The Official Pellet Grill Smoker thread.

[MattGoose]

We are EXPERTS at spending others money!!!!

In that vein - I think I'm actually gonna do it. I can't swing the MAK, but looks like I'm going to have around $900 to move swing a pellet option. That would include shipping, taxes, and a cover.



The pellet would become my primary grill - right now I'm using a Performer and Weber Q220 as the primary (depending on cook) and the kamado sits lonely.



Searing is important, but if I can do a nice smash patty on it I'd be happy. The Performer would still be used to sear off steaks and other large cuts.



Right now it's the Grilla Alpha Pro. I think that Grilla does the best job, in the price range, of putting the $$ into quality components.



I've looked at Camp Chef, which looks like a great grill, but they get expensive with the sear box and wifi.



I'm stuck on the fence on this one.... It's a big move, but everyone seems to love theirs so much!

 

[TXArmy]

I’ve got a few year old GMG Daniel Boone and after learning its quarks it puts out some great q. It’s really nice to throw a brisket on at 9pm and go to bed with full confidence it will still be chugging along at 225 12 hours later. I’ve done a few higher heat cooks but don’t use it as my primary grill. I’ve been eyeing GMG’s “prime” grills, especially since they’re currently on sale for $599. Had an issue with auger tube clog, too long not being used (in Afghanistan), and customer service was great. They had a new one out to me in less than a week free of charge. Really great cooker at price point. When it eventually dies I will be joining MAK family!

 

[Speeed]

Yummy Pork Butts off the Rec Tec yesterday...
left has Oakridge BBQ dominator sweet rib rub, right has Kosmo Q dirty bird.
They were both bangin. We gave a lot away and the texts I got last night were awesome.

This was about an hour or so before they were wrapped.

 

[smoke ninja]

Turkey dinner on the pit boss with all the fixins

 

[1MoreFord]

I'm currently using the Grilla comp blend pellets that came with the grill.

I haven't used any other at this moment. I keep ordering GG com blend.

Do you have any recommendations?

I'm not a pellet person Yet so no first hand experience but I've been following about every pellet thread I can find.

The consensus I see for pellets are Cookinpellets, Lumberjack, B&B, and BBQersDelight. B&B is said to be rebranded BBQersDelight. Hickory seems to be the choice for heavier smoke with others for more delicate flavors.

Atwoods and Rural King usually have Lumberjack at good prices and Academy Sports normally have B&B at good prices.

 

[TXArmy]

Definitely cookinpellets 100% hickory. Best flavor!

 

[twofishy4u]

In that vein - I think I'm actually gonna do it. I can't swing the MAK, but looks like I'm going to have around $900 to move swing a pellet option. That would include shipping, taxes, and a cover.



The pellet would become my primary grill - right now I'm using a Performer and Weber Q220 as the primary (depending on cook) and the kamado sits lonely.



Searing is important, but if I can do a nice smash patty on it I'd be happy. The Performer would still be used to sear off steaks and other large cuts.



Right now it's the Grilla Alpha Pro. I think that Grilla does the best job, in the price range, of putting the $$ into quality components.



I've looked at Camp Chef, which looks like a great grill, but they get expensive with the sear box and wifi.



I'm stuck on the fence on this one.... It's a big move, but everyone seems to love theirs so much!

I'd look into a GMG prime. I have a choice boone and it does cook well and I've never had a jamb or bad cook from it. I use it at least 5 times a week this last month. I know nothing about grilla but maybe they are OK too. I'd call each company and see how fast you can get a "human" on the phone. Also the prime will do upto 550. I can reverse sear and I do burgers all the time, just finished tonights about 15 minutes ago!!! I will be getting a new grill soon but this time it's gonna be American made.

 

[smoke ninja]

I'm not a pellet person Yet so no first hand experience but I've been following about every pellet thread I can find.

The consensus I see for pellets are Cookinpellets, Lumberjack, B&B, and BBQersDelight. B&B is said to be rebranded BBQersDelight. Hickory seems to be the choice for heavier smoke with others for more delicate flavors.

