Questions from a brand new 2 star (2020) user.

[wmilas]

Hello,

Received my 2 star on July 2 (yea! in time for the 4th) and have done a few smokes on it. If I may, let me ask a few questions.

1) Are flameouts on start up "normal"? When I seasoned the grill on the 2nd it flamed out once on ignition. I chalked that up to a new grill. After reset it started fine. On the second smoke no flameout on start up. On third smoke, flame out on ignition about 10 minutes in just like the 1st. If its normal, ?I can live with it, I'll just have to pay attention to the ignition cycle.

2) How many hours till fire pot needs to be emptied? Let me explain. I was using BBQers delight apple in 20 lbs bags. I seasoned on the 2nd for 90ish minutes at 450. I then backed it down to 300 and did hot dogs for the kids. Prolly another 60 minutes. (they were unbelievably good btw). The next day I was up at 4am for my first real smoke. Did 2 pork butts (around 11 pounds each) at 225. One was done 12 hours in, one was 13. (I did not crutch). I noticed about 5 ish hours in I stopped seeing smoke billow out of the vents although the heat was fine. about 10 hours in I noticed smoke backflow through the hopper. I did not want to touch the butts at the time so I let it finish. Sure enough after the grill cooled the fire pot was full of ash.

Next day I did a small 5lb butt for the family. Took right around 10 hours. Again at 225. I started with a clean pot. Again I noticed around hours 6-7ish that the thin blue smoke stopped out of the vents. Before that time if I lifted the hood slightly I could see it swirling in the chamber. After hour 7 a hood lift revealed no smoke. No backflow through the hopper however.

What gives? I know that at that point the smoke absorption by the meat is almost nil anyways because the bark is already thick, but I'm curious? Do I have to clean the pot on longer smokes? What happens if I load 80lbs of butt on this baby?

3) Pellets? I'm new to pellet smoking. I come from charcoal and gas with a chip box. I'm confused on pellets. After researching this is what I know:

A) Crappy pellets are a lesser hardwood with oils added.
B) Trager and Mak use an alder base with a mix of whatever flavor wood you want.
C) BBQers Delight... I have no idea. Their website says its 100% specie wood on one page, but the 20lb bags I received say they are a mix of oak and whatever wood you picked.

So to start, which one is it for BBQers? Is it 100% apple if I pick apple or is it a mix?

Next, I hear that 100% fruit or whatever pellets tend to produce more ash than alder or oak mixes. Is this true?

Can someone run down the best choices for pellets and what I should expect out of them? I'm talking brands, no so much flavor. I know what cherry does compared to hickory I'm interested in composition of the mix, ash rate, problems running with the auger, ect.

I know this is quite a long post but any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[jimsbarbecue]

BBQ Delight are Oak based and whatever blend (Flavor) you choose. They are my first choice. We empty the pot every cook with it being so easy. Is the fan inlet on the left side clear from obstructions? Proper air flow is needed on Pellet grills. Give Bob at MAK a call tomorrow and he can help you with anything you need.

 

[scooter]

Welcome to PS.com wmilas and welcome to the MAK family!

1) No, flameouts on startup are not normal. Call MAK and they will work with you to understand why it's happening and correct.

2) I usually clean it out after each weekend of use.

Can someone run down the best choices for pellets and what I should expect out of them?

MAK blended pellets are exceptionally good.
BBQrs Delight BBQ pellets are equally good
GMG Premium pellets are really good also
Bear Mountain are good

So to start, which one is it for BBQers? Is it 100% apple if I pick apple or is it a mix?

BBQrs Delight sells Grilling Pellets and Pellet Grill Fuel pellets. The Grilling Pellets come in 1lb bags of 100% flavorwood pellets to use with charcoal/gas grills in a small cast iron pot they sell or in a foil pouch you can make yourself. Their Pellet Grill Fuel pellets come in 40lb bags which are a blend of 2/3 Oak and 1/3 flavorwood.

Next, I hear that 100% fruit or whatever pellets tend to produce more ash than alder or oak mixes. Is this true?

That is what I've read also but have never been able to really notice a big difference in ash production. Others will tell you they have noticed more ash. I clean out my pot regularly so don't pay a lot of attention to ash

 

[Gyosa]

Here's what I do on my 1 star ....

I use a flavor wood for the smoking portion of my cook , and I use another pellet for the cooking ....

For example , pork butts - I put in 4-5 pounds of EITHER 100% hickory ( cooking pellets ) , perfect mix ( cooking pellets ) , lumberjack MHC or whatever else strikes my fancy .....
Then , on top of that , I fill the hopper with B&B pellets ( pecan , hickory or apple ) that are cheaply available at my local Academy Sports $12 / 20 pounds......

I smoke till meat hits 100 , then cook at 230 till meat hits 195 ....

The idea is to use flavor wood until meat stops absorbing smoke , then switch to more cost effective pellets for fuel.
The B&B pellets ( bbq'rs delight ) are 70% oak and 30% flavor wood .... So good fuel ( high BTU's ) with some flavor ....

