What made you pick your?????

MAK?

Your Memphis?

Your Traeger?

Price. I stumbled onto a traeger unit at a pool & spa store and picked up a brochure on the way out...my first exposure to pellet smokers. As previously chronicled, I've been an outdoor cooker for years but my attempts at smoking on a brinkman gas fired smoker had been disappointing at best. So, their was trepidation about spending any money on a smoker, let alone 'big bucks'.

Online research led me to this forum and while it was clear Traegers were no longer the industry leaders, (or USA made), they were still very capable pellet smokers (especially with the controller upgrade)....while still a big leap of faith, the Lil Tex was a smaller 'risk' than more capable models. I've generally leaned towards first class in my hobbies, but during the death throes of Christmas spending was not the time to stretch the budget.

Looking back it's easy to say a MAK2 would have been worth the wait, (and still is), but think of the meals I would have missed along the way!

I picked the Memphis Pro SS. I had a great opportunity to try out both the Memphis Pro and MAK in a cook before buying. I have not used the Traeger. It was an extremely difficult choice as both units are extremely high quality. I like the all SS construction of the Memphis and it is slightly narrower than the MAK (the location I wanted to put the grill in is fairly narrow). The Memphis has a higher max cooking temp and I like the split pellet hopper to allow mixing of flavors. I prefered the controller on the MAK and I find myself wishing for a warming drawer on the Memphis. I do think the hopper location on the MAK is superior, especially if you need to refill during a cook. The MAK puts out WAY more smoke, so if you're going to primarily smoke, the MAK is the way to go.

Either way you go, you're going to get a great grill!

I fell in love with my Jambo when I first saw it in Clarksville, TN used by another cook. He wanted to sell it then, but it was out of my price range. He ended up selling it to a friend, who turned around and sold it to another friend, who I promptly send the money to buy it. I took possession and "snuck" it into the garage. My Dad thought I was nuts! It wasn't a pellet smoker then and it didn't fit the "cooking in the trailer" scenario. An intervention was mentioned to control my acquisition of cooking devices. I cooked on it 3 times and loaned it back to friend #2 above, who cooked comps with it for 2 years. He got into the Jack with my cooker! After he got his Jambo, it took a bit of coersion to get my cooker back. Right after I got it, I had a wild hair and went and cooked a small contest on it (in the traditional way) and won GC. This was the 4th time I'd cooked on it.

This doesn't really answer your questions above, BP, but it is part of why I love my pit!

yeah but you added a pellet system....so you are good ms prez

i have used all three of them. this is going to take awhile. i found a old coast guard buddy that lives in my area. i went over to his house and he was cooking ribs with no charcoal or gas just pellets. pellets, how the heck can you cook with pellets? the best ribs and beans (cooked on the grill) i have ever had. he had a traeger texas grill. that got me doing research on pellet grills. at the time i didn't have alot of money and low and behold costco had a traeger rep at the store. well, wife said ok. ya ya ya. and off i went. found pellets in town. didn't know much about pellet grilling just that is was way easy. the traeger ate alot of pellets. i then had my daughters boyfriend (a machinist) make me a heat deflector out of 12 gauge stainless. the traeger held temps better and ate less pellets. i was happy. not much room in it though. well, got a memphis. it was cool. i liked its looks and stainless work. it held temps good but not the temps i set. i didn't like the grease tray at all. i did cook alot of food on it and it did produce some smoke. i mean, if you cooked a 14 hour brisket or pork butt you would get a smoke ring. i never cooked on it above 500º even though it went to 650º. ppl say the memphis pro doesn't use alot of pellets but what ppl forget is that it does have 2 augers not just one and the hopper was only 16 lbs and in the back. every time i wanted to fill i would have to go to the back. all though i did good a 14 hour brisket and 5 hours ribs at 225º on one hopper full. did the same thing on my mak also. the memphis just didn't make me comfortable with its rack set up. well, has you all know i now own a mak 2 star. I LOVE IT. repeat, I LOVE IT. i like it looks. my mak #336 has character. the stainless and powder coat look good together. i also like the pellet hopper in the front and easy for me to get too. you don't realize how many times you look in the pellet hopper in the coarse of a cook. its just habit to look to see how many pellets you have. the mak like everyone says does not go though pellets. ppl, remember one auger. it also holds temps better than any thing else i have used. the thing i love the most, you won't believe it but the removable fire pot. i love it. and if i every see bob i am going to give him a kiss. i hated using the big shop vac all the time to vacuum out the fire pot. i clean my fire pot out every cook and maybe clean the inside of the mak with i feel like it. and the trap door. oh my gosh. is this guy a genius or what. it is so easy to clean. the cold smoke side is cool. i put food that is ready before other food. do that alot. i also put mops or sauces in there to keep warm. on cold nights i put my plates in it to have a nice hot plate (warm plate) to put my food on. i can't wait until easter. i am thinking about smoked easter candy. i have smoked cheese in it at least 4 times. love it. if you have ever had smoke cheese and trader joes crackers while you were smoking cigars and playing cards drinking FT. it is fantastic. i like the pellet boss too. i was alittle afraid of it at first. not sure of what buttons to press. i called bob 1 or 2 days after i got it and he said it was easy to program it and if i had any problems i could just call him and he would walk me though it. i though, h#ll, if i screw it up i will just call bob. made me alittle more brave. i haven't program it yet but i am not worried about it when i do. i liked that i used the pellet boss to plug my temp probe into. how cool it that. i am selling my traeger to get the remote boss. do you know how lazy i am going to be when i get it. i can wake up in bed and check what my grill is doing. damn. i really believe bob is a genius. kiss kiss buddy. as you all know by now i am brutally honest and speak my mind about what i believe. i LOVE MY MAK. done. wait one more thing. you would be stupid not to buy from BIG POPPA smokers. sterling took excellent care if me when i was having problems with the memphis. two thumbs up garth for BPS and sterling. now i am done.

