WSM vs Mak 1 - food and taste differences

Hi all,

I have been a WSM user for a bit and have that down, just dont like the babysitting it needs and how prone to issue with weather it is.

On a different forum i asked about the quantity of smoke on a pellet grill as you increase temps - I assumed the smoke level decreases as the temp rises. One user said this was an accurate assumption. He also went on to say the smokey flavor on a pellet (Mak 1) would be notably lower than what I am used to with a WSM. This kinda surprised me and I am looking for some feedback on that comment. I like my smoked meats to be heavily smoked. Seems like that cant be right??

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

Personally, I like the level of smoke I get with our MAK. It's definitely a lighter smoke than you may be used to with a WSM. It's a good clean smoke flavor that's not heavy or overwhelming.

There are ways to get more smoke flavor, but it requires lower temps, longer cooking times and a couple tricks.

Any time I want a little more smoke, the first thing I do is make sure the meat and grill are both cold when I put the meat on. Then I turn the grill on and run in smoke mode for an hour or two before bumping the temp up to 225° - 245°. This extends the time during which the meat can absorb smoke, and works for a pellet smoker because you don't have to worry about getting the smoker settled in first. The controller settles the temp in for you!


When smoking homemade sausage, where I want a more pronounced smoke, I will run in smoke mode for the entire cook (around 3 - 4 hours) and get plenty of smoke flavor.

More info: http://www.pelletsmoking.com/searching-cure-26/how-smoke-sausage-pellet-grill-smoker-6367/


For homemade Bacon, where I want a very deep smoke, then I will cold-smoke with Apple pellets for a few hours first (using a A-Maze-N tube), then run in smoke for the remaining 6 - 7 hours it takes to get the bacon up to 150°. Doing this I get just as deep of a smoke as any other smoker I've used.

More Info: http://www.pelletsmoking.com/searching-cure-26/apple-smoked-cider-mill-bacon-6281/


Of course the type of meat you are smoking will also play a role. Ribs will always taste more smoky than a pork butt because ribs have a much higher surface to meat ratio.


Hope this makes sense and helps to answer your questions!

good to know! Thank you for sharing.