Took the plunge. MAK #1396 arrived. My cooking will never be the same.

Sinitron

New member
Hi folks,

I've been stalking the forum for many months, researching the world of pellet grills. I have to thank you all for sharing pictures, reviews, and cooking techniques, it has been very helpful.

My old gas grill died a year ago, and I knew the world must have more to offer than just buying a Weber gas unit. I took the plunge into pellets. After much deliberation I settled on a MAK 2-Star General, and it has been an interesting experience (and learning curve). Below is my humble review to share with those in a similar position or considering a unit themselves.

The unit came to me from BPS, their combo deal is a great package of equipment. The grill arrived unscathed and well packed. My local freight carrier is incompetent and loaded the skid onto a full size tractor trailer with no lift gate service. I'm sure if anyone buys one you'll have correct service, but be assured the entire pallet isn't that bad to move around if you had to. The driver, myself and a friend moved it to the ground and were able to push it around with an industrial hand truck. This is no mark against the BPS or MAK, it's just luck of the draw w/ my local service.

Craftsmanship of the unit is absolutely superb. The entire hood, rail system, internals, hopper cover, warmer cover, main "tub" surfaces are almost all polished 304 stainless. Amazingly thick stainless, a lot of which appears to be robotic press-brake bent and welded at their facility. The flamezone must weigh 10 pounds on it's own. It's a beast to assemble. Once laid on it's back you can attach the legs and complete the assembly. The hardware is all stainless hex head with lock washers and a retail package of "Allen" brand keys (nice touch!). The legs are pre-assembled with casters on the feet and are very thick gauge (14ga / 2mm or so) with a great industrial powdercoating. The side hopper, warming box, legs, bottom shelf, and back cover are all very nicely powdercoated. Great job, built to last for sure!

Start-up and burn-in is an easy and straightforward process. Once complete I did a couple of small tests at a fixed temp as a traditional grill, but will be taking pictures once I get into the thick of it with some long duration adventurous cooking. I'm surprised at how juicy the first few meats I cooked turned out, I'm not sure if that is due to the direct and convection style cooking or something else.

The wood pellet fuel and usage is a lot different than a gas grill. Just walking up and opening the hood is a wake up call to wood vs. gas in the form of stinging eyes as if you stumbled into a campfire. Once you learn to stay clear you appreciate the voluminous smoke produced by this unit and how it reacts to your foods. It isn't odorless "clear" boring propane, it's got more body and soul. Not quite the same level as a a raging brick fired oven, but you know you are using something unique. I have a few flavors of pellets in stock and it's interesting to see the nuances from each burn on various types of food. 16-qt food safe pet containers hold about 15lbs, fit nicely under the grill and keep pellets weather tight.

Looking forward to the wireless module coming out soon, and reviewing the grill over Wi-Fi connectivity. Can't beat the innovation from this company.

This has been a fun journey. Keep the pellets flowing! :D

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KristenBPS

New member
Looks gorgeous!! So glad you managed to unload the grill despite UPS:).

I'm sure we are all looking forward to seeing the amazing food you and #1396 produce.
 

RickB

New member
She's a beaut and I am so jealous of the journey your headed to. Been there but like they say...your first time you always remember! ;)
 

scooter

Moderator
Welcome to PS.com and to the MAK family!! You take beautiful images. Can't wait to see your cooks using that camera!

BTW: you go high heat with those bins there and the lids will never be the same! :)
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Sinitron

New member
Yeah I've been keeping an eye on the lids. So far up to 350-400° they are OK with 2-3" air gap. If I go nuclear hot I'll pull them out for safety.
 

Big Poppa

Administrator
Thank you so much I am really sorry ups messed up....we really try to do everything in our power to get your stuff to you in a smmoth a perfect manner but things happen...Great review and pics!
 

Sinitron

New member
Tried carne asada today in honor of the 5th. Smoked at 180 until internal temp was about 106F, bumped up the temp to 250 until internal was 138F. I'm still trying to get used to how juicy the food is inside when it is pulled off and rested!

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MAK DADDY

Moderator
Congrats on the 2 Star and a huge thank you for the great comments! I shared that post with the whole MAK crew :)
It took us a while to get used to the juicy foods as well, especially chicken! An instant read thermometer for grilling is a great tool for checking to see if the food is done/ready.
Have fun!
 

Sinitron

New member
Congrats on the 2 Star and a huge thank you for the great comments! I shared that post with the whole MAK crew :)
It took us a while to get used to the juicy foods as well, especially chicken! An instant read thermometer for grilling is a great tool for checking to see if the food is done/ready.
Have fun!

Thank you for producing a fine American made product! Yes, a Themapen is on my short list to pick up soon. Looking forward to the wireless add-on, I'm an IT manager by trade, looking forward to see what (-db) level I get across the house and down one story and still maintain contact.

Keep up the great work!
 

Sinitron

New member
Had a chance to test the versatility of this grill. Finally cooked my first pork butt. Eight pounds, covered it with a fine dusting of maple sugar, then BPS Money rub, then topped it with a big of brown sugar. Put it on at 48F internal temp, left it on smoke/180F for 5-6 hours while at a family function, came up to 100+. Bumped the MAK to 275 for another 5 hours until two temp probes read 190 on one and 203 on the other. Pulled off to foil + rest for an hour. I made a few novice mistakes as it was my first time ever cooking one of these, but looked and tasted great in the end. Can't wait to improve on my technique for next time around! ;D

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Sinitron

New member
My wife and I decided to test the flexibility of the MAK as well. I just completed my first bone-in butt cook above on Sunday. Tonight we decided to use some of the pulled pork for home made soft-tacos, and make fish tacos as well.

Lime soaked, then covered in coconut milk New England Cod. Preheated to 400F on apple pellets and cooked on the frog mat for ~5min per side, resulting in a perfect 140F internal. Pulled the fish and dropped the temp to 350 to cook up some all organic soft tortilla shells. Flour, salt, baking soda, water, and good oil. 2-3min per side and they came off toasty and pliable for delicious soft tacos. The convection heat on this unit really gets around to everything evenly. Yum!

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The tortilla in the back is done, the foreground and right side just got placed on the mat.

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