Atwoods and Rural King usually have Lumberjack at good prices and Academy Sports normally have B&B at good prices.

great summary. that just about sums up the story on pellets. only thing I would add is Dicks will price match rural king and a good deal can be had on bulk pellets on bbqpellets dot com

 

[rwalters]

I am trying to narrow down a pellet smoker to add to my arsenal.. i currently smoke mostly on a Shirley stick burner. I am considering a Yoder YS640 or a MAK since they seem to be well reviewed. But was curious how they justify the price tag over a Grilla Grills or Rec Tec? Is the flavor they produce that much better? or is it just build quality and dependability?

Never used a pellet grill before, so totally new to it.

Well, I can definitely say with zero hesitation that MAK’s build quality and engineering brilliance is extremely impressive. Am I MAK biased? Yes. Why? Because out of all of the grills/smokers that have passed through my backyard over the years, I have never enjoyed one more than the MAK 2 Star. They are designed to smoke, and with their controller algorithms, variable speed fan and Funnel Flame Zone design, they smoke like locomotives. They are also designed to grill, and again, with their Funnel Flame Zone design they truly make for a fantastic everyday grill with intense semi-direct radiant heat across the entire cooking grate vs a small direct flame zone like every direct flame competitor on the market.

I have shared this before, but will do so again in case you haven’t seen it. This took place last May...

So, as some of you know, a couple of months ago I decided to order the 2019 version of the MAK 2 Star. As part of "the plan" I put my 2017 2 Star up for sale. Not being out to gouge anyone, I attracted a buyer from 9 hours away. We set a day/time... he made a hotel reservation... he and his wife drove from SoCal to NorCal on a Friday... stayed overnight... picked up the MAK early Saturday morning... spent the day putzing around in the Sacramento area... and returned home Saturday night. What some guys/gals will do for a good deal... lol.

We spent probably close to an hour chit-chatting the morning he came over to pick up his new 2 Star. During our coversation, I discovered a few things:

1) His acquisition of my MAK put him at a total of 11 backyard cookers. From a pellet grill, to a stick burner, to a Santa Maria style grill, to a you-name-it... he already had ALL of his bases covered.

2) Although he's heard plenty of positive talk regarding MAK Grills, he's never seen one, nor has he ever had food from one.

3) He is not new to pellet grills, and currently owns a Traeger Timberline 1300 which he really likes!

4) He doesn't want 2 pellet grills sitting in his backyard.

5) He told me that the only reason he had decided to make the 18ish hour roundtrip to buy the MAK was to satisfy his curiousity. His plan was to return home and begin doing a series of side-by-side comparisons... MAK 2 Star vs Traeger Timberline. The winner stays, the loser is put up for sale. His plan was to put them head-to-head over this upcoming summer and then list the loser.

At the end of our conversation, I helped him load the MAK into his truck and watched him drive away.

Since that day, he has done 2 side-by-sides:

1) Chicken thighs, done indirect at 375. The results were a tie with no discernable difference. Both cookers produced a fantastic end result. That said, he put the MAK as the winner because of the shorter pre-heat time. MAK was cruising at 375 within 18 minutes. The Timberline 1300 took 42 minutes.

2) Not a side-by-side, but he also wanted to see what the grilling power of the 2 Star was like. With the sale of the MAK, I included 2 of MAK's sear grates. He used the sear grates to grill burgers and reported back that he was very impressed!

3) After his chicken thigh experience, his next side-by-side was a low-n-slow St. Louis rib cook. One slab of ribs on each smoker... and each slab prepared the same. At the conclusion of the experiment, these were his words. "Both racks had the same basic flavor (same rub). Timberline smoke profile was subtle and clean. MAK smoke profile blew me away, very pronounced more so than my clean running stick burner. May even need to work on dialing it back some with different pellets and/or higher temps."

I saw pictures of both slabs of ribs, and I was actually surprised myself to see the difference in color alone. The MAK ribs looked like slow smoked ribs should whereas the Timberline ribs had more of a baked look to them.

