The Official Pellet Grill Smoker thread.

Try using hickory pellets. I used lumberjack hickory on some ribs a couple days ago and let it ride at 225 deg on the top rack. Plenty of flavorful smoke and the ribs had a good aroma as well.
 
ice_mf_mike said:
Gotcha. I did my first smoke using Lumberjack Applewood pellets. Smoked at 225 for a while then bumped it up to a high temp to finish. Unfortunately did not get enough smoke profile. Im wondering it it is just the mildness of the Apple or if i needed to use the smoke setting. Id prefer to smoke at 275 or so but i worry about not getting enough of a smoke profile.
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Yes, fruitwoods are always gonna be more mild. I see that you also have a WSM. I find that guys coming from charcoal/chunks to pellet smokers often take some time to adjust to the lighter/cleaner smoke profile. I spent 20+ years smoking with lump/chunks and have always loved it. That said, once my pallet adjusted to the cleaner smoke profile of pellets, I find that I enjoy them more than charcoal/chunks. I also get more consistent praise for the food from my MAK than any of my previous cookers.
 
rwalters said:
Yes, fruitwoods are always gonna be more mild. I see that you also have a WSM. I find that guys coming from charcoal/chunks to pellet smokers often take some time to adjust to the lighter/cleaner smoke profile. I spent 20+ years smoking with lump/chunks and have always loved it. That said, once my pallet adjusted to the cleaner smoke profile of pellets, I find that I enjoy them more than charcoal/chunks. I also get more consistent praise for the food from my MAK than any of my previous cookers.
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Thanks. I guess i will see. Im going to use the apple until i finish the 20lb bag. I also have some char oak blends and a few other types so i will see how they all differ. If i need to i will also get a smoke tube.

I will say though, ive smoked twice on my new Mak 1 and man i love the ease of use factor. I dont need to drag the WSM out of my garage, get the charcoal setup, prep the wood, light it, add it, get it to temp, add food, stabailze temp just to get it going. hit a button and its done.



While i have you another question. I notice that when i was seasoning, i set it to 450. The unit said grill temp was 450 as well as the set point. However, the probe that i had at the grate was always lower. Like around 390 or so. Is this normal? I havent installed my flamezone yet, not sure how that impacts this.
 
I recently got a MAK2 and was amazed at the amount of smoke that it put out. I did my first overnight brisket on it started at 225, and ramped up to 250 upon wrapping. It did not seem to need to be on the smoke setting. The result was fantastic and as good as I've made on any of the other cookers I have had.
 
ice_mf_mike said:
While i have you another question. I notice that when i was seasoning, i set it to 450. The unit said grill temp was 450 as well as the set point. However, the probe that i had at the grate was always lower. Like around 390 or so. Is this normal? I havent installed my flamezone yet, not sure how that impacts this.
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That does not sound right. If you are cruising at 450° a 3rd party probe placed on the main grate should easily read 450° or higher. If you are gonna add the Flame Zone, I wouldn’t worry about it to much until after the switch. The FZ completely changes the cooking characteristics for the better. With the FZ, you will find the MAK to be extremely versatile from low-n-slow up to high temp grilling. If for some reason you are still seeing a temp differential where the main grate is cooler than the controller reading, I’d definitely reach out to MAK. They are great!

One more thing, with the FZ in place and the covers removed, a set temp of 450° will easily provide a cooking temp of 550-575° at the grate... perfect for almost all of your grilling needs. I typically grill with a set temp between 425-450° on my MAK and find it to work VERY well with the FZ covers removed :)
 
So I haven’t been posting much because been too busy cooking! Lol. I’ve done a ton of comparison cooks between my Weber 26 and Mak 1 star and can’t come to a clear conclusion on which is my favorite.

This smoke I did salmon. One on the right is the Mak and left is kettle. I ran the Mak at 200 deg on top rack so roughly 225 deg with hickory pellets. I ran the kettle at 275 deg with B and B lump and hickory chips.

Mak clearly has the best smoke color and overall appearance. I wasn’t able to run the kettle at 225 deg without smothering the coals too much so I just ran it at 275 deg (at least I think it was 275 deg lol).

I felt like the pellet won this one both in appearance and flavor. Neither had off flavors but I feel like 100% wood flavor is definitely superior to charcoal and wood on seafood at least
 
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Welcome back to the Brethren stranger! Nice cook!! Having the same cookers as you, which is my favorite depends on the day and mood. Most days go to the MAK though :)
 
I ended up going to visit my parents before the Rural King sale was over last weekend and bought a few more bags. I think I should be good to go for quite some time now.

HJsbmgR.jpg
 
GatorBeerGeek said:
I ended up going to visit my parents before the Rural King sale was over last weekend and bought a few more bags. I think I should be good to go for quite some time now.

