ht01us
New member
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 side. Used oak pellets; put the tri tip on the right side at 225 until internal temp of 125 then moved to warmer while cooker went to high. Then put on the searing grate until internal temp of 140. It came off with a good smoke ring but was too well done and was just plain tough. Kind of like I expect my first brisket to come out
My beef short ribs before that also ended up a little over done and tough.
I'm wondering if... well at this point I don't what to wonder. Often when I've smoked I've had some humidity in the mix; would a container of water in the cooker help?
I've promised pulled pork in a week and a half for a family party of 15-20 folks; this is the kind of event I bought the Mak for. I've cooked pulled pork at least 10 times on various cookers and have had pretty good success. I want to make sure I'm successful here.
This weekend I'm going to do a test cook:
This is pretty close to my recipe and technique I've used before. Anything else (or different) I need to do? I need to hit a home run here or I'll get discouraged.
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 side. Used oak pellets; put the tri tip on the right side at 225 until internal temp of 125 then moved to warmer while cooker went to high. Then put on the searing grate until internal temp of 140. It came off with a good smoke ring but was too well done and was just plain tough. Kind of like I expect my first brisket to come out
My beef short ribs before that also ended up a little over done and tough.
I'm wondering if... well at this point I don't what to wonder. Often when I've smoked I've had some humidity in the mix; would a container of water in the cooker help?
I've promised pulled pork in a week and a half for a family party of 15-20 folks; this is the kind of event I bought the Mak for. I've cooked pulled pork at least 10 times on various cookers and have had pretty good success. I want to make sure I'm successful here.
This weekend I'm going to do a test cook:
- Brine overnight in water, salt, and molasses
- Rub with a rub I've used before
- Start at 225
- When the butt hits 145, push up to 275.
- Pull at an IT of 195
- Tent for 15-30 minutes; pull and serve
This is pretty close to my recipe and technique I've used before. Anything else (or different) I need to do? I need to hit a home run here or I'll get discouraged.