Initial pics/impressions of the all new MAK 3 Star [Archive]

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rwalters

02-15-2021, 08:09 PM

Well, well, well... now that this flu/cold bug has decided to be a bit nicer today, I found myself able to make it out to the garage and snap some pics of the all-new beast that we refer to as the MAK 3 Star. I must say that my initial impressions have been nothing short of “in awe!”

The first firing/seasoning to come soon!

After that, the cooking adventures begin [emoji846]

I must say that moving from CA to TN has been quite a weather adjustment for me. Brrrrrr, it’s cold today. Below is a pic of our street this morning. That’s ice, not snow.
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Snapped today’s pics in the garage with a 68k BTU heater blowing on me the whole time!
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This thing is ginormous! Every square inch is constructed from 304 SS all but guaranteeing a never ending grill/smoker. Ya have to see it in person to fully appreciate the cooking possibilities this behemoth offers.

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A US made cooker with no expense spared, no short cuts taken, and nothing but the finest materials used. Any MAK owner will attest to that :)

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Just let your culinary imagination run wild with this one...
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The rear vents are the reverse of the 2 Star and for obvious reasons have a rain deflector over them. Not sure the reasoning behind this, but it is a very nice/clean configuration :)
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The rain/snow/bad weather shield.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210216/940c4d6286b5ed5e6bbbad1ba12f26eb.jpg

Handles on both sides that are incredibly strong. Can be used to move the 3 Star or as tie downs for transporting.
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4 industrial k-style temp probe ports. Nuthin’ but the best.
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MAK Grills Mobile for easy peasy remote WiFi operation.
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No more wrapping of the power cord. Just reinsert into rolling cart when done. Love this!
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The massive grease collection pan!
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Nice, clean and INTERNAL :)
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Here the grill is completely stripped of all internal parts. You are looking at nothing but the belly of the beast with its dual fire pots.
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The grease drainage system is a bit different with this cooker as all grease runs toward the middle of the grill vs the outside. The grease drains into this trough and straight down the chute into the huge slide out grease pan.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210216/7787872b22488612afd18e3a9d6d0e28.jpg

A shot of straight down the grease chute into the grease pan.
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The removable MAK fire pots.
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Dual hoppers underneath the massive front lid/work space.
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Ain’t they purdy when new!
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Both hoppers have a quick pellet release door. Here’s one hopper closed up...
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...and the other hopper opened and ready to release pellets.
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Here’s the ash trap door inside the belly of the cooker. Remove the “door” and sweep ash into the grease pan. Simple! You’ll get a nice fitting SS “door” that sits over the trap door (not pictured - oops).
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The Funnel Flame Zone... IMO, the most brilliant innovation ever introduced into the pellet grill world. It is a game changer!
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A closeup. The Funnel Flame Zone is more or less a reverse funnel which forces all heat to the cooking grate, creating incredibly even cook temps and very intense grilling power when needed. It also allows MAK’s to sip pellets even in cold weather because of how the heat is handled (all forced upwards, straight to the cooking surface instead of lingering around in the belly of the cooker).
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210216/e039349f83d4ab8e1a60239b8a2b773e.jpg

Here’s a shot with the removable center divide in place. This allows for two things: 1) Multiple cooking grate levels 2) A different cooking temp to be used on each side of the grill simultaneously. Also note, you can clearly see in this pic where all grease drains down the surrounding Flame Zone grease channels into the internal grease pan.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210216/c7836720c3cfdbbf176d30d4f9cc3765.jpg

Aerial shot of the setup with deflectors in place over each fire pot.
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Here’s a pic of the Funnel Flame Zone drip pan with covers removed. This is the setup that will be used when grilling. No covers = intense semi-direct infrared grilling power with no flare ups. Hard to beat! Something else I noticed that I really like is the slope of the drip pan is a bit steeper than it’s 1 and 2 Star siblings. The faster grease drains, the better!
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210216/30ece0b75e5d710cef1f25495c0417f6.jpg

Here we are with covers in place and ready for smoking/roasting. Heck, I have grilled many times with these plates in place and still get great results. It’s just a more intense grilling experience with covers removed.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210216/ef4e9c702229bbf224a1e3a52b2faba9.jpg

Lots of grilling real estate! With the center divider removed, you’ll have a grilling surface of 45x19.25” or 866 sq”.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210216/6cd20d9fb7d62809f4b4fca91fd61d0e.jpg

Need more room? No problem, let take this bad boy up to 3216 sq” of cooking surface. That’s some serious cooking right there!
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210216/4036621bed7c16e1920f92f87fb8c498.jpg

