rogersjd14
New member
My new MAK 2 Star has been a phenomenal edition... except for one minor drawback: searing.
I cooked some chicken breasts with skin at about 300. I took them off the grill and placed them in the cold smoker. I then turned up the MAK to "High", placed in the MAK searing grate, and waited for it to hit 450. On the other side of the grill, I placed in my cast iron 12" skillet.
Once the grill hit 450, I put two chicken breasts, skin down, on the searing grate. I also placed two chicken breasts, skin down, on the cast iron.
The searing difference wasn't even close. The cast iron, with its flat surface, did a much more thorough job of searing than the MAK searing grate. The searing grate produced great grill marks, but I prefer a consistent browning throughout the skin. I moved the chicken around on the MAK searing grate, but it wasn't as thorough (obviously with it being a grate and not a flat surface). This is not to mention the 10 minutes or so it took for the grill to heat up to 450 from 300.
I'm almost tempted to just forget the MAK searing grate and sear my steaks, chicken breasts, etc. inside on the stovetop. I can heat that up in parallel when I wait for my chicken to finish on the MAK. No waiting for the MAK to heat up, and better results to boot!
Does anyone have any experience with the MAK griddle? Does it produce similar, consistent searing as a cast iron pan would? Also, does anyone have any advice for me in terms of searing on the MAK? Perhaps I should remove even the FlameZone pan to sear directly over the flame??? Would this give better results using the MAK searing grate?
John
I cooked some chicken breasts with skin at about 300. I took them off the grill and placed them in the cold smoker. I then turned up the MAK to "High", placed in the MAK searing grate, and waited for it to hit 450. On the other side of the grill, I placed in my cast iron 12" skillet.
Once the grill hit 450, I put two chicken breasts, skin down, on the searing grate. I also placed two chicken breasts, skin down, on the cast iron.
The searing difference wasn't even close. The cast iron, with its flat surface, did a much more thorough job of searing than the MAK searing grate. The searing grate produced great grill marks, but I prefer a consistent browning throughout the skin. I moved the chicken around on the MAK searing grate, but it wasn't as thorough (obviously with it being a grate and not a flat surface). This is not to mention the 10 minutes or so it took for the grill to heat up to 450 from 300.
I'm almost tempted to just forget the MAK searing grate and sear my steaks, chicken breasts, etc. inside on the stovetop. I can heat that up in parallel when I wait for my chicken to finish on the MAK. No waiting for the MAK to heat up, and better results to boot!
Does anyone have any experience with the MAK griddle? Does it produce similar, consistent searing as a cast iron pan would? Also, does anyone have any advice for me in terms of searing on the MAK? Perhaps I should remove even the FlameZone pan to sear directly over the flame??? Would this give better results using the MAK searing grate?
John