Got my Mak on Saturday!

[RollTheSmoke]

Set it up on Saturday and grilled burgers for dinner. The quality of the grill is as advertised. The grill capabilities for burgers definitely met the mark. I was very happy with the first cook.

I tried a smoked spatchcock chicken yesterday. Smoke mode for 2 hours and then increased to 225 until the chicken hit 135. Bumped it up to 375 to finish it. Lots of smoke was generated throughout the entire cook, even at 375! Smelled great.

The flavor and texture came out great. I made gravy from the drippings and it was one of the best I’ve ever had.

Only issue is that there was basically zero smoke profile. I used the Bear Mountain pellets that came with the grill. Given everything I read, I understand it won’t ever be a stick burner but am a bit disappointed that I couldn’t notice any smoke at all. Produced a great chicken but not really a smoked chicken flavor.

One of the reasons I went with the Mak was because I read so much about it being the best pellet cooker for producing a strong smoke flavor. What are the secrets to unlock smoky goodness? I’m really hoping I don’t have to go the pellet tube route because then I’ll wish I went with a less expensive cooker.

Any ideas?

 

[RollTheSmoke]

I’d like to amend my statement. Made spare ribs tonight. Left them on smoke for 4 hours, wrapped for 1.5, and unwrapped to finish. After 9 hours they were only at 167 degrees. Pellet hopper went empty, decided to call it a night rather than stay up later. Tried one rib. Texture obviously wasn’t as tender but it had a really solid smoke ring and was delicious. It had an extra delicious flavor that I don’t think came from my simple rub of salt, pepper, garlic. It wasn’t the robust smoke I’m used to from my kamado but was noticeable and very good. This is with hickory pellets.

I think that what I’ve viewed as no smoke flavor may actually just be a very different smoke flavor than what I’m used to having. Either way, I’ve had three excellent meals from the Mak and am excited to try more. I plan to do a comparison of my indoor oven versus the Mak, using the same meat, rub, and temperatures. I think that will help me hone in on what flavor is actually caused by the Mak.

 

[Fooball]

I hear ya and know just what you're talking about.

Thought I'd give pellets a try last summer. Went to Wally world and bought a Pit Boss Platinum Brunswick for $600.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Pit-Boss-Platinum-Series-Brunswick-WiFi-Enabled-Wood-Pellet-Vertical-Smoker/867703302

It looked really cool and had large capacity. Had good reviews.

Cooked ribs as my first cook. Toward the end of the cook I bumped up the temp and I guess I had a "flame out" on my hands.

Auger was spitting pellets as fast as it could and flames were shooting out from under the deflector plate. Shut her down and pulled my ribs.

Zero smoke flavor, just like done in the oven. Back to Wally world it went.

I didn't even have the desire to try it again. Just wanted my $600 back. Experiment over.

 

[glitchy]

Try some of the blends of pellets or 100% Hickory. Only a few places make 100% single species pellets. Most single species are 70-80% oak or alder as base wood. CookinPellets and Lumberjack make 100% hickory, but LJ can be very ashy and cause problem on long cooks. Many of the blends from several companies also don’t use any oak/alder.

 

[16Adams]

Up front I don't have a high end Mak. I currently have a Pit Boss Austin XL.I paid $250 Clearance
It's my second pellet cooker first being a GMG D Crockett

My history with pellets is that give your senses a chance to adjust. The smoke is definitely lighter than my other cookers but it's there and it's clean smoke. Before you change everything at once, meat prep, time and temp, pellets etc etc, change just one thing.

That one thing would be-- don't do anything for a month of cooks. Cook cattle sheep swine seafood veggies etc etc for a solid month with out changing anything.

Give it a month for you to adjust with multiple meats and seasoning.

I too found it shocking to the palate the difference in pellet cooking and charcoal/wood. The light clean smoke is really nice, however if I want a heavier smoke I'll use another cooker.

Just my opinion which lately isn't worth BBQ Spit, just give yourself a chance.

 

[Bush438]

Congrats on getting your MAK! I agree with what glitchy and 16Adams said. Give the CookinPellets 100% Hickory a shot, I bought a bag and enjoy the flavor, although I did like the Bear Mountain pellets as well.



