Temp Increase on 2019 PB

[farfromovin]

I have a 2015 2 star and have absolutely loved it (aside from the meat probes). I reverse sear steaks a lot and I'd like to reduce the time it takes for my cook method. I prefer to cook at 225 till I get an IT of 110, then pull them off till the MAK reaches 450, then sear on grill grates for 6-10 minutes. But, going from 225-450 takes probably 20 minutes or more? I timed 20 minutes from 225 to 425 last weekend but I opened it twice briefly so I have to take that into consideration.

I'm planning on upgrading the internals to the flame zone (FZ) and the new Pellet Boss (PB). I'm curious how quick I can get from down low to "grill temp" (450).

Also curious how hot some of you have gotten your new thermocouple PB's up to? They regulate temp to not exceed 600 (compared to 500 previously), but how hot have you guys seen?

 

[MAK DADDY]

The controller has a minimum motor time adjustment for lowering set points to keep the fire going while this is happening. This is the reason it takes a while to cool down to the new set point, opening the lid will speed this up as you noted but there really isn't a lot we can do to make it faster while maintaining the fire in the pot.

 

[Taeter]

I just received my 2 star last week. Since I had to season it at 450 for 30 minutes, I decided to try a little searing on some Ahi tuna.
I removed only the front flame zone cover and adjusted the pellet boss to grill. With the thermocouple still located in the back left the pellet boss readout went to 605. It did go down to 590 as it was regulating the temp. Keep in mind that the temp was much hotter above the flame zone at the grate.
Hope this helps.

 

[farfromovin]

The controller has a minimum motor time adjustment for lowering set points to keep the fire going while this is happening. This is the reason it takes a while to cool down to the new set point, opening the lid will speed this up as you noted but there really isn't a lot we can do to make it faster while maintaining the fire in the pot.

We got our wires crossed here, I’m interested in going from 225 to 450+ quicker than I am now, which I’m hoping I’ll see a good increase with the Flame Zone upgrade.

I just received my 2 star last week. Since I had to season it at 450 for 30 minutes, I decided to try a little searing on some Ahi tuna.
I removed only the front flame zone cover and adjusted the pellet boss to grill. With the thermocouple still located in the back left the pellet boss readout went to 605. It did go down to 590 as it was regulating the temp. Keep in mind that the temp was much hotter above the flame zone at the grate.
Hope this helps.

Wow, that’s impressive. I’m sure it took time to get there but my goodness that’s hot! Nice.

 

[MAK DADDY]

We got our wires crossed here, I’m interested in going from 225 to 450+ quicker than I am now, which I’m hoping I’ll see a good increase with the Flame Zone upgrade.

I see, yes it will rise in temp much faster because the heat is being directed to the top cooking area much better than with the old system. You will be shocked at what a difference it makes not only faster to temp but as others pointed out hotter grilling.

 

[TentHunter]

My experience is you will see much higher actual temperatures at grate level when using the new FlameZone (covers removed for direct grilling) than what the PelletBoss is showing (because a lot more heat is going directly up top and to the grate with the new design).

In warm weather, our 2017 1 star and the new 2 star both get up to grilling temp (from a cold start) within about 15 or so minutes (I haven't even taken the new 2 Star to the 600° setting yet). So this is just a guess, but with the new FlameZone, from 225ish° your wait time should easily be cut in half to around ten-ish minutes.


By far the best pellets I have found for grilling are the Lumber Jack Char-Hickory, which has charcoal in the mix. Man do they burn hot (and a great flavor to boot)! After that, I get the best grilling performance from 100% oak pellets. The BBQer's Delight Jack Daniels pellets also have charcoal in them, so those might also be a good choice.


Hope this helps!

Cliff

 

[farfromovin]

My experience is you will see much higher actual temperatures at grate level when using the new FlameZone (covers removed for direct grilling) than what the PelletBoss is showing (because a lot more heat is going directly up top and to the grate with the new design).

In warm weather, our 2017 1 star and the new 2 star both get up to grilling temp (from a cold start) within about 15 or so minutes (I haven't even taken the new 2 Star to the 600° setting yet). So this is just a guess, but with the new FlameZone, from 225ish° your wait time should easily be cut in half to around ten-ish minutes.


By far the best pellets I have found for grilling are the Lumber Jack Char-Hickory, which has charcoal in the mix. Man do they burn hot (and a great flavor to boot)! After that, I get the best grilling performance from 100% oak pellets. The BBQer's Delight Jack Daniels pellets also have charcoal in them, so those might also be a good choice.


Hope this helps!

Cliff

Thanks Cliff, that’s encouraging to hear. Oddly enough, in SoCal finding choice variety of pellets is difficult. But I do have about 18 20 lb bags on reserve of “Q Pellets” and BBQer Delight. I do have a bag of Jack Daniels so I’ll pull that out for a grill test and keep an eye out for Lumber Jack char-hickory.

 

[MAK DADDY]

Best pellets you can buy are BBQ Delight right here from BPS

 

[farfromovin]

New flame zone installed on the old crusty 2 star. I wish I had exact measurements for the old style but I don’t. New flame zone goes from off to 450 in 16 1/2 minutes. It’s about as much of an improvement as the new ceramic igniter made, aka a significant one. As always, impressed with the quality of the flame zone upgrade. Now just gotta wait a couple weeks for a new thermocouple style controller becomes available!

