I recently ordered a MAK 2 Star General #1945 from BPS. First thing that I want to say is the build quality is amazing. Everything seems very well thought out and designed. When I opened up the crate everything was well secured and packaged up tight. The guys at MAK must buy cardboard boxes and plastic baggies by the semi truck load! All kidding aside, everything was packaged up real nice, not a single scratch on anything. Assembly was pretty straightforward. The only issue I had was 1 bolt wouldn't screw in. So I chased the threads in the welded in nut with a tap and then it went in fine. The threads were just boogered up a little bit, no big deal.
After I got her fully assembled I cleaned everything up. And I noticed a bunch of finger/hand prints all over the ss, as to be expected. My wife has some ss wipes made by Weiman. I'm not sure where she bought them but she uses them on the appliances in the kitchen and seems to like them. Are they ok and safe to use on the exterior of the mak grille? Or is there a better product to use to keep the handprints at bay and clean up after every or every other cook? And when I cleaned up the grille after assembly I vacuumed out the residue on the insides and just wiped everything down with a plain paper towel. Should I go back and clean the insides with some dawn dish soap and water? Or will the first seasining cook take care of cleaning it up?
My next order of business is to buy a pound or 2 of bacon and season the grille right. After watching all of those videos on Big Poppa's site numerous times I am really looking forward to making some ribs, a brisket and some pulled pork. I'm drooling a bit now just thinking of it!
This MAK 2 Star is replacing an old worn out Weber propane grille. I love the smoke flavor in smoked foods (my wife not so much), and I've been wanting a pellet smoker for quite a while now. The new Weber's are real nice, but the ss model I wanted was going to be about $1500, so I figured it would be worth it to spend a bit more to get the grille I really want. I hope to be using this new grille for a couple of decades. It seems very well built so I think it will last that long.
Thanks,
Tim
After I got her fully assembled I cleaned everything up. And I noticed a bunch of finger/hand prints all over the ss, as to be expected. My wife has some ss wipes made by Weiman. I'm not sure where she bought them but she uses them on the appliances in the kitchen and seems to like them. Are they ok and safe to use on the exterior of the mak grille? Or is there a better product to use to keep the handprints at bay and clean up after every or every other cook? And when I cleaned up the grille after assembly I vacuumed out the residue on the insides and just wiped everything down with a plain paper towel. Should I go back and clean the insides with some dawn dish soap and water? Or will the first seasining cook take care of cleaning it up?
My next order of business is to buy a pound or 2 of bacon and season the grille right. After watching all of those videos on Big Poppa's site numerous times I am really looking forward to making some ribs, a brisket and some pulled pork. I'm drooling a bit now just thinking of it!
This MAK 2 Star is replacing an old worn out Weber propane grille. I love the smoke flavor in smoked foods (my wife not so much), and I've been wanting a pellet smoker for quite a while now. The new Weber's are real nice, but the ss model I wanted was going to be about $1500, so I figured it would be worth it to spend a bit more to get the grille I really want. I hope to be using this new grille for a couple of decades. It seems very well built so I think it will last that long.
Thanks,
Tim