So here we are in May, with this new MAK owners side-by-side comparisons just getting underway... and here is what he said last night. "I plan on a butt maybe next week, but no further testing is required. My mind is made up! The MAK is a better cooker in every way minus capacity." We talked about the capacity comment and how the MAK is deceptively LARGE! He's gonna be fine [emoji846]

His final parting comment last night... "the Timberline to be listed soon!"

Boy, that did't take long

 

[rwalters]

In that vein - I think I'm actually gonna do it. I can't swing the MAK, but looks like I'm going to have around $900 to move swing a pellet option. That would include shipping, taxes, and a cover.



The pellet would become my primary grill - right now I'm using a Performer and Weber Q220 as the primary (depending on cook) and the kamado sits lonely.



Searing is important, but if I can do a nice smash patty on it I'd be happy. The Performer would still be used to sear off steaks and other large cuts.



Right now it's the Grilla Alpha Pro. I think that Grilla does the best job, in the price range, of putting the $$ into quality components.



I've looked at Camp Chef, which looks like a great grill, but they get expensive with the sear box and wifi.



I'm stuck on the fence on this one.... It's a big move, but everyone seems to love theirs so much!

With a budget of $900, I am almost certain I’d go with the Grilla Grills Silverbac. No, it doesn’t provide direct grilling, but it does provide quality of construction which is super important to me. And as you mentioned, you can always toss on a piece of cast iron for the sear. And for the intense searing, just fire up your Weber for a quick blast of heat... but do the “cooking” on the pellet grill. I would be really surprised if you did not love the basics (burgers, chicken, sausage, etc) being grilled on the Grilla. IMO, the only thing that really needs that intense heat/sear is steak.

 

[pjtexas1]

SMR...
If you like the build quality of the Shirley you will appreciate the Mak that much more. Lots of stick burners can get the job done and probably do it very well but the Shirley is just in another class. The Mak is in that category. Very well designed and easy to use and puts down the smoke flavor.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[chingador]

I'm not a pellet person Yet so no first hand experience but I've been following about every pellet thread I can find.

The consensus I see for pellets are Cookinpellets, Lumberjack, B&B, and BBQersDelight. B&B is said to be rebranded BBQersDelight. Hickory seems to be the choice for heavier smoke with others for more delicate flavors.

Atwoods and Rural King usually have Lumberjack at good prices and Academy Sports normally have B&B at good prices.

I have only been in the pellet game for about 3 weeks or so, but I am already addicted to pellets. I love all the choices and cannot wait to try new flavors/brands. I have a local butcher who stocks Lumberjack pellets. His inventory has been very inconsistent due to virus shopping patterns. Pellet supplies isn't to the level of toilet paper but they seem to go fast around here. Here is a list of what I have used (in order) and my thoughts

1. Lumberjack Pecan Blend. Did my burn in with these pellets and two rib cooks. Pleasant smell but not the normal Pecan smoke smell I am used to. But the flavor was really good. Didn't notice much ash. I would be happy to use this again

2. B & B post oak. Mainly used this for my first brisket cook. As with the LJ pecan, the smell was not reminiscent of Post oak I have used in chunks and splits. The smell reminded me of burning wood that is too dried out (if that makes sense). Flavor was really light, almost non-existent. But that was also a factor of me running the cooker at 275 the whole way. I would have gotten more smoke had I run at a lower temperature. But so far, this is my least favorite pellet. BUT, the size of the pellets is uniform and small so I would have confidence using this on overnight cooks.

3. Lumberjack 100% pecan. As far as smell of smoke and flavor goes, this is my favorite pellet yet. But the bag had a majority of very long pellets. Many around 2" and some even longer. They balled up on the safety grid blocking the rest of the pellets from going into the auger and caused a flame out on an overnight cook. I will continue to use these pellets as they are really good flavor wise but will be mindful of the extra long ones and inspect and break the longer ones apart. Also the safety grid has been removed. I did not notice long pieces in the LJ blend. Perhaps this is an issue with their 100% varieties. I have read similar experiences on FB.