There is plenty of space for ribs, chicken, tri-tips, etc. Just shy of 3” of clearance between each grate.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210216/3d2c0aa88bd295e39d31a6f71c42ae87.jpg

The Pellet Boss Controller on steroids... lol. Any 1 or 2 Star owner will understand :)
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210216/76d55bb6a27677ddd1d6b583182abc57.jpg

There is plenty of room underneath to store all of your junk, grates, or whatever...
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210216/2400831a580000932515e1e32872ab4c.jpg

WilliamKY

02-15-2021, 08:33 PM

Pretty much a work of art. That's a beautiful cooker but holy moly is it expensive.

ShadowDriver

02-15-2021, 08:39 PM

Wow! That looks like a really fun piece of kit!

Love... absolutely love the scenery, despite how slippery those roads are.

P.S. - Glad to hear that you're feeling better. Hope you continue on the mend right quick.

gtsum

02-15-2021, 08:59 PM

Good looking rig for sure!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

jasonjax

02-15-2021, 09:10 PM

That thing looks awesome!

I posted in the other thread... was wondering if the lid/dome is insulated?

sudsandswine

02-15-2021, 09:22 PM

Oh man...what a work of art :clap2: can’t wait to see what you do with it.

rwalters

02-15-2021, 09:53 PM

That thing looks awesome!

I posted in the other thread... was wondering if the lid/dome is insulated?

Oops, sorry. It is not insulated. I spoke with MAK a couple years ago about the idea of insulating their pits. Bottom line, they are happy with the performance of their grills as is and don’t see a need to insulate. With the release of the Funnel Flame Zone in 2017, I can’t disagree with them. Prior to that, I think insulation would’ve been a nice improvement. I have had zero issues in cold weather and my 2 Star sips pellets IMO. Maybe not as good as your FE’s, but I am totally satisfied :)

sudsandswine

02-15-2021, 10:03 PM

My 2* still has the old/original diffuser design, I keep hearing about how good the flame zone style is and feel like I’m missing out on the full Mak experience :becky:

rwalters

02-15-2021, 10:08 PM

My 2* still has the old/original diffuser design, I keep hearing about how good the flame zone style is and feel like I’m missing out on the full Mak experience :becky:

If you’re on FB, join the MAK fan page and ask other owners that have swapped out the original setup for the Flame Zone. Get it straight from the horses mouth... lol :)

tom b

02-15-2021, 10:44 PM

sweet right up, rig is legit, lets get cookin...

glitchy

02-15-2021, 11:20 PM

While Robb only thinks he knows what cold really is as a formerly CA weather wimp moving to a pretty moderate area that might get kinda chilly by the standards of a lot of people, if you join the FB group he's taking about you'll see people in 'real' cold still using MAKs at what appears to be full functionality. After years of horsing around, I have a MAK incoming, but it's hard to say how much extreme cold I'll see yet this winter after it gets here. It might be a full year before I can see for myself. There's several posts this week showing the performance of the MAK in 0 to -15 or even lower temps.

If you look at the design, I completely believe both Robb and MAK. You have thicker steel than most others to begin with as well as the design of the FlameZone essentially behaving as full or maybe even better than full insulation for the bottom half half of the grill, a giant like double walled pocket of semi heated air below grate level.

Chett. L

02-15-2021, 11:23 PM

That's a big boy!

PullinPork

02-15-2021, 11:26 PM

That thing is awesome! Does the (optional) smoker have the same vent setup as the 2*?
Seems that you could cook on the left side and smoke on the right.

HogGrog

02-15-2021, 11:28 PM

Great review, thanks

Fantastic cooker, congrats!

Crispy Bacon

02-15-2021, 11:47 PM

That looks awesome. It would be nice for reverse searing (smoking) on one side & having the other ready to grill! Can’t wait to see some cooks off of it & how you’re liking it!

rwalters

02-16-2021, 12:04 AM

That thing is awesome! Does the (optional) smoker have the same vent setup as the 2*?
Seems that you could cook on the left side and smoke on the right.

Not sure I understand the question. Are you referring to the optional cold smoke chamber? If yes, it is very much like the current 2* cook chamber. But I don’t think that is answering your question... or is it?

PullinPork

02-16-2021, 12:19 AM

Not sure I understand the question. Are you referring to the optional cold smoke chamber? If yes, it is very much like the current 2* cook chamber. But I don’t think that is answering your question... or is it?