 

[TentHunter]

New flame zone installed on the old crusty 2 star. I wish I had exact measurements for the old style but I don’t. New flame zone goes from off to 450 in 16 1/2 minutes. It’s about as much of an improvement as the new ceramic igniter made, aka a significant one. As always, impressed with the quality of the flame zone upgrade. Now just gotta wait a couple weeks for a new thermocouple style controller becomes available!

Now... keep in mind that when using the FlameZone in direct grilling mode (FZ covers removed) the actual grate temperature WILL BE HIGHER than what the PelletBoss is showing, because the thermocouple is off to the side. So when you see a PB temp showing 450°, expect actual grate temps to be around 550° or so.

Also in direct grilling mode when you open the lid (which you will do a lot more often than when smoking/BBQing) the PelletBoss will show a huge temperature drop. DO NOT BE ALARMED! The actual grate temp remains very stable! It's just showing the chamber air being evacuated.

Be watching for a post from me showing our grilling experience, from this past Friday evening, with the new 2 Star!

 

[sschorr]

New flame zone installed on the old crusty 2 star. I wish I had exact measurements for the old style but I don’t. New flame zone goes from off to 450 in 16 1/2 minutes. It’s about as much of an improvement as the new ceramic igniter made, aka a significant one. As always, impressed with the quality of the flame zone upgrade. Now just gotta wait a couple weeks for a new thermocouple style controller becomes available!

Although they are not yet listed on MAK’s site, I believe the new controller and the new roaming thermocouple are available now. You should call ‘em. Just FYI - you do not need to buy the new controller to use the roaming thermocouple, but I’m pretty sure you will need to upgrade the firmware on your current one, assuming it is new enough to take the current firmware. Obviously MAK can give the details. I know about this as I did beta test the roaming TC on my MAK 2 Star using the 2017-2018 Pellet Boss controller. It did not need upgrading to use the new TC. I did upgrade my controller to take advantage of firmware changes that helped with some WiFi issues.

 

[jimsbarbecue]

The new flame zone gets hotter quicker and uses less pellets

 

[turbov6camaro]

i like to sear steaks, i have the griddle i have only been removing the flame zone under it, should i be taking off both?

also the flame zone covers need handles to remove them without half burning my self when the grill is already hot...... !!!!

 

[MAK DADDY]

No need to take off the flame zone covers for the griddle or other area your not direct grilling.

We recommend only moving the covers before starting a cook when the grill is cold. The covers are too close to the grates for handles and we tried a special tool to aid in picking them up but it just didn't work very well.

Great to see you getting the most from your MAK Grill

 

[turbov6camaro]

No need to take off the flame zone covers for the griddle or other area your not direct grilling.

We recommend only moving the covers before starting a cook when the grill is cold. The covers are too close to the grates for handles and we tried a special tool to aid in picking them up but it just didn't work very well.

Great to see you getting the most from your MAK Grill

weld magnet (or magnetic steal) to the bottom or top of the covers and have tool to pick it up seems like the best solution. to me? that way we retain the high grade SS but are able ot pick it up we a magnetic tool

even some small loop on the right side would work for a tool to get under but a magnet seems easier

I'm not really sure how i'm supposed to take them off before starting the grill when I need to smoke first, then bring grill to temp for a sear.

i left the covers on the first time i used the griddle and it took FOREVER to get to a sear a temp the cover off under greatly speed this up and gets a much hotter temp for searing steaks

 

[Salmonsmoker]

weld magnet (or magnetic steal) to the bottom or top of the covers and have tool to pick it up seems like the best solution. to me? that way we retain the high grade SS but are able ot pick it up we a magnetic tool

even some small loop on the right side would work for a tool to get under but a magnet seems easier

I'm not really sure how i'm supposed to take them off before starting the grill when I need to smoke first, then bring grill to temp for a sear.

i left the covers on the first time i used the griddle and it took FOREVER to get to a sear a temp the cover off under greatly speed this up and gets a much hotter temp for searing steaks

I just use a pair of cooking tongs to lift off grate or half grates, same for the covers, replace the grate/grates with tongs. Takes about 20 seconds.

 

[MAK DADDY]

weld magnet (or magnetic steal) to the bottom or top of the covers and have tool to pick it up seems like the best solution. to me? that way we retain the high grade SS but are able ot pick it up we a magnetic tool

even some small loop on the right side would work for a tool to get under but a magnet seems easier

I'm not really sure how i'm supposed to take them off before starting the grill when I need to smoke first, then bring grill to temp for a sear.

i left the covers on the first time i used the griddle and it took FOREVER to get to a sear a temp the cover off under greatly speed this up and gets a much hotter temp for searing steaks

Good idea but magnets can't be welded and they do not last getting heated up and cooled constantly. Also our stainless is 304 series (non magnetic) so a magnet on the tool wouldn't work either. We will keep it on the ideas list and maybe come up with something else at some point. Happy grilling

 

[turbov6camaro]

Good idea but magnets can't be welded and they do not last getting heated up and cooled constantly. Also our stainless is 304 series (non magnetic) so a magnet on the tool wouldn't work either. We will keep it on the ideas list and maybe come up with something else at some point. Happy grilling

if you weld a piece of "regular" steal on top of the cover, the magnet would work for that. heck even a pice on each side of the cover and magnet tool with a Y to pick up both sides would work.

it doesn't have to big just so the magnet can grab hold.

i found a tool i got with my grill grates for cleaning it and lifting stuff from the grates, it works okay easy to drop it though