4. B & B Mesquite. I am not a big mesquite guy. I like it, don't love it. My preferred types of wood are post oak and pecan. But pellets were hard to come by and my HEB only had B & B mesquite so I bought a bag. I had low expectations. But I have to say, this one is a winner. Very good smoke flavor, not overpowering like mesquite can often be. Great balance. Consistent pellet size so I would be comfortable using this on overnight cooks. When I buy B & B pellets in the future, I will buy this one before I buy another bag of post oak. It is a winner. I really want to cook my next brisket using this pellet. I am doing pork ribs this saturday using the remainder of these in my hopper.

in the pellet que, I have a 40lb bag of cookinpellets 100% hickory, a 20lb bag of Lumberjack hickory blend and I still have 1 remaining bag of B & B post oak. The CP hickory is next up. I am doing an overnight pork butt for Easter Sunday and will use these pellets.

Pellets I want to buy next: Lumberjack competition blend. Hickory, maple and apple sounds like a nice mix. I also would like to try B & B pecan.

Pellets are fun.

 

[rwalters]

I have only been in the pellet game for about 3 weeks or so, but I am already addicted to pellets. I love all the choices and cannot wait to try new flavors/brands. I have a local butcher who stocks Lumberjack pellets. His inventory has been very inconsistent due to virus shopping patterns. Pellet supplies isn't to the level of toilet paper but they seem to go fast around here. Here is a list of what I have used (in order) and my thoughts

1. Lumberjack Pecan Blend. Did my burn in with these pellets and two rib cooks. Pleasant smell but not the normal Pecan smoke smell I am used to. But the flavor was really good. Didn't notice much ash. I would be happy to use this again

2. B & B post oak. Mainly used this for my first brisket cook. As with the LJ pecan, the smell was not reminiscent of Post oak I have used in chunks and splits. The smell reminded me of burning wood that is too dried out (if that makes sense). Flavor was really light, almost non-existent. But that was also a factor of me running the cooker at 275 the whole way. I would have gotten more smoke had I run at a lower temperature. But so far, this is my least favorite pellet. BUT, the size of the pellets is uniform and small so I would have confidence using this on overnight cooks.

3. Lumberjack 100% pecan. As far as smell of smoke and flavor goes, this is my favorite pellet yet. But the bag had a majority of very long pellets. Many around 2" and some even longer. They balled up on the safety grid blocking the rest of the pellets from going into the auger and caused a flame out on an overnight cook. I will continue to use these pellets as they are really good flavor wise but will be mindful of the extra long ones and inspect and break the longer ones apart. Also the safety grid has been removed. I did not notice long pieces in the LJ blend. Perhaps this is an issue with their 100% varieties. I have read similar experiences on FB.

4. B & B Mesquite. I am not a big mesquite guy. I like it, don't love it. My preferred types of wood are post oak and pecan. But pellets were hard to come by and my HEB only had B & B mesquite so I bought a bag. I had low expectations. But I have to say, this one is a winner. Very good smoke flavor, not overpowering like mesquite can often be. Great balance. Consistent pellet size so I would be comfortable using this on overnight cooks. When I buy B & B pellets in the future, I will buy this one before I buy another bag of post oak. It is a winner. I really want to cook my next brisket using this pellet. I am doing pork ribs this saturday using the remainder of these in my hopper.

in the pellet que, I have a 40lb bag of cookinpellets 100% hickory, a 20lb bag of Lumberjack hickory blend and I still have 1 remaining bag of B & B post oak. The CP hickory is next up. I am doing an overnight pork butt for Easter Sunday and will use these pellets.

Pellets I want to buy next: Lumberjack competition blend. Hickory, maple and apple sounds like a nice mix. I also would like to try B & B pecan.

Pellets are fun.