Yep, that answers it. Thanks

Smokin Dawg77

02-16-2021, 05:27 AM

Beautiful Machine , WOW

BlueHaze

02-16-2021, 06:59 AM

Wow. That thing is amazing. A piece of art.

Chester

02-16-2021, 07:31 AM

Really impressive machine. Looking forward to some of your cooks.

I think this is the holy grail of pellet cookers. Unattainable for most just due to cost, but those that want the best of the best need not look any further.

ronbrad62

02-16-2021, 07:37 AM

Only two words come to mind, awesome and impressive. Glad you're feeling better and hope you get out and tame that beast real soon.

Pife

02-16-2021, 08:55 AM

If you had a deep cycle 12v battery and a inverter, how long can you run this? I know the type of battery is a big factor.

jasonjax

02-16-2021, 09:02 AM

If you had a deep cycle 12v battery and a inverter, how long can you run this? I know the type of battery is a big factor.

The only significant amperage draw for any pellet cooker is when the heating element is active to ignite the pellets. Once that turns off the auger motor and the fan are the only source of draw. Maybe lights if it has them.

I've run my pellet cooker for 12+ hours on a 100AH marine battery connected to an inverter with zero problems.

PatAttack

02-16-2021, 09:02 AM

She's a real beaut, Robb!

Beast Mode Mak.

Hope you get to feeling better!

rwalters

02-16-2021, 09:17 AM

The only significant amperage draw for any pellet cooker is when the heating element is active to ignite the pellets. Once that turns off the auger motor and the fan are the only source of draw. Maybe lights if it has them.

I've run my pellet cooker for 12+ hours on a 100AH marine battery connected to an inverter with zero problems.

Glad someone with actual experience chimed in... thanks brutha! Just for kicks, I forwarded this question to MAK. Will let you guys know if they have a tried and true answer for the 3 Star. Can’t imagine it’ll be much different than what you just provided though... :)

jasonjax

02-16-2021, 09:27 AM

Glad someone with actual experience chimed in... thanks brutha! Just for kicks, I forwarded this question to MAK. Will let you guys know if they have a tried and true answer for the 3 Star. Can’t imagine it’ll be much different than what you just provided though... :)

Yeah ... if you want to get super detailed Mak can provide the wattage and amperage draw for when the heating element is active, how long it cycles, and then provide running wattage draw for non-ignition. Then you can do watt hours/divided by volts = amp hours.

creek bottom

02-16-2021, 09:59 AM

That is a pretty impressive rig! Makes me want to jump in to the pellet game!

SmoothBoarBBQ

02-16-2021, 11:05 AM

FANTASTIC pics and write-up! That's a very impressive looking cooker...though I can only imagine the price on this thing...has to be $7K+. That being said "legacy quality" cookers will save you money in the long run if you take care of them, so to each their own I guess.

rwalters

02-16-2021, 11:57 AM

The only significant amperage draw for any pellet cooker is when the heating element is active to ignite the pellets. Once that turns off the auger motor and the fan are the only source of draw. Maybe lights if it has them.

I've run my pellet cooker for 12+ hours on a 100AH marine battery connected to an inverter with zero problems.

If you had a deep cycle 12v battery and a inverter, how long can you run this? I know the type of battery is a big factor.

Straight from the owner of MAK Grills...

Depends on the battery and the inverter.
Both pots running will draw approx. 200Watts. Find out the amp hours of the battery and the draw (power the inverter needs to operate) from the inverter and that should tell you :)

RemoGaggi

02-16-2021, 01:39 PM

Nice rig! You know what they say, "Once you go Mak, you never go back!".

jzadski

02-16-2021, 03:52 PM

Great write up and pics. Not sure if I missed or skipped over but, are you able to just run one pot and have the divider in for smaller cooks?

rwalters

02-16-2021, 04:11 PM

Great write up and pics. Not sure if I missed or skipped over but, are you able to just run one pot and have the divider in for smaller cooks?

Yep, you can just fire up one side if needed :)

Gore

02-16-2021, 04:14 PM

rwalters

02-16-2021, 04:20 PM

All in all, I'm a little confused. I know if that was being delivered at my house, I'd have had that sucker fired up while it was still on the truck and in the crate. I don't even see a pic with a couple porkchops on it. Get with it or Phil is likely to revoke your membership.

