differences between 2012 and 2020 models, the cart is fully enclosed except for the door which is an add on purchase. The 2020's have up to 3 additional racks, a slightly deeper grease drain to reduce overflow, a roaming thermocouple so you can run the grill for at grate temps, the hopper door opens the opposite direction because they installed a magnetic lid safety switch, and then probe type (which is a big deal because the old probes are single source high fail rate at $80

          • smokyYank
            smokyYank commented
            Editing a comment
            As always, thank you "It's"...will check the for sale area...

          #27
          Originally posted by smokyYank View Post
          Howdy,

          Thanks for the writeup! I'm in roughly the same boat as you, trying to finalize my decision for a new pellet smoker (why they call them grills, who knows)...every review pretty much says they're not very good at searing.

          My first choice would have been a vertical pellet smoker, but I can't seem to find any with stainless steel interior and exterior parts. I am "graduating" from a vertical electrical smoker whose parts are rusting through (both steel and aluminum disintegration).

          I came across a used 2-Star General that's local, but it's the older (2012) version. I don't so much care about K connectors, but it appears that there are a LOT of other improvements.

          Any comments?

          Thanks in advance...
          For verticals, have you looked at the Pellet Pro models from https://smokedaddyinc.com/product/th...ellet-smoker/? It looks like they at least have stainless grates and probably heavier steel on the body.

          In regards to a used MAK, I don't know the extensive details of the older models. I've kept my eye on MAK for a few years, but didn't track all of the changes. I was led to believe that anything that has been changed on the newer versions of the 2 star can be retrofitted to all older 2 stars as well. The only downside is some of the upgrades add up pretty quick in price. If you buy a new controller, WiFi, and FlameZone, I think you'll be pushing a grand pretty quick. However, I've seen people mention they sometimes have refurbished controllers available for upgrades. This seems to be more likely if your controller is an older model that cannot go to current firmware, where you might be able to snag a refurb with the barrel style probes that will still support the latest firmware. However, keep in mind, that will likely mean you will never use the temp probes on the grill unless you found a reliable 3rd party probe that was compatible. From everything I've read, their barrel type probes were notoriously awful.

          With the FlameZone, the MAK actually can 'grill' OK. I've been very impressed doing burgers on it at 450. It recovers well too, unlike most other pellet grills I've had. I pretty sure from limited testing that it does not sear a steak as well as I'd like, but I'm pretty confident I could 'grill' just about anything else I could think of to satisfaction. I'm actually going to get the MAK griddle to try for 'pan searing' steaks. There is definitely a huge gap between how Traegers, CampChefs, and many others grill and how a SmokeFire grills. MAK and Memphis both fit in this step. MAK and Memphis are both actually pretty fair 'grills', but not outstanding at that feature. The SmokeFire grills like a decent medium power gasser. That lower tier pretty much just sucks at it. Yes, someone will try to claim the the lower tier (not of product quality, but of grilling ability) grill fine with GrillGrates, which is a pseudo work around as it still takes forever on a lot of them to recover temps after flipping stuff, etc. and you end up taking twice as long to cook stuff.

          Having seen the construction of the MAK, I would have no concerns buying a used one. A lot would depend on what features have been upgraded that I thought I could not live without and what those would cost me on top of the used grill vs the cost of a new one. If you are very content with just using it as a smoker, you could likely get by as is or with just a refurb controller if that one on the grill isn't updatable to the most recent firmware. However, I do think the FlameZone does a lot for getting to temps quickly and holding them more steadily (even with the covers on, the assembly around the firepot acts like a dual walled bottom half). WiFi definitely depends on your personal preferences and is not a required feature.

          I think it was on a FB group that I even saw they have a shelf retrofit kit you can get from MAK that allows you to put the additional shelf brackets in if you need more capacity that the two levels the older models had.

          Comment


          • glitchy
            glitchy commented
            Editing a comment
            Clark You’re safe I’m allergic to chocolate, so it’s 3 flavors. It’s only takes about 5 minutes to decide from those.

          • smokyYank
            smokyYank commented
            Editing a comment
            Thank you, glitchy! Didn't even think about the damn software/firmware.

            Maybe I should just dig a hole in the dirt in my backyard, add a few large rocks, and toss some logs in....no software there!

          • glitchy
            glitchy commented
            Editing a comment
            smokyYank Don't fear the firmware on a MAK. They've been making great performing grills for a number of years. I actually see their design as possibly a bigger benefit than drawback on firmware. Since they don't force firmware updates on you, if you are happy with the performance (and most MAK users are), you don't have to update it. Most of the others force you to take updates and with the case of the SmokeFire would break more than it fixed.

          #28
          I have a good experience of building pellet smoker at home instead of purchasing from any of the brands. I know it's a difficult process but someone who loves DIY would love to try it. It's cost affective, it's maintenance is easy and you can add as many pellets as you want. Pellet Smokers has their own special unique taste and you can surely give it a try. If someone is looking for a guide leave a comment and I will share it.

          Comment


          • Donw
            Donw commented
            Editing a comment
            glitchy Did you ever see Paul Newman in the movie "The Sting?" It is about a group of con men pulling off what is referred to as a "long con." We are now reading what is called "the pitch." Time to walk away from this poster.

          • ItsAllGoneToTheDogs
            ItsAllGoneToTheDogs commented
            Editing a comment
            Donw spidey senses are tingling

          • smokyYank
            smokyYank commented
            Editing a comment
            Hey anthony - would love to hear of your tales! I'm an avid DIY-er...

          #29
          In 2017 I did similar research as you did, and ended up choosing the MAK. I have updated it several times as they has come out with new features. this longevity is really important to me. During this time, the quality, support and consistency of the cooking output has impressed me. i use it 3-4 times a week, even in rain and snow and it is always consistent. Works for me. The support is so awesome, I have not found any others how could match them.

          Comment

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