I promised some thoughts after this weekend to help with comparison, so they are below 
So I did two runs of pork on the MAK this weekend. One starting Friday morning, and our comp run starting at Midnight Sat. morning.
The MAK "pellet boss" controller, has 3 user selectable programs for time or temp, and can take 3 meat probes for temp control. It reminded me very much of the IQ4 controller you get on Cookshack FEC's. It controlled fan and fuel delivery, and managed the temp settings. Awesome. Made temp mgmt, super easy. Cooking... we starter the cooker with a Smoke setting, and let that ride for 2 hours. The cooker maintained a nice 180-185 degree baseline, and with the variable fan speed, maintained a nice smoke - I worried about the smoke getting acrid, as happened on some of the original GMG units (when the fan would feather), but the fan control worked beautifully... and put the color and flavor in I was looking for. After a couple hours at "smoke", we kicked the cooker up to 225. At this point we let it run until the pork was a nice mahogany color. (about 4 1/2 hours.) Once color was perfect, we wrapped the pork, and cooked until it was tender, and moist; about 3 more hours, with 8lb shoulders. After resting we pulled/sliced and shredded the meat... all iterations were cooked perfectly. Cook times were slightly shorter than my pit, but overall output was on target. The 150 degree warming drawer worked great for warming au jus/sauce, etc. Clean up was simple, and ready for the comp cook. Putting the butts on at midnight was going to be another test.... as temps were 40 and dropping... vs. 45 and rising. We had 78 degree weather for Friday.... but the overnight cook was going to happen in a balmy 32.5 degree site.
I fired up the pit at 10:30p, to watch and see how it would react to the cold weather... temp swings/fuel use/etc. Pit came to temp, and managed the cook beautifully. I was in bed at 1:15, and not up again until 6:00am. Wrapped meat at 6:30, and again, off of the pit a touch earlier than my average cooktime... but the product was spot on. I would be happy to cook on a MAK anytime for a comp. The hot spots are along the front and rear edges (where the convective air comes into the pit body), but the meat fit , with no worries.
Our turn in for pork, I felt, was one of my best boxes all year. Todd agreed, which means alot more to me.... he is my most objective viewer/taster. He knows my pork as well as I do, and can tell me where it is at. I believe Sterling alluded to my pork entry getting shafted in one of the comp threads -- but that is how it goes sometimes. Proof that it is all up the judges! I am glad that he and the crew around the site enjoyed it. I felt great about it, and would turn it in anywhere! I got to watch Jody use the upper rack for chicken, and I won't divulge his secret technique without permission.... but that step added some amazing color and flavor to the meat, and really made it pop. I thought the flavor and color were both on target, and the judges agreed... it held 400 degrees like a champ, even with the door opening and closing. Great recovery for it. It did a nice finish for color on the ribs too, on the upper rack. I believe there was a pic of the ribs in the MAK on the scottsdale thread.
It is a great "dual purpose" or "complete" cooker! The learning curve on it, was pretty short, even for a hack like me. As far as comparisons go... I will say that it cooks differently than a Memphis or a FE1000. You got my review of the FE above - great unit. I think the MAK lends a lot of Versatility to the game vs. a Memphis or Louisiana. Build quality is top notch as well.
Hope that helps in your search for a "complete" smoker....Kim's already told me Santa put coal in my stocking for this year... but
I will be able to give a good comparison after this weekend. I've cooked alot on the FE and can tell you it cooks differently than the Memphis. Heat on the FE when you are not on the sear station comes top-down... there is no infrared or radiant heat from below the food. For comp chicken, that means you can get a even color/finish on your chicken without turning it etc. It will be different that how you typically cook, but works wonderfully. For steaks, etc. I do a reverse sear, with some nice lower indirect heat first... and the FE Grill is great at that. In general pellet cookers are very versatile, so you can't go wrong with any of them
So I did two runs of pork on the MAK this weekend. One starting Friday morning, and our comp run starting at Midnight Sat. morning.
The MAK "pellet boss" controller, has 3 user selectable programs for time or temp, and can take 3 meat probes for temp control. It reminded me very much of the IQ4 controller you get on Cookshack FEC's. It controlled fan and fuel delivery, and managed the temp settings. Awesome. Made temp mgmt, super easy. Cooking... we starter the cooker with a Smoke setting, and let that ride for 2 hours. The cooker maintained a nice 180-185 degree baseline, and with the variable fan speed, maintained a nice smoke - I worried about the smoke getting acrid, as happened on some of the original GMG units (when the fan would feather), but the fan control worked beautifully... and put the color and flavor in I was looking for. After a couple hours at "smoke", we kicked the cooker up to 225. At this point we let it run until the pork was a nice mahogany color. (about 4 1/2 hours.) Once color was perfect, we wrapped the pork, and cooked until it was tender, and moist; about 3 more hours, with 8lb shoulders. After resting we pulled/sliced and shredded the meat... all iterations were cooked perfectly. Cook times were slightly shorter than my pit, but overall output was on target. The 150 degree warming drawer worked great for warming au jus/sauce, etc. Clean up was simple, and ready for the comp cook. Putting the butts on at midnight was going to be another test.... as temps were 40 and dropping... vs. 45 and rising. We had 78 degree weather for Friday.... but the overnight cook was going to happen in a balmy 32.5 degree site.
I fired up the pit at 10:30p, to watch and see how it would react to the cold weather... temp swings/fuel use/etc. Pit came to temp, and managed the cook beautifully. I was in bed at 1:15, and not up again until 6:00am. Wrapped meat at 6:30, and again, off of the pit a touch earlier than my average cooktime... but the product was spot on. I would be happy to cook on a MAK anytime for a comp. The hot spots are along the front and rear edges (where the convective air comes into the pit body), but the meat fit , with no worries.
Our turn in for pork, I felt, was one of my best boxes all year. Todd agreed, which means alot more to me.... he is my most objective viewer/taster. He knows my pork as well as I do, and can tell me where it is at. I believe Sterling alluded to my pork entry getting shafted in one of the comp threads -- but that is how it goes sometimes. Proof that it is all up the judges! I am glad that he and the crew around the site enjoyed it. I felt great about it, and would turn it in anywhere! I got to watch Jody use the upper rack for chicken, and I won't divulge his secret technique without permission.... but that step added some amazing color and flavor to the meat, and really made it pop. I thought the flavor and color were both on target, and the judges agreed... it held 400 degrees like a champ, even with the door opening and closing. Great recovery for it. It did a nice finish for color on the ribs too, on the upper rack. I believe there was a pic of the ribs in the MAK on the scottsdale thread.
It is a great "dual purpose" or "complete" cooker! The learning curve on it, was pretty short, even for a hack like me. As far as comparisons go... I will say that it cooks differently than a Memphis or a FE1000. You got my review of the FE above - great unit. I think the MAK lends a lot of Versatility to the game vs. a Memphis or Louisiana. Build quality is top notch as well.
Hope that helps in your search for a "complete" smoker....Kim's already told me Santa put coal in my stocking for this year... but
