New to pellet smoking

sptrainnut

New member
Hello, my name is J and I'm new to pellet smoking. I'm in the process of doing my home work about the different smokers and I've pretty much narrowed my search down to two different grills. Currently I'm heavily leaning towards the MAK 2 star although I have been looking at the Green Mountain Jim Bowie also. I'm hoping to be able to hear from fellow smokers who have one or the other of these two types of grills and hopefully you can tell me the pros and cons of each. I hope to be able to make my purchase of one or the other by the end of the month.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to learning a lot from the forums.
 

Big Poppa

Administrator
If price is no object the MAK is not to be beat. Fair warning Im a dealer for them and npot green mountain Green Mountain is probably the bes of the imported ones though...
 

malawoo

New member
Welcome to the pellet smoking forum and your new purchase I also looked at the green mountain but the Mak is awesome grill and you wouldn't be disappointed in your purchase if the money is not a problem Mak can't be beat.
 

sptrainnut

New member
Good Morning Eeveryone,
Thanks for your welcomes and comments. I'm 99.99% certain that I'll be going with the MAK 2 star. I haven't found any bad comments about it and one of the best things I like about it is the fact that it is made in the US not in China or somewhere else. BP I've scoured your site and I'm leaning towards the MAK 2 with the accessories package. Can anyone make any additional suggestions as to what I should order in addition to what comes in the package? Should I order an additional Frog Mat or what about the rib rack?

If this is a stupid question, please pardon, like I said I'm totally new to this and not real sure about the whole thing. Last summer I was in Costco and they had a Tragger demo (I was going to buy one but he didn't have the one I was looking for, lucky me) and I ended up buying 3 bags of pellets from the guy as they were half price and I didn't have to worry about shipping. Sooo, my question is, will these work with the MAK?
 

squirtthecat

New member
Welcome J!

Yes, those pellets will work fine in the MAK. I have both a Traeger 070 (the Lil Tex) and the new MAK 1 Star. You'll love the big MAK 2 Star. You can accessorize all you want - up front or over time. Frog Mats are highly recommended..

I don't have the rib rack, but I do use the 2nd half rack all the time.
 

Rip

New member
Hey J, welcome! Ditto the Squirt's frogmats comment, so useful for so many things. Re. Pellets, all food grade pellets (Traeger's are) can be used, just stay away from pellets made for heating.
 

ACW3

New member
J,
I ordered a MAK 2 Star from BP's. With it I bought a sampler pack of pellets to give me some variety of flavors. I also bought the full upper rack, the frog mat set for the 2 Star, and the grill grates. The only thing I would probably do differently today would be to get the split grill option (the MAK version of an installed grill grate) instead of the grill grates. One of these days I will add the split grill to my collection. I can always use the grill grates on my Weber. Get the "basics" and then add to them as you discover what works.

Art
 

HoDeDo

New member
Those traeger pellets will work fine. What I have found with the Traeger pellets, is that they produce alot more ash; and the flavors noted on the bag are "oils". They will cook fine, but you'll have less clean up , and more variety from pellets like BBQr's Delight. I know Candy Sue has a sub-forum here, and we have talked on just about every pellet topic there is in it.... so drop in there, and read some of those threads -- lots of good info on the pellets themselves.

Having said that, sounds like a nice score at the roadshow! Have you been using them in your other cookers? (aka, wrapped in foil with a holes poked in it for additional smoke for example?
 

CarterQ

Moderator
Welcome aboard! As others have already said if you can swing the MAK, it will give you the most bang for your buck. So many options make it an unbelievably versatile cooker. You will find once you get hooked (and guaranteed you will) you will want to try all kinds of things you never thought about doing on a pellet cooker and the MAK will let you do it all. Look forward to your pellet smoking adventures!
 

scooter

Moderator
Welcome J. The two grills you speak of are from opposite ends of the spectrum. It's fairly obvious which I'd recommend and purchasing from BP is the way to go. He's the only dealer I know of that cooks with every cooker he sells. Check out the BP site with how-to MAK cooking videos! They are great!

Additional accessories I'd recommend the full upper grate. I own the half but haven't used it yet. The rib rack is very, very well built and will handle 8 racks of ribs! If you plan on cooking lots of ribs for family and friends I'd suggest getting it. the RemoteBoss is pretty cool and will be one of my next purchases. Not a must have to start but a nice to have for sure. I guarantee you will be the only one on your block with a remote control for his BBQ! :)
 
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