Depending out outdoor ambient temps, it’s typically 70-100° cooler than the cook chamber. I always say that cold smoking is a winter sport though... have never tried cold smoking in warm weather.

Makes me wonder what would happen to the temps in the box if the main chamber had a tray of ice.

Though I guess with a pellet grill smoking in the middle of the night is easy as you're not constantly feeding it.

Not sure, have never tried. Seems to complicated to me... lol.

If that is the case. Setting the Mak to 250* should be around 150* in the smoke box depending.
That could possibly work. To bad there isn't more detailed info on their site.
While were at it. How do the Mak's work in the teens and colder outside temps?
Even in single digit's I"m out there smoking/grilling.
Burning pure wood in the teen's is a PIA to me anymore. Retired old fart.
And no I won't do the throw a blanket over it anymore. Never found that worth the effort.
Thanks.

MAK Group Buy
 

MAK’s make for an amazing “old fart” smoker! Heck, they do well for middle aged and young farts as well [emoji12]

As far as smoking/grilling in cold temps... the MAK’s don’t really flinch. There’s an active MAK family member over at the MAK FB fans page... Bryan... who lives in Fairbanks Alaska. He’s been cooking (grilling and smoking) on a first gen 2 Star for years now. Some of the pics of him making pizza in the snow are pretty darn cool. Lots of freezing cold weather MAK owners out there. Don’t think I have ever seen a MAK owner using a blanket in cold weather.

As far as cold smoking temps and your statement about 250° equals 150°, I don’t want to lead you astray and tell you that is a definite. Because the cold smoke box is influenced by outside temps (it’s not monitored and controlled like the main cooking chamber), you’ll definitely need to spend a bit of time learning the cold smoking behavior of the cooker. I haven’t done a ton of cold smoking, but I do know that it works quite well in cold weather.

Your making me rethink about getting one. :tsk:

I’d be really surprised if you regretted the purchase. Just sayin’... [emoji6]

That's what I heard about my last large purchase.
Extremely bad experience.
But after all the time, modifications, lots and lots of meat. It is now a great cooker. Except for some real bad design issues/flaws.
Lots of coin I probably shouldn't spend.

I hear ya! Scary indeed. Rarely do you see an unhappy MAK owner if that’s any comfort at all :)

Hi, Tom, we're working on the website. I've updated the cooking temperature range. 200-450 is the current setpoint temperature range. SMOKE mode swings temperatures from 170 - 190 to create the most smoke and GRILL mode will feed fuel continuously to keep the grill as hot as possible, generally topping out at around 600 degrees. The grill is governed at 600 degrees so once the thermocouple (assuming it's in its default position) reads an ambient temperature of 600 degrees, the Pellet Boss will start to back off long enough for it to not exceed 600 degrees. If the FlameZone covers are off, the temperature at the grate level will be higher than 600 degrees. If you move the roaming thermocouple to the grate level, the temperature at the grate level should remain very close to 600 degrees.

Can anyone comment on the saving? Not looking for dollar amount based on posts above but is it fairly substantial? I’m not sure if I’m ready to make such a big leap. Thanks.

Just call, doesn’t cost anything to talk:thumb:

So the 2 Star is the same as the 1 Star EXCEPT:
1. It has the cold smoke box
2. It has something different with the upper rack mounting points?
3. It's got stainless steel in places the 1 Star doesnt? (all over?)

What is aluminized steel? What's its corrosion resistance like?

Here ya go


https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminized_steel


All ya ever want to know

I already own a Mak 1 star. Just wanted to say that my Mak has been my favorite smoker I’ve owned and I’ve owned 10+. I’ve owned electric, propane, charcoal, a pellet smoker from another company, and a stick burner. The Mak has the best smoke flavor of all of them except for the stick burner in my opinion. The flavor is the same as the stick burner but maybe just slightly lighter. A lot of the time I would say no difference. I doubt you will regret your purchase even if you’ve tried pellet smoker food in the past and weren’t impressed. This is night and day different from my last pellet grill.

For reference my last pellet grill was a GMG big pig trailer rig. I loved it but no comparison to the Mak daddy of pellet grills lol.

2 Star also comes with the funnel flame zone. You could also add the Super Smoker Box on the 2 Star. Which if I had the coin would be part of my 2 Star purchase which I can't buy either! :mad2:

So anyone who gets in on this deal I'm very jealous. One day.

twist my arm
 

I've been reading the brethren forums longer than I've been signed up and everything I've read about Mak has been positive. They check a lot of boxes in what I'm looking for. The size seems to work for me, small enough for family and large enough to entertain when it comes to it. Customer service is supposedly great. Smoke profile second to none. Arm has been twisted with this news. Called Caleb, he was out of office so left message. Got to see if I can make this work. I have to admit that an insulated cabinet (lone star) intrigues me too.

Sounds like you’ve had your questions answered. Didn’t click on the link posted above, so maybe this was already stated. But biggest thing for me is that aluminized steel will not rust. Down the road, and with some possible chips/dings in the powder coating... you should never see rust. My first 1 Star is now going on 10 years old. I don’t own it anymore as I sold it to a buddy to buy a 2 Star. But after years of heavy use, there wasn’t a speck of rust on it.

Think I'll have to figure out a way to rehome an ancient WSM and an old LBGE and then call on Monday about the deal.

