M Grills M1

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missin44

Knows what a fatty is.
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I've been searching for a long time, the M1 may be the one. I spoke to Travis at M Grill and was impressed.

If there are any M1 owners here I would like to hear you impressions. What do you like and knowing nothing is perfect anything you don't like?

Thanks
 
I will also like to hear some first hand impressions as I really like the look of this pit as well as the design. I think member "rwalter" had one but sold it. Now is the time to get one as they are having a 25% off sale until Oct 22nd.

A couple of negatives that I did read about was that there is no ash pan if you are using the charcoal grate that goes up and down and it's not very convenient to add more charcoal to the grate if you need to.

One thing holding me back from getting one is that I don't think I want a stick burner to smoke with and no one has really said if just using lump or briquettes in the smoking basket will work very well.

Wayne
 
70monte said:
I will also like to hear some first hand impressions as I really like the look of this pit as well as the design. I think member "rwalter" had one but sold it. Now is the time to get one as they are having a 25% off sale until Oct 22nd.

A couple of negatives that I did read about was that there is no ash pan if you are using the charcoal grate that goes up and down and it's not very convenient to add more charcoal to the grate if you need to.

One thing holding me back from getting one is that I don't think I want a stick burner to smoke with and no one has really said if just using lump or briquettes in the smoking basket will work very well.

Wayne
Click to expand...

Where did you see anything about 25% off sale?
 
I’ve had mine about a year and love it. Small footprint and easy to maintain 250-275 by adding a split or 2 every 45-60mins. I did have to cut my splits down in size, however.

I have never grilled on it as I have a Hasty Bake that would operate similarly. Wayne is correct in that there is no access to the charcoal grate - you’d have to lift one of the cooking grates to do this I suppose.

You can search M1 in this forum for some of my cooks but any specific questions let me know :thumb:
 
I will do a live video tonight on Instagram with a walk around of the M1 and M36 and show the process of cleaning out the grill. It's very easy and adding charcoal to the charcoal grate is very easy as well. I'll show that process as well. It's a 2 section Grate with stainless grate lifting tools that come with the grill. So pulling up one side to add fuel during very long grill sessions is easy.

I'll record it sometime tonight while I'm at the State Fair of Texas so it will be up for awhile.

Our Instagram account Is mgrills_texas

btw, you can definitely smoke with lump charcoal. You can typically get anywhere from 4-6 hours at a stable constant temperature. I have some customers say they can smoke all day with one load of coal and some wood. I usually get 5 hours before refueling.

I prefer using as a stick burner because it's the easiest stick burner I've ever used in my life.
 
I have the M1 and I love it!

I had never used a stick burner before and to be honest I was very apprehensive due to me not knowing how to manage a fire but the design of the M1 made it VERY easy to learn how to manage a fire. I believe that its partially due to the efficiency of the M1, me being prepared and help here I received on the board.

I had to do the same as Korn did and cut my spilts down since adding a full-size spilt choked it down some. By using a half split I'm able to keep my temps at or around 250 but if I want to raise the temps I would add the other half split at the same time.

Over the past few months I've really ran it through the mill and its been able easily handle it all.

Don't let the small footprint fool because if you get the top shelf extension it gives you three levels that you can smoke on.
 
travismagee said:
I will do a live video tonight on Instagram with a walk around of the M1 and M36 and show the process of cleaning out the grill. It's very easy and adding charcoal to the charcoal grate is very easy as well. I'll show that process as well. It's a 2 section Grate with stainless grate lifting tools that come with the grill. So pulling up one side to add fuel during very long grill sessions is easy.

I'll record it sometime tonight while I'm at the State Fair of Texas so it will be up for awhile.

Our Instagram account Is mgrills_texas

btw, you can definitely smoke with lump charcoal. You can typically get anywhere from 4-6 hours at a stable constant temperature. I have some customers say they can smoke all day with one load of coal and some wood. I usually get 5 hours before refueling.

I prefer using as a stick burner because it's the easiest stick burner I've ever used in my life.
Click to expand...

Will the video possibly be posted to Youtube or to your site, for those of us who don't InstaFace?
 
We have great deals on all of our grills right now.

Drop me an email and I'll expand our State Fair of Texas deals to all the brethren.. But it's only till October 22nd so you better act fast!

Travis@mgrills.com
 
@missin44 - I have the M1 - use it pretty much every week for general grilling and at least once a month for smoking. I'm probably one of the biggest fans of the M1 - ask any questions and I can help out :grin:

By the way, Travis is the man. Helped me out with questions on my M1 multiple times.

