How diifficult is it to keep up the 304 SS exterior on a Mak 2 Star?

rwalters

New member
For those of you that own a 2 Star, and actually care about keeping it clean (lol)... how difficult is it to keep the stainless exterior nice and clean? What cleaning solution do you use, and what's your practice/routine method for doing so? How difficult is it to remove tough burnt in drippings/greasy smoke stains? For those that have a 2 Star that is more than a year old, I'd love to see recent pics of how they look after more then a years worth of cooking.

Just bought my 1st used 1 Star... and seeing how much I already love it, the 2 Star is beginning to call my name... :eek:
 

sptucker

New member
It's super easy, the 304 SS is wonderful.

I use Sprayway Stainless Steel Cleaner and Polish. It's cheap, comes in a big spray can, and you can find it just about anywhere. But, there are a zillion SS cleaning products you can use with good results, I'm sure.

If you spray the exterior with this and wipe it off after every use, your MAK exterior will remain spotless. Wait for the metal to cool -- this doesn't take long if you leave your MAK lid open after shutting down. The longer you wait between cleanings, the tougher the stains may be, of course, especially around the exhaust vents.

For tough stuff, usually some hot water and a paper towel will do. Just apply elbow grease. Then spray and wipe with Sprayway. I have had to resort to a green 3M scrub pad to clean near the vents after multiple all-day smokefests after failing to cleanup right after.

I don't have a picture handy, but my 1 year old MAK 2 looks basically brand new on the outside and I have used it A LOT.
 

farfromovin

New member
Well, mine is only 3 months old and it's been a fight to keep clean. Here's what I run now after testing some things:

After every cook it gets wiped with 3M stainless steel cleaner/polish. The 3M puts a nice shiny finish on it, but isn't strong enough to really clean any smoke stains so every few cooks I need to used Greased Lightning and a white 3M scrub pad and go to town on the smoke stains. That gets followed by the finishing 3M cleaner/polish.

The first month or so before I got Greased Lightning nothing I had worked on the smoke stains and they got really bad. Ultimately, oven cleaner worked like a champ. I pre-heated the grill to 200 degrees, applied controlled amounts of oven cleaner to the stains and they immediately wiped clean with a paper towel.

All that said, I cannot get the golden color to come off the stainless of the actual exterior box on the front and sides, the portion that would be below the grate level. Overall, I'm confident that I will have a sharp looking bbq smoker for years. Oh, and I keep mine outside under a small roof, with a cover most times.
 
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