I do the same thing for ribs, salmon or whatever else , but obviously a proportionally lesser amount of pellets.

Ash is not an issue as I usually clean befor each cook .


Bk

 

[TentHunter]

Let me address specifically the pellet question:

B) Trager and Mak use an alder base with a mix of whatever flavor wood you want.

Incorrect on the Traeger pellets; MAK uses alder base with flavor wood added, but with Traeger, you simply DO NOT KNOW. And you cannot trust what they tell you when you call - I had two different Traeger reps tell me two different things!

First, Traeger ARE the crappy pellets that use grape vine and flavor oils (it's right in their patent).

Second, you DO NOT KNOW, nor does Traeger specify or guarantee what base wood they are using. It all depends on what's available at that particular factory at that particular time (again, this is specified right in their patent)

Read the "Detailed Description" section of their patent and you will see what I'm stating here is fact, not conjecture. Traeger's Patent - Flavored Wood Pellet - USPTO

C) BBQers Delight... I have no idea. Their website says its 100% specie wood on one page, but the 20lb bags I received say they are a mix of oak and whatever wood you picked.

Take another look at BBQr's delight website after you read this and it will make better sense. They sell two types of pellets;

► 100% flavor wood pellets: These are smoking pellets sold in small 1 lb. bags, intended to be used in foil pouches, in place of wood chunks in regular grills or smokers, not as pellet grill fuel.

► Pellet Grill Fuel: 2/3 oak (67%) and 1/3 flavor wood (33%) - these are sold in 20 lb bags for pellet grill fuel.


I use mainly BBQ'rs Delight pellets, because I am convinced they are the best (high BTU - Low ash). I have used Cooking Pellets Brand "Perfect Mix" and 100% hickory on occasion and can tell you for a fact they definitely produce more ash.

I also get my pellets from Big Poppa Smokers (who sponsors this forum) - Best price, free shipping.


Hope this helps!

 

[wmilas]

Thanks for the help guys. Its making much more sense now as far as the pellets go. Looking at BBQr's it makes more sense now.

I'm thinking I'll stick with BBQr's for the fuel pellets and experiment with the 100% hardwoods for the first few hours of the smoke.

Btw I've purchased 100% of my products from Big Poppas mainly because of this forum. Its a wealth of knowledge and helped me take the plunge into an absurdly expensive grill

 

[killerq]

I personally like B&B pellets. I hear they are made by bbq delight but under the B&B label. They are a little more than 50 cents a pound and have several flavors all of which are oak based. Little ash and high BTU. Congrats on the Mak, you will learn to love it.

 

[MAK DADDY]

First off congrats on the new MAK Grill and welcome to the forum, we really appreciate the support!

Flame outs are not normal and are typically caused from excessive ash build up. Regardless of the brand of pellet sometimes you can get a bad bag or batch. If you are having issues try a different flavor or bag to see if that solves the problem first.
You should clean the firepot after every low and slow cook (more than 3 to 4 hours), and once a week or so if grilling, it only takes a few minutes and you will get a better idea of how often as you get used to the grill.

Most all MAK owners cook the length of time you mentioned above on a frequent basis. No you should never have to clean the pot in the middle of a smoke.

If you continue to have issues contact us and we will help make sure the grill is operating properly. ([email protected])
Have fun!

 

[KyNola]

Here's a photo of the amount of ash that came from burning 100% hickory pellets in a MAK 2 Star in an overnight smoke.

Suffice to say I don't burn 100% hickory pellets anymore.

And Cliff is correct. Traeger pellets are crap.

 

[wmilas]

Thats why my pot looked like after about 14 hours of the bbqers apple

 

[wmilas]

I guess that's not fair. 14 hours + 3 hours from the day before.

 

[wmilas]

Just noticed another thing perhaps someone can help me with. I'm noticing about 25F hotter at the grill grate than what the pellet boss is saying. Its even across the entire cooking surface as far as I can tell. I assume this is because the mak has a vertical temp probe in the back left of the grill about mid way up.

For something big like a pork butt this probably won't matter much. But for something such as ribs, should I compensate and knock the temp down 20ish degrees at the pellet boss or just not worry about it?

 

[TentHunter]

The big thing is don't obsess over the temp at grate level versus the temp sensor reading. The temp sensor is an average overall temp, and in the grand scheme of things the temp difference is not as important as you might think.

What you will find, after you get a few cooks under your belt, is what overall temp works best for you with certain types of meats, and where it's placed in your grill. For example; a lot of MAK owners prefer cooking ribs on the upper rack where they're further from the heat source, and the temp on the upper rack may be closer to the temp sensor reading.

But again, the big thing is to relax, get to know and enjoy your grill. Everything will start to fall into place... and then you will be totally hooked!

 

[So Cal Smoker]

Spot On Tent.