EDIT: I should mention literally the one thing that I don't like about the M1 was fixed in their latest design. I have the older model where the stainless shelves didn't have a cut-out to hold the grate tools - which you'll use quite a bit. The new design has a nifty notch to keep them well organized.
 
Travis being involved in this site as much as he is, always there to answer questions and just being a great spokesman for what is clearly a great product is impressive. If shipping the unit to Canada wouldn't cost as much as the cooker itself an M1 would be topping my list.
 
travismagee said:
I will do a live video tonight on Instagram with a walk around of the M1 and M36 and show the process of cleaning out the grill. It's very easy and adding charcoal to the charcoal grate is very easy as well. I'll show that process as well. It's a 2 section Grate with stainless grate lifting tools that come with the grill. So pulling up one side to add fuel during very long grill sessions is easy.

I'll record it sometime tonight while I'm at the State Fair of Texas so it will be up for awhile.

Our Instagram account Is mgrills_texas

btw, you can definitely smoke with lump charcoal. You can typically get anywhere from 4-6 hours at a stable constant temperature. I have some customers say they can smoke all day with one load of coal and some wood. I usually get 5 hours before refueling.

I prefer using as a stick burner because it's the easiest stick burner I've ever used in my life.
Click to expand...

Thanks for posting the video about adding more charcoal and about cleanup. It's also good to know that you can smoke without using wood. My reasons for not using a stick burner is more about having to add wood every 45-60 minutes than having to source wood and split it to size. I like to go several hours before having to reload the fuel source.
 
Not a deal breaker, but since I'm a detail type. I'm not a fan of the wheels, for my given situation) combined with the weight on the M1. Since it's a stick burner I don't want to cook in my wood deck. I'm sure a lot of you do, but not me. In addition I live in a very high fire danger area so fire consideration is a must. That leaves the my driveway which is gravel, store it in the garage and roll it out to cook. The wheels on on the M1 are not gravel (or snow for the winter) friendly, inflatable wheels would be a huge improvement, at least in my situation. Just something more to consider, it's a bummer since the M1 ticks virtually every box.

The others I are looking at, the MAK 1 Star at 1/2 the weight while still a PITA would be manageable, as would a Weber Summit.
 
Last edited:
You bring up a very valid point. The M1 weighs a freaking ton, and while the wheels are great, I can attest that they do not perform well over gravel.

That being said - I actually have a plastic deck (trex), and since the firebox on the M1 sits low, you do in fact need to take into consideration that the small area underneath the pit will get hot if you're smoking. I personally believe my solution to this is easy, cheap, and works incredibly well.

If you get the M1, pick up two pieces of hardie / backer board from Home Depot / Lowes. Whenever I want to use my M1 to smoke, I roll it directly on top of a piece of hardie board that I put on my deck, which takes all of the abuse of the heat and weight. The reason why I said to pick up two pieces is because if you ever want to move the M1 around your property, and it's all gravel, pop down one piece of board at a time and roll the M1 right over it (move it a few feet, then move the other board in front, repeat). Works really well for me.
 
Old thread I know. How does the M1 compare to a kamado as far as grilling is concerned for those that have had both a kamado and an M1?
 
Dreamboater said:
Old thread I know. How does the M1 compare to a kamado as far as grilling is concerned for those that have had both a kamado and an M1?
Click to expand...



Had a primo oval xl for about 8 years and have an M1 now. Grilling performance is about the same. Lot more airflow with the m1 so temps can get out of hand quickly if you have a lot of charcoal. I use the m1 split fire grate with the basket on one side to create a two zone setup. One cool thing you can do with the m1 is burn logs on the fire grate and direct grill over a wood fire...like a campfire. Can’t do that with a kamado. (Did burgers like that tonight over oak splits actually)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
Have a m36 ordered. Excited for it but at the same time I'm hoping I made the right choice. I'm on the verge of ordering a Shirley or backline fab offset just in case ��
 
gtsum said:
Had a primo oval xl for about 8 years and have an M1 now. Grilling performance is about the same. Lot more airflow with the m1 so temps can get out of hand quickly if you have a lot of charcoal. I use the m1 split fire grate with the basket on one side to create a two zone setup. One cool thing you can do with the m1 is burn logs on the fire grate and direct grill over a wood fire...like a campfire. Can’t do that with a kamado. (Did burgers like that tonight over oak splits actually)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
Click to expand...

Thanks! I’ve seen where most that grill indirect for longer than 45 mins - hr will do so from the firebox. Obviously this would use a lot more charcoal. The M1 is intriguing with the ability to use as a wood burning offset. How has charcoal smoking from the firebox worked out for you? I see Travis has made a new coal basket that is 3” deeper which will hold more charcoal and bigger splits
 
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