To what 16Adams said, its a lighter clean smoke, but it is there.

 

[16Adams]

On my bike ride I began to ponder. Foil pans and foil. A whole main branch of my family tree added the top of the line Traeger Pellet Cookers and three friends as well all about the same time. They came from various charcoal/wood cookers BGE, Kettle etc. They too lamented the lack of smoke. What I noticed was they wanted to keep their new pellet cookers really showroom clean so they began to use foil pans for their meats, foil boats and drip pans. None of their meat was sweating and dripping and sizzling sending those great flavors swirling around the cook chamber. Keeping their cookers clean at the expense of surface area and free flavor.
My cookers are maintained with a shop vac and two inch putty knife. I use pans some and foil boat often but usually hours into a cook. I've no idea if this pertains to you, just FYI

If anyone thinks this is wrong, cook a porterhouse direct above firepot on grates and direct above firepot in foil pan losing the dripping sizzling goodness

 

[4ever3]

Zero smoke?

What type of cooker are accustomed to cooking on?

 

[TravelingJ]

I never notice smoke on the food the day that I cook it. Once I've inhaled it all day, my sense are already ignoring it. Leftovers I can pick it up, or the girlfriend can if she hasn't been outside around the smoke.

 

[Bob C Cue]

Lumberjack Hickory is my favorite to use on the MAK.

 

[glitchy]

Lumberjack Hickory is my favorite to use on the MAK.

Do you use the 100% or their 60/40 blend of oak and Hickory? I had a flameout after about 13 hours with the 100% and the firepot had more ash in it than I’ve ever seen before in about a decade of pellet smoking. I’m gonna try the 60/40 sometime since it’s double the hickory (and they use bark) of a lot of brands. I still use their MHC a lot. I’ll probably stick with CookinPellets for long cooks, but I can grab LJ at the grocery store for 30-50% less.

 

[RollTheSmoke]

On my bike ride I began to ponder. Foil pans and foil. A whole main branch of my family tree added the top of the line Traeger Pellet Cookers and three friends as well all about the same time. They came from various charcoal/wood cookers BGE, Kettle etc. They too lamented the lack of smoke. What I noticed was they wanted to keep their new pellet cookers really showroom clean so they began to use foil pans for their meats, foil boats and drip pans. None of their meat was sweating and dripping and sizzling sending those great flavors swirling around the cook chamber. Keeping their cookers clean at the expense of surface area and free flavor.
My cookers are maintained with a shop vac and two inch putty knife. I use pans some and foil boat often but usually hours into a cook. I've no idea if this pertains to you, just FYI

If anyone thinks this is wrong, cook a porterhouse direct above firepot on grates and direct above firepot in foil pan losing the dripping sizzling goodness

Very interesting. I cooked the burgers without foil, so it’s already not clean. I did the chicken and ribs over an aluminum pan. It was great to use the chicken drippings for gravy. I’ll try without and see. I was also thinking leaving the skin on the chicken may have blocked the smoke. We don’t really eat the skin, so I can try removing it. The ribs I made last night were awesome. Definite smoke flavor, though very different than the Kamado. The smoke I noticed was very good. It’s a cleaner taste and I do think it may just be an adjustment needed to get used to it. The ribs cook was reassuring for sure.

 

[rwalters]

Having had pretty much every kind of mainstream cooker go through my backyard at one time or another, I will be the first to say there is no pellet grill brand on the market that’s gonna give you a super strong smoke profile if that’s what you’re after. Just not the nature of pellet grills. Pellet munchers add a very tasty smoke seasoning vs “smoked” flavor. Many, including myself and those I cook for have come to love the flavor imparted by pellets. Yes, some brands of pellets along with grill brands provide a bit more “seasoning”… but you will never get charcoal/chunk flavor. That being said, IMO a pellet smoker is much closer in flavor profile to a stick burner than a charcoal burner. I am not saying it’s the same as a stick burner, because it’s not. I would say that a properly run stick burner imparts an insanely tasty and CLEAN smoke profile. Pellet smokers do the same… always clean and always tasty… never heavy. Are there some that never get used to pellets? Yup! That said, from those I have watched introduce a pellet muncher into their arsenal… I’d say the majority are very happy. If you are moving from charcoal/chunks, it will take a little getting used to the cleaner and milder flavor.

