I've been doing my research and until last Saturday had it narrowed down to the Yoder YS 640 or the MAK 2 Star. Then I stumbled across a Memphis elite that caught my eye. In this case the price was apples to apples between the three. Wifey didn't like the Yoder ? (ask her) so that narrowed it to the remaining two. My only nit with the Memphis is that the head room in the cooking chamber is really low. Beer can chicken and turkey are some of the cooks we like the most. It appears the Memphis would not be a good fit in that regard. So what say ye, does the Memphis have the head room needed, or should i just spatch cock them and live with the results? LOL?

There is enough room in there to make a turkey and once you spatchcock a chicken you will not want to use a beer can - just take out the upper racks when you want to make the turkey.

Since you have both B-B-L, care to PM me with which you recommend and prefer? Been using pellets for a long time but until recently was satisfied with our older than dirt Traeger. Not so much any more and have had my eyes opened about what is available. Some pretty darned good equipment available now compared to back then.

Since you have both B-B-L, care to PM me with which you recommend and prefer? Been using pellets for a long time but until recently was satisfied with our older than dirt Traeger. Not so much any more and have had my eyes opened about what is available. Some pretty darned good equipment available now compared to back then.

Go here, and LMK if you need any further information.

https://pelletfan.com/index.php?topic=2009.0

Thanks for the link. Plenty to read and from what I've read so far very insightful information.

My own decision on this came down to high temp capabilities. If you do a lot of cold smoking or jerky you might want the Mak, if you want more high heat, you probably want the Memphis.

These were my top 2 as I already owned a PG500.  For me (personal preference only *grains of salt and all*) I knew I wanted SS because I don't care how awesome it cooks if it's covered in rust after winter 1,2 or 3 I get a dissatisfied feeling in my stomach and I can't stand investing bigger $ and then feeling remorse.  Now, is that to say a Yoder or a Mak (which has lots of SS) isn't amazing.....absolutely not but I value the longevity (while still looking good with proper care) high heat, efficiency and ease of switching from HH to LnS as it suits my cooking style better. 

I still battled with the Mak here as I knew the Yoder was out but I also would really never cold smoke leaving me with Jerky as the 1 big Mak +.  What really came out for me was that if I want to cold smoke I will investigate and purchase a machine designed to do so and as I was not willing to compromise my quick after work burgers and steaks for the ability to cold smoke some cheese.

I still believe that I would be a very happy man cooking on a Mak 2 but I feel glorious hanging out with my Memphis Pro