Recent content by ht01us

I often see recipes for gas 2 zone grilling that I want to convert to use on my Mak 2 Star. A typical direction for setting up the 2 zone is this: Turn all burners to high. Heat with lid down until very hot, about 15 minutes. Leave primary burner on high and turn off other burner(s). or, it may...

I'm supposed to be working on organizing my blog posting from our trip to South Africa. I got a little distracted today. I got a retro fit for my Mak 2 Star. I've heard that the temp runs a little higher with the change so I ran a test, putting Maverick smoker probes in the center of the upper...

I was meandering through Costco this morning when I saw St. Louis Cut ribs. I thought to myself "Self! it's been too long since you've cooked some ribs. Get ON it." So I did. Normally I oil and rub my ribs then wrap in plastic wrap overnight. I'm wondering what the difference would be if I...

Going to cook my first brisket overnight. I'm wondering which of the following two options you prefer. 1) On the lower grate (MAK 2 Star) no water 2) On the upper grate over a water pan Either way, I'll be at 225* until IT of 180; then foil and drop smoker to 200* until IT of 195 (Feel free to...

Posted this a while back in the Competition area but got no responses. Thought I'd try here to see if there is any more response. The Aloha Thriftway Classic is in the Portland area this coming weekend put on by the PNWBA (Pacific NorthWest Barbecue Association ). Is anybody on the list...

There is a contest in the Portland area in a couple of weeks put on by the PNWBA (Pacific NorthWest Barbecue Association ).Is anybody on the list participating or visiting? The web site says it is a "qualifier". What does that mean? I'm planning on visiting; this will be my first visit to a...

I've got a buddy who does some barbecue on a WSM. He looks down his nose at me with my Mak. He contends that you don't see many pellet smokers at BBQ competitions. I've never been to a competition so can't tell from personal experience, but I kind of think he may not be right. If anyone has...

I've got 6 slabs of ribs going on the MAK (7 meat eaters and 1 vegetarian). Normally I cut the slabs into individual ribs and put them all on a platter. But, I'm considering cutting them into 3 or 4 rib hunks and serving that way? What do y'all do?

Whipping up 3 racks of baby back ribs today. I'm making 2 changes. First, I'm changing up the rub. I looked at Jan's Dry Rub on susanminor.org after reading about it on this site. So, I whomped some up. Into the bowl and mix it up My second change is to use a water pan. When I cooked on...

Based on my perusal of this website, it seems I am in a minority for brining my Boston Butts for pulled pork. So, with more than 20 people coming over for dinner this weekend for a birthday bash and celebration of 2 engagements I thought I'd apply the optometrist test. I prepared 2 Boston Butts...

I toasted a probe for my Mak and needed a replacement in time for my party this weekend. Big Poppa came through for me. I ordered it last Monday (after close of business) and it arrived today. Thanks Pops!

I went through the batteries on my Remote Boss during an 11 hour cook today. Guess I could read the directions, but this is so much easier. I see a port on the Remote Boss and wondering if there are any restrictions on how to connect it. If I have a camera USB cable say where the end fits the...

Even though Vin Scully wasn't there to make the call, I finally hit my home run on the MAK. I went back to basics and prepared pulled pork using a recipe I've done successfully on other cookers. Carla and I were pretty happy with the results. I've got a full write up on my blog; here are the...

On my last cook, I had my MAK meat probe in the meat while it sat on the searing grate with the temp on "High". The alarm sounded as the probe hit my set point then continued to sky rocket in a hurry up to 400 and higher. Upon opening the cooker, I saw the wire was touching the searing grate in...

I've cooked 4 times on my Mak 2 Star and haven't hit a homerun yet. Two things I've cooked on it that I've been real successful with on other cookers are tri tip and pork ribs. For my tri tip I tried a reverse sear. I had the Mak flame zone cover off and the Mak searing grate on the left...