I cook with both pellets and charcoal. As already mentioned by others, it just depends on what I am cooking… along with my mood, outdoor weather, level of ambition, time allotted, etc. And yes, some things will always taste better with charcoal. For example, as good as chicken quarters are that come off my MAK, I cannot impart the depth of flavor that my kettle does with its eyes closed… lol. On the flip side, I cannot get many low n slow items off the kettle with the ultra clean smoke profile that I can from my MAK… and it’s a repeatable process on the MAK… which I can do with my eyes closed… literally

 

[Bob C Cue]

Do you use the 100% or their 60/40 blend of oak and Hickory? I had a flameout after about 13 hours with the 100% and the firepot had more ash in it than I’ve ever seen before in about a decade of pellet smoking. I’m gonna try the 60/40 sometime since it’s double the hickory (and they use bark) of a lot of brands. I still use their MHC a lot. I’ll probably stick with CookinPellets for long cooks, but I can grab LJ at the grocery store for 30-50% less.

100%. I have never cooked anything on the MAK that took longer than 10 hours so have not had a flame out yet.

 

[ronbrad62]

I never notice smoke on the food the day that I cook it. Once I've inhaled it all day, my sense are already ignoring it. Leftovers I can pick it up, or the girlfriend can if she hasn't been outside around the smoke.

I was going to post pretty much this same thing. While I usually use a drum smoker with wood chunks, some days, I can not taste a strong smoke flavor, but the next day, it seems to "bloom" and the taste is much more prevalent, much like a lot of dishes taste better the next day.

 

[mike243]

I have used lumber jack for a long time but have found that Kingsford gives better smoke at higher temps, hickory is my preferred flavor but blends have been good also.

 

[pjtexas1]

I agree with Rob. Charcoal is a strong flavor. Stronger than a stick burner. Can't really compare pellets to Charcoal.

Sent from my SM-G996U using Tapatalk

 

[4ever3]

True story…


Bought the first Weber Summit delivered in Oklahoma. Cooked on it for a few years, people loved the smoked and grilled meats that came off of it! Friends, family, potlucks where people didn’t know who brought what, everyone loved it. Fast forward a few years and I dipped my toe into pellet grills. Bought a GMG and while impressed with it, it could have never replaced Waylon, but Mrs. 4ever3 like it because she could cook outdoors without lighting charcoal and dumping the chimney. Then Robb “the pusher” came along talking about MAKS, after lots of reading we bought a ️️ in the group buy. Started cooking on it and was impressed with all aspects, while Waylon sat. Don’t know how long, but long into cooking on the MAK I decided to get nostalgic and cook ribs on Waylon. Bring them in the house all proud, temps rock solid, bend test perfect, color, pullback, all aspects were NAILED!

As I’m cutting ribs the crew is grabbing and digging in! They all take a couple bites and look at me and in my head I’m thinking “yoouuuu are welcome!” but no… “Dad, what’d you do to these ribs? They are not good…”

WHAT???

Took one bite, and they weren’t wrong. Tasted like stale old smoke, like licking an ash tray (not that I’ve ever licked one though) Haven’t cooked on Waylon in a long time, so long in fact, he’s sitting in the shop to be cleaned up and sold.

It was a seriously different smoke and not in a good way.

Give it a chance then go back to your old cooker and see what you think.

 

[darita]

First, congrats on the MAK. Contrary to popular belief, there are big differences in smoke profile produced by different pellet smokers. MAK is one of the best due to its controller algorithm. Smoking at temps around 250* or less, will give you plenty of smoke flavor and has been compared to stick burners. The higher the temps, the less the smoke flavor, although MAK has adjusted the controller to produce more smoke flavor at higher temps.
I found that Lumber Jack 100% flavor wood pellets produce the most smoke flavor. Most others are blends and just don't give me enough smoke flavor for my taste. 100% Hickory and 100% Apple are two of my favorites and if you get into a group buy, they are very affordable.
Have fun with your MAK and I know you'll love it.