HJsbmgR.jpg
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I’ve tried all those except for the mesquite. I haven’t used mesquite in a long time.
 
BKING! said:
I’ve tried all those except for the mesquite. I haven’t used mesquite in a long time.
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I was a bit worried about mesquite when I broke into that open bag of Traeger pellets you see perched up on top that came with my grill since I dont cook a lot of beef. My wife liked the taste on some chicken breast I made, and it worked really well for my first attempt at brisket. I thought it was worth it to get a bag to try. I am slightly worried that a better brand of mesquite pellets might be more than I bargained for though. We will see.
 
going to smoke some meatloaf. Im still getting used to timing on the Pellet Smoker(Mak 1).


I have 3 1.5 lb meatloafs.



Lets say i use the smoke mode(~170 degrees) for an hour then smoke at 225 from there on. Roughly how long would you expect this to take?


Also if i sit it on foil, any issues getting smoke on the underside?


Thanks.
 
ice_mf_mike said:
going to smoke some meatloaf. Im still getting used to timing on the Pellet Smoker(Mak 1).


I have 3 1.5 lb meatloafs.



Lets say i use the smoke mode(~170 degrees) for an hour then smoke at 225 from there on. Roughly how long would you expect this to take?


Also if i sit it on foil, any issues getting smoke on the underside?


Thanks.
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Best guess would be a 3-4 hour cook time. That said, in my opinion, I see no solid reason to cook a meatloaf at that low of a temp. The MAK's produce a ton of smoke all the way through the 200 degree range... even into the lower 300's. I am starting to think that I get more smoke production at 245 than I do on 'smoke'. Not sure if you are aware of this... but the MAK's use a variable speed fan. Within that variable speed functionality, there are 3 additional categories... low, medium and high. Low is considered a controller temp set between smoke-245... a medium temp is between 250-295... and the high temp is => 300. So, depending on what temp you are cooking at, not only does the fan run at variable speeds, but the rpms are governed within the low and medium heat ranges. Any temp at 245 or lower and the fan will not exceed 60% of it's max rpms... any temp between 250-295 and the fan will not exceed 80% or it's max rpms... and any temp 300+ and the fan is capable of hitting 100% of it's max rpms when needed. I tell you this to say that 245 is really a sweet spot to cook at on the MAK's as you still get incredible smoke production due to the lower max rpm's, plus your cooks won't take so darn long. I also find the end result to more often than not be more desirable when cooked in the mid 200's for the entire duration of the cook. Doesn't mean you can't cook other ways and have great results... this is just based on my experience(s) and opinions... :)

As far as cooking on foil, I don't prefer it. If you are considering that for easy cleanup, I'd suggest a cookie sheet with a cooling rack inside. Set your food on the cooking rack. That will allow smoke to fully circulate around the food and catch the drippings. Works great!
 
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rwalters said:
Best guess would be a 3-4 hour cook time. That said, in my opinion, I see no solid reason to cook a meatloaf at that low of a temp. The MAK's produce a ton of smoke all the way through the 200 degree range... even into the lower 300's. I am starting to think that I get more smoke production at 245 than I do on 'smoke'. Not sure if you are aware of this... but the MAK's use a variable speed fan. Within that variable speed functionality, there are 3 additional categories... low, medium and high. Low is considered a controller temp set between smoke-245... a medium temp is between 250-295... and the high temp is => 300. So, depending on what temp you are cooking at, not only does the fan run at variable speeds, but the rpms are governed within the low and medium heat ranges. Any temp at 245 or lower and the fan will not exceed 60% of it's max rpms... any temp between 250-295 and the fan will not exceed 80% or it's max rpms... and any temp 300+ and the fan is capable of hitting 100% of it's max rpms when needed. I tell you this to say that 245 is really a sweet spot to cook at on the MAK's as you still get incredible smoke production due to the lower max rpm's, plus your cooks won't take so darn long. I also find the end result to more often than not be more desirable when cooked in the mid 200's for the entire duration of the cook. Doesn't mean you can't cook other ways and have great results... this is just based on my experience(s) and opinions... :)

As far as cooking on foil, I don't prefer it. If you are considering that for easy cleanup, I'd suggest a cookie sheet with a cooling rack inside. Set your food on the cooking rack. That will allow smoke to fully circulate around the food and catch the drippings. Works great!
Click to expand...


Thanks. Ill give it a try at 200-225 then and see how much smoke i get.
 
Pictures of my pork butt (shoulder for the all the OG's) cook this weekend. Cooked on a silverbac alpha at 225 degrees. Burning the B&B competition blend, with 1 cherry mojobrick barbecube and an AMAZN tube filled with hickory wood chips and and cherry pellets.
 

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With the number of us in the Atlanta metro area in this thread, I think we need to change the tag line from "The city too busy to hate" to "The city too busy to tend a fire"
 
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