New member looking for new grill

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Gregoryalln

New member
Hi, my name is Greg from Portland,OR. I've been using pellet grills for around 8 years. started with a traeger70 and then got a Traeger XL, upgraded the 70 to a 124, after several issues they decided to replace it with a 75. I love using the pellet grill because it's simple, with great results, but I was looking to upgrade to a grill other than Traeger. I was looking at the Green Mountains when I stumbled on this site. I was reading about the Mak, but only have around a 1g max to spend. I was looking for something around the same size as the Traeger 70. something I can cook 2 BUTTS at a time on.

Greg
 
scooter

scooter

Moderator
Welcome to PelletSmoking! The MAK 1 Star is right around your budget and Dallas, OR is fairly local, you could pick it up at the factory and meet Bob Tucker!
 
Rip

Rip

New member
Welcome to the forum Greg! If you can stretch the budget a litle, the MAK1 Star is a great cooker with lots of options you can add on later.
 
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Gregoryalln

New member
Thanks guys, after talking to You guys, and a friend that does competition I think I'll look into the Mak. one other question, is it big enough to do a 25lbs turkey? thanks
 
jimsbarbecue

jimsbarbecue

Moderator
The MAK one star will be a little over budget. Well worth the difference The Pellet Boss is the big deal. Set the temp to what you want and your done. NO extra settings to fool with it does the work. Three programmable temp probes. All three can be set for alarms or pit functions. The Pellet Boss can be set to adjust temps based on time or probe temp etc. No other grill at any price does this. Will you use it.We do when cooking turkey if that gives you the idea. Here is how we did the Christmas bird. Set the Pellet Boss to cook on smoke for one hour,then cook at 425 for 30 minutes, then turn the pit temp down to 325, cook at 325 until the temp probe in the thigh hit 170 and turn the pit down to 200. Just to be clear, We put the turkey on with the meat probes in and the Pellet Boss programmed for the cook and the next time I touched the MAK was to remove the turkey.
 
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Gregoryalln

New member
I would really like to try one out. I'm also doing research for a hardware store, they currently sell the Traegers, but Traeger started selling through Costco and it killed the sales in the smaller venue. Also Traeger is telling people to take their Costco Traeger to the local dealer to get it serviced since Costco can't service there. In the past most local dealers would service the grills for free to build a customer base. The owner thinks the answer is to switch the grills that he sells. He is also looking for something American made. My concern is the Mak is to expensive for the average customer. As for me, either way I'm getting one!
 
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Gregoryalln

New member
unfortunately most of my pics are on my camera, I shattered my shoulder recently and left the camera at work. I'll post more pics when I can. these are just a few and aren't that good. I mainly do brisket,pork, and turkeys.
 
scooter

scooter

Moderator
Gregoryalln said:
one other question, is it big enough to do a 25lbs turkey? thanks
Click to expand...

I don't know about a 1 Star but in the 2 Star you have 14" from bottom grate to the top of the pit. Or, you have 6" from bottom grate to top grate with another 8" from top grate to the top of the pit. Cooking area is one of the strong points of a MAK.
 
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Gregoryalln

New member
Thanks, from the research I've done the 1 star is 3 inches higher than the Traeger Lil' Tex, but it is a little more narrow (width) than the Traeger. I'm hoping to check both 1-2 stars out this week
 
TentHunter

TentHunter

Moderator
Welcome to the forum!

Something to consider in the cost:

As far as I can tell GMG grill prices do NOT include shipping (approx. $100 ) from any of their dealers.

BigPoppaSmokers includes free shipping on the MAK grills.

So, when you factor in the additional shipping cost it brings the MAK 1 Star to within $199 of your budget. Split that $199 up over the course of a year and its only $3.83 per week. You'll spend more than that on a burger & fries! :)
 
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Gregoryalln

New member
This question is probably for Sparky, or anyone else that owns both grills. Why would someone with both grills use the Mak 1 more often over the Mak 2? ease of use, burns less pellets, less mess? Also with the Traeger I always covered the drip pan with foil, looking at the Mak it doesn't look like you do that, would that be correct?
 
TentHunter

TentHunter

Moderator
I covered mine with foil sometimes if I'm cooking something that I know will be messy and it does help with cleanup. Scooter covers his religiously.
 
Big Poppa

Big Poppa

Administrator
I dont foil it actually messes with the heat on both units...a simple paint scraper works easy...the one star is just a little stud....It also puts out a little more smoke
 
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