Man, you’ve tried more blends/brands of pellets in the past 3 weeks than I have in the past 3 years! You da man!! Thanks for reporting your thoughts back to us

Look forward to hearing whatcha think of the CP hickory you’ll be using this Sunday. I have used lots of their Perfect Mix, but never their hickory.

 

[Super 8]

First bag was like this, second was not.

 

[rwalters]

First bag was like this, second was not.

WOW, haven’t seen pellets that long before. Almost like burning mini splits... lol.

 

[pjtexas1]

Chingador has fallen off the deep end! Hang in there Chingy, it'll get better.

Seriously, that's a lot of testing in 3 weeks. I have tried a few but don't notice big differences. Which is strange because with charcoal I can taste the weird stuff. That's why I have to use the all natural charcoals.

On a side note, my wife has noticed the food from the Mak has smoke flavor without "the stink". I'm assuming she's talking about the charcoal smell???

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[chingador]

Chingador has fallen off the deep end! Hang in there Chingy, it'll get better.

Seriously, that's a lot of testing in 3 weeks. I have tried a few but don't notice big differences. Which is strange because with charcoal I can taste the weird stuff. That's why I have to use the all natural charcoals.

On a side note, my wife has noticed the food from the Mak has smoke flavor without "the stink". I'm assuming she's talking about the charcoal smell???

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

you should have seen my tackle box(s) when I owned a deep sea fishing boat. Or my current tennis bag and related gear. I was thinking back to all of the different sets of irons I owned when I was way into golf. A bit obsessive compulsive with my hobbies. But the one constant hobby has been cooking and I have not seen an obsession with anything like this.

But I am trying a lot of different combinations to try to dial things in. It is easy to make good food on a pellet grill. I am trying to find the optimum range. Pellet grills really make it easy to dial things in and there are less day to day variables as with a charcoal grill or even a stick burner.

I am not too far from the conclusion that the finished product taste is fairly similar with different pellets, even different flavoring woods. I think a bigger factor is cook temp. At least on the Rec Tec. It sounds like the Maks have a stronger smoke flavor. I am happy with what I can produce on mine. But

 

[Super 8]

WOW, haven’t seen pellets that long before. Almost like burning mini splits... lol.

I ordered as soon as the Char/Hickory was released few years back and called the company, they claim they took care of the issue. My second bag I purchased last year was much better.

 

[MattGoose]

I'd look into a GMG prime. I have a choice boone and it does cook well and I've never had a jamb or bad cook from it. I use it at least 5 times a week this last month. I know nothing about grilla but maybe they are OK too. I'd call each company and see how fast you can get a "human" on the phone. Also the prime will do upto 550. I can reverse sear and I do burgers all the time, just finished tonights about 15 minutes ago!!! I will be getting a new grill soon but this time it's gonna be American made.

The Jim Bowie Prime is a really interesting option. And right now it's $749 with wifi.



It's pretty darn big though, and warranty is 3 years vs. 4.



The wifi for me is the great unknown... I can see using it to adjust from high smoke to PID setting a lot.



Any thoughts on construction differences between the 2?



Any experience with the wifi on the GMG?

 

[Pedro7]

The Jim Bowie Prime is a really interesting option. And right now it's $749 with wifi.



It's pretty darn big though, and warranty is 3 years vs. 4.



The wifi for me is the great unknown... I can see using it to adjust from high smoke to PID setting a lot.



Any thoughts on construction differences between the 2?



Any experience with the wifi on the GMG?

I would recommend GMG. I've had my Daniel Boone for three years. Only issue I've had was the warping heat shield which they sent me a new one for free under warranty no questions asked. Otherwise, it has been a great pellet grill. I got the wifi thinking I would use it a lot, but it was cool for about 38 seconds. It worked fine the couple times I used it when I got the grill, but now I never use it nor do I really have the need/desire to fluctuate temps on my cooks. It cooks the best and most evenly set at 215-225, so I leave it there. I am in a lot of the facebook groups for GMG and I see some paint issues and some wifi issues.

Get the thermal cover if you are in cold
Get the pizza oven - This is one of the best things of the GMG IMO