jkief
is one Smokin' Farker
As promised, smoked burgers on the MAK and Yoder. Bear with me, this might take a while to get through. At 4:30, I emptied the hoppers of both cookers, but left enough pellets to stay in the auger. Filled each hopper with 2 lbs of lumberjack competition blend pellets. Started both pits up at exactly 4:45 and set for 250. After about 2 minutes, the MAK was smoking like a chimney. MAK took 13:00.96 minutes to hit 250. Yoder took 20:54.94 to hit 250. Burgers went on top shelf of each. MAK briefly spiked to 260 after putting burgers on, but quickly settled back into 250. Yoder climbed slowly to 263, then hovered between 254-260 almost the whole cook. The FireBoard session is attached. After 32 minutes the burgers on both were temping at 137. Around 5:54, the Yoder was dropping temp quickly. It was out of pellets, burgers were temping at 145, so I added cheese to burgers in both pits, and shut them both down. Burgers on MAK was temping at 148. Left burgers in both pits during cool down to melt the cheese. Pulled after 5 minutes. Waited another 5 and did the taste test. Burger on left was MAK. It shriveled fairly significant, but the other two on the MAK didn’t. This comparison isn’t designed to say one cooker is better or not. Difference in size, materials, design make that type of comparison unfair.
Impressions and results:
* MAK came up to temp quicker - to be expected
* MAK puts off a lot more thick white smoke upon startup and periodically during the cook
* Yoder starts and stays with a very light smoke (barely visible)
* According to the pits, MAK is steady while Yoder likes to fluctuate more
* Even though Yoder was cooking at a higher temp according to the pits, the burgers on the MAK temp higher after the same amount of time on the cookers (didn’t expect that result)
* .426 lbs of pellets left in the MAK. Yoder was bone dry. I think if you take into account the pellets in the auger, I’d say close to a half pound per hour more consumption on the Yoder at 250 compared to the MAK.
* MAK burgers were a tad more mahogany colored than the Yoder
* Taste: Daughter and one son liked the MAK better. Other son liked both. Couldn’t pick a winner. Wife and I agree, both were great but huge flavor difference. The MAK had a big smoke profile. The Yoder had a smoke flavor, not as much as the MAK. Smoke tasted maybe a tad bit cleaner. If the burgers stayed on the MAK any longer, they would have been over smoked. Wouldn’t have been an issue on the Yoder. Overall, they were both great. I wouldn’t hesitate to cook on either. I was really surprised at the difference in flavor profile, though. HUGE difference! Ribs next!!!
Impressions and results:
* MAK came up to temp quicker - to be expected
* MAK puts off a lot more thick white smoke upon startup and periodically during the cook
* Yoder starts and stays with a very light smoke (barely visible)
* According to the pits, MAK is steady while Yoder likes to fluctuate more
* Even though Yoder was cooking at a higher temp according to the pits, the burgers on the MAK temp higher after the same amount of time on the cookers (didn’t expect that result)
* .426 lbs of pellets left in the MAK. Yoder was bone dry. I think if you take into account the pellets in the auger, I’d say close to a half pound per hour more consumption on the Yoder at 250 compared to the MAK.
* MAK burgers were a tad more mahogany colored than the Yoder
* Taste: Daughter and one son liked the MAK better. Other son liked both. Couldn’t pick a winner. Wife and I agree, both were great but huge flavor difference. The MAK had a big smoke profile. The Yoder had a smoke flavor, not as much as the MAK. Smoke tasted maybe a tad bit cleaner. If the burgers stayed on the MAK any longer, they would have been over smoked. Wouldn’t have been an issue on the Yoder. Overall, they were both great. I wouldn’t hesitate to cook on either. I was really surprised at the difference in flavor profile, though. HUGE difference! Ribs next!!!
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