Been sick buddy. That, and you’ve been to my house... it’s not like we have nothing going on around here... lol. Plus we’re in the middle of a crazy ice storm. Excuses, excuses ;-)

Gore

02-16-2021, 04:46 PM

I understand. You've got a beautiful place and some wonderful girls to help you. I have some really nice memories in that short half hour we visited. I can't imagine how you do it all, but you are blessed.

jkief

02-16-2021, 05:52 PM

Man, that is a nice rig. Just had some ribeyes seared on the grill grate of my 1*. I don’t regret my MAK purchase one bit. Bought my 1* when the flame zone was optional, but I ordered it and man is it GREAT! Love the MAK. Fell better and get cooking...after it warms up.

rwalters

02-16-2021, 06:00 PM

4ever3

02-16-2021, 06:14 PM

Dude, that is one amazing cooker and you are more than deserving of it!!!

Now that the touchy-feely crap is outta the way...

FIRE THAT MOTHER UP!!!

rwalters

02-16-2021, 06:20 PM

Dude, that is one amazing cooker and you are more than deserving of it!!!

Now that the touchy-feely crap is outta the way...

FIRE THAT MOTHER UP!!!

STOP SHOUTING AT ME!!!! I am a sensitive guy with feelings that easily get hurt :’(

DBBQ

02-16-2021, 07:11 PM

Wow Robb.....it is big and beautiful!

Dweverett

02-16-2021, 07:32 PM

Maybe I missed it but are they keeping the rice the same as the old version?

rwalters

02-16-2021, 07:36 PM

Maybe I missed it but are they keeping the rice the same as the old version?

The rice?

Marquez

02-16-2021, 09:03 PM

Hey Robb,

Great write up and awesome pics.

Hope you feel better soon and look forward to your cooks that take advantage of the dual chambers.

Cheers!

SmoothBoarBBQ

02-17-2021, 06:23 AM

Chester

02-17-2021, 06:47 AM

Shiz-Nit

02-17-2021, 07:48 AM

That dude is a FRAKING BEAST.....

rwalters

02-17-2021, 10:29 AM

I made a guess of $7K earlier and just looked up the MAK 3* on the website...starts at $8K. Again, you get what you pay for, but that's a tough price to swallow. I do understand the craftsmanship and materials utilized will demand a hefty price though, so again, to each their own.

That opens up another question. Would you be better off with 2 two stars or 1 three star Maks.

The three star is basically 2 loaded up Maks two stars. It does a few extra things like allowing a whole hog cook. You can get 2 basic two stars fòr 6k though, and add one at a time.

8k is a tough pill to swallow, but for some, they will gladly fork that over to get the pinnacle of pellet smokers.

Are MAK Grills crazy expensive? Absolutely!!! Are they for everyone? Absolutely not! Only way I was able to first go MAK (with wife buy-in) was because I sold off almost my entire cooking arsenal and had a pocket full of cash. Everyone’s situation and story is different.

Definitely valid points to consider (two 2 Stars vs one 3 Star). I would say that the $6k comment about the two 2 Stars isn’t really comparing apples to apples as the 3 Star is 100% stainless, like the $4500 2 Star. That would put you at $9k for two all stainless 2 Stars. The new 3 Star without the cart (built in model) will list I believe at $9k. With the cart at $12k. Everything about MAK Grills is over the top, no denying that! The 3 Star, much like the 2 Stars are definitely not for everyone. That being said, there is clearly a market for the new 3 Star as MAK Grills has a growing wait list for this new model... and an even bigger market for the 1 & 2 Stars (obviously... lol). I have been surprised myself at the number of messages I have received asking if their will be another Brethren MAK group-buy deal this year. Yep, it’s coming and I can’t wait to see the family grow :)

Chester

02-17-2021, 11:56 AM

Yep, you are slowly turning this board into The BBQ MAK BRETHREN...LOL

rwalters

02-17-2021, 12:05 PM

Yep, you are slowly turning this board into The BBQ MAK BRETHREN...LOL

Far from it... lol, and that’s one thing I LOVE about this group... the huge diversity. Our situations, preferences and styles are all unique. Gas, sticks, charcoal or pellets... choices are good :)

darita

02-17-2021, 01:33 PM

Congrats! Welcome to the club. I know a lot of folks here, group all "pellet poopers" into one big bunch, in a disparaging way, however MAKs and a few others are definitely different and above the rest. They really do produce a smokey flavor that is comparable to stick and charcoal/chunk smokers.
I know that once you get yourself dialed into your MAK3, you're going to love it. Enjoy.

Dweverett

02-18-2021, 05:34 AM

The rice?

I really need to reread what I type before hitting post

PRICE

Which you’ve subsequently answered.