Hey Mr. King! Do you use a smoke tube or other extra smoke in your Mak? What are your favorite pellets?

I find no need for a smoke tube with MAK

Ditto! MAK’s were designed to smoke. You’ll see that the first time you fire it up... and I am not just taking about the “start-up” smoke that everyone shows off. This is what you’ll see a TON of... :)
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...0a844052ed.jpg

What he said, don't own one don't need one, Lumber Jack Comp Blend works well for me.

Made the call today, gotta figure out what accessories I want if any and place the order for the 2 Star Monday.

Awesome!!!! Was hoping you’d join the MAK family :)

I'd be all over one now if I didn't have my Yoder. If you're on the fence about MAK, now is the time.

Gotta give a shout out to the good folks at Mak. My 2 star was delivered today, so I obviously pulled the trigger a few days before this group buy. I called them up and asked if they wanted to throw me a discount on the wifi and Caleb had no issue giving me a deal. I was able to pay over the phone and I should have it sometime next week. I was nice about it and would have totally understood if he told me to pound sand, but that doesn't seem to be their style.

The thing is build like a tank and sexy as hell. Unfortunately, my wife is gone tonight and I didn't want to risk putting the grill body on the cart alone, so I won't have it together until tomorrow. But based on my inspection, I think I am gonna love this thing. The quality was noticeably better than the 2 other pellet grills I have had. Can't wait to get smoking on this thing!

The crazy thing is you won’t fully realize the genius of their design until you use it several times. You will quickly realize that they thought of everything.

Please tell me about the controller.

Can I set “hold temp” programs when my over night Brisket meat temp hits 190 drop smoker temp to 190 etc?

But it’s hard to access all of it compared to my pitts and spitts.

Yes you can automatically make smoker temp changes based on either meat internal temp or a set time.

For instance....
Smoke mode: 2 hours
225 deg until internal meat temp 200 deg
Smoke mode: indefinitely (until you run out of pellets)

I think you can make up to 4 temp changes based on meat internal temp or time.
Honestly I never use that function. I did in the beginning but not anymore.

Smoke mode is 170-190 deg by the way

The Pellet Boss controller can pretty much do whatever you want it to do... HIGHLY programmable.

Not hard, but definitely not as easy as the Pitts. Love their pull out grates :)

Oh man... I’m sooo tempted. Thx for the info. Spoke to Caleb and this is a great deal.

What accessories are “can’t live without” for the Mak 2*? I think I NEED WiFi but I have a FireBoard so I can monitor remotely and program the pellet boss..

Whatcha think?

So you can only speak to Caleb?

Caleb is MAK Grills General Manager... he’s the man that can make things happen :)

I thought people were speaking with Josh:confused:

Other than the front shelf and griddle, I think have just about every option. My thoughts...

-The upper grate(s) get used all the time. Love the upper grates.

-I use the WiFi for 100% of my cooks. Necessary? No. Super nice to have? Yes.

-I have and use 2 MAK sear grates for most of my grilling. Necessary? No. Do I love them? Yes.

-Front cabinet door. I love the finished look it give the 2 Star and the fact that I can hide things behind it. Just an FYI... the storage under the 2 Star is not a water proof enclosure when you add a front door. No biggie as long as you know that.

Other than that, the MAK comes pretty well decked out as is :)

I’m sure Josh can help, but I think it has been Caleb handling these orders. Either way, both great dudes!

What WIFI features do you use on most of your cooks?

Temp monitoring remotely? Or adjusting temps on the fly.

I think that’s what I keep mulling over...

Thx again for the help

That does look great! :D

I love that pic, is that mine Robb?

Do any 2* owners have the front shelf? Is it worth having? Any opinions on it would be appreciated! Thanks

Nope, it’s mine :)

Here’s yours...

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...752142caf6.jpg

I am not big into cook programs.... but if that’s your thing, it’s NICE for that. I just prefer simple. I use it to monitor temps, adjust remotely, shut down remotely. It’s just become part of my cooking routine. Could I live without it? Yes... I did for the first 3 years of my MAK ownership. Finally decided to give WiFi a shot and found that I enjoy it much more than I thought I would. Just so darn convenient, especially with a super busy family and often times not being able to man the MAK in person when out and about with the family.

Thanks for the info Josh!
But I just don't see these units being able to meet my smoking requirements. Not sure I'd grill on it at all. I have other cookers that grill exceptionally well. At any temp I want. Up to 750*+.
Maybe someday.
Thanks to Mak for the buying offers for Brethren!

Not really. The company I had such a bad experience with doesn't get much bad press either. Not anywhere near like it should. Folks just put them up for sale and say they are going in another direction. Since if they told the truth. It would not be an easy sale. If that makes sense.

I'm wondering this too. While the paper towel holder would be nice you really don't need additional shelf space IMO. I utilize the pellet box cover and the warmer box cover if I need to place things near the grill (although the warmer box cover can get hot if you are cooking at high temps). The only accessories I do not have are the front shelf, griddle and cold smoker box. Wifi control is a must IMO, it's awesome, the cover is super durable too.

Question for you MAK owners with WiFi - are you able to start the grill from your phone? Thinking along the lines of being able to get the grill going while on my way home from work...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That is about the only thing you cannot do with the WiFi module. Not sure if any grill manufacturer allows for that. I have asked MAK about that, and the reason given has to do with liability.