BP if this is do much just delete it.

Sparky...you're a gem. Bless you for being on this forum!

I'm not sure I can follow Sparky

what made me pick my Traeger..... Nepas made me do it

I went to the 1st annual Nepas smokeout and saw Nepas' Traeger in action. I went home knowing I needed one. Kid in college so started watching craigslist, not alot of pellet grills in the Northeast so it took awhile but one day one finally showed up , emailed Nepas & Squirt asking them if it looked like a good deal , they both wrote back - buy it!. Got a good deal and the guy said he had used it about 8 times. So what really made me pick my Traeger was $

Went to the 2nd annual Nepas smokeout and saw the MAK in action.....

I'm pretty sure I know what the next one will be but it's going to be a bit longer....

I owned a Traeger Lil Tex first and learned a lot from it! About 2 months after my Lil Tex purchase Mak Daddy posted a premiere of the 2 Star (late 2009) on another pellet forum. I looked at his design with all the innovative features it had and thought to myself, this guy must have asked Traeger owners what they would like to change on their cookers cause every single pain point I had with my Lil Tex was solved in the 2 Star and then some! It was love at first site and I posted on that thread that some day I would own a 2 Star. A couple months after that fateful post my prediction came to pass! I've been a very, very satisfied 2 Star owner ever since.
My General was the 3rd production 2 Star to roll off the line. KyNola has #2 and Bruce Bjorkman has the first.

Well I bought a Traeger based on research and a little too much Shiner Bock (note to self...never buy expensive stuff after consuming a bunch of beer).

Can i post why i went from my traeger to the mak 2star to the MP to the FE1000? or would that cause issues?

Selected my Traeger based on research and asking questions. I like the barrel look. Have had no problems. Would most likely buy another.

Jeremie you can post whatever you like..just play nice.

I started researching pellet grills after taking a BBQ class from Rod Gray at the beginning of May last year. My wife attended with me so she got to enjoy the comparison between stick cookers and pellet cookers. By the time we got home I decided that I needed to increase my limited knowledge about pellet grills. I finally convinced my wife that we should purchase a pellet grill. Eveytime I spend bigger money on something (guns, hunting trips, and of course a pellet grill) it costs me in-kind (jewelry and big trips). Next was to decide how much to spend. I read the various websites and started asking questions (much like future pellet grill owners are doing here). I had narrowed my choices down to the FEC 1000, the Memphis Pro, and the MAK 2 Star. I ended up trading emails with BP looking for some help. We even talked on the phone. He was really knowledgeable and happy to share this knowledge. Since I like to cook a lot of different things, his recommendation was that I needed to match my "style" of cooking to the grill I would eventually pick. All three grills had their strengths and very few weaknesses. But they were all different. Because of the way I cook or wanted to cook, I ended up choosing the MAK 2 Star. I thought that I might use the cold smoker/warmer some day. It turns out that I have been using this much more that I thought I would. I have been smoking a fair amount of steelhead trout, different cheeses, and even stale Peeps as well as some milk and dark chocolates. I have even gotten off into making some of my own sausage in recent months. Being able to both cold smoke and hot smoke food has expanded my cooking horizons. Cooking on anything but a pellet grill reminds me how good I have it at home. I have not looked back since purchasing my MAK.

Art

Thanks Art!

Big Poppa's advice made me pick my MAK. I went 2-Star, because I thought the warming drawer would be a feature that I would like to have. So far, I have used it a number of times. So, I think that added versatility is a good thing. It's by no means a necessity, but it has been helpful. I expect it will continue to be helpful.

After seeing the Traeger at Costco one day, I knew I wanted a pellet grill as I have always had an interest in smoking but never persued it. As my wife will tell you, when I see something I like, I will research it until I have made a decision. I wanted to find a unit that I could replace my gas grill with and would allow me to do anything I wanted.

I was at a toss up between the Memphis Pro and the MAK 2 star. Both units are incredible, but what sold me in the end was the warmong tray on the MAK and I was leary of the grease tray on the Memphis. Last but not least was the phone call I recieved from BP and the awesome customer service and products associated with him.

Jeff

DolphinLvr said:

Last but not least was the phone call I recieved from BP and the awesome customer service and products associated with him.

Click to expand...

ya, he's alright. lol.... BP and his staff (jessie) are fantastic. i have bought 3 maks from him and i can say enough about him and his crew. plus, he can cook like no other person i have ever met. a true chef. you should have tasted the tuna and lamb last time i saw him. the flavors were out of this world. oh, one more thing. he is truly a very nice man. i still don't believe the team when they told me that waa laa was really va la or something like that.

nepas on the Bradley forum. I had't even heard of a pellet grill until he posted about his new MAK. I liked all the features of the MAK 2 Star so went with that.

Squirtthecat, KyNola, NePas, and others on the Bradley Forum ...