Convince me to pull the trigger on a mini max

Well I have been egging for 10 years and transporting some of my eggs for just as long and as far as I'm concerned there is nothing to be worried about the ceramics breaking. I have just put them in the back of a pickup truck strapped them to the side so they can't tip over and off we go, put them in the back of SUV strap to the head rest and down the road, my small has been in a basement hatch of my motor home for 5+ years no problem with any of them. I don't take any of the parts out and use nothing inside to cushion the fire box or fire ring, in fact the small usually has the leftover lump inside it. I have a Mini Max and it's good but is very heavy and is really a two man job if carrying it very far, MM needs a table to put it on, small egg in a nest doesn't need a table, nest has wheels, I can lift both the MM and Small can't carry either very far but I just put the small in the nest and roll it where I need it. My MM won't fit in the same hatch in the MH but I can tip the small sideways then stand it up. I also have a Mini and it's an awesome BGE grilling machine and is far from useless. I have an Egger friend (yea hard to believe) he is also a camper with a 5th wheel camper, he first got a small pellet smoker but it wasn't an egg, got a Mini Max and even though he liked it the weight and carrying it was to much! so he just bought an Acorn Jr and loves it. If I had to start over I would go with the Acorn Jr. just because of the weight and the fact that I'm not as young as I once was. Hope this helps with your choice. Jim

DoubleEgger · May 2017

Mickey said:

""its cute but almost useless"""
No it is not. I got the Egg distributor that services Texas to donate a Mini and got a bunch of EggHeads to give the money to mail it to Afganistan.
It served a full MP company of men and woman for months doing everything from chicken to steaks before they returned to the USA. Not unless at all.
I have 4 Eggs: 2 Large, 1 Mini-Max, and a Mini. The first three that I would get rid of is not the Mini.
So not liking it is fine, but it is not useless.

@Mickey can you help do this again? I'm am 100% positive we could raise enough money on this forum in one evening to buy a mini and mail it to our troops overseas.

Carolina Q · May 2017

Jupiter Jim said:

If I had to start over I would go with the Acorn Jr. just because of the weight and the fact that I'm not as young as I once was.

@Jupiter Jim, does the Akorn Jr handle like an egg? Temp control-wise? Lump use? My dog broke my Mini and I really miss it. Nothing wrong with twice the grid size and half the weight either!! Not to mention 1/3 the price! The color is an issue, but I could get over that. haha. Thanks!

kl8ton · May 2017

DoubleEgger said:

Mickey said:

""its cute but almost useless"""
No it is not. I got the Egg distributor that services Texas to donate a Mini and got a bunch of EggHeads to give the money to mail it to Afganistan.
It served a full MP company of men and woman for months doing everything from chicken to steaks before they returned to the USA. Not unless at all.
I have 4 Eggs: 2 Large, 1 Mini-Max, and a Mini. The first three that I would get rid of is not the Mini.
So not liking it is fine, but it is not useless.

@Mickey can you help do this again? I'm am 100% positive we could raise enough money on this forum in one evening to buy a mini and mail it to our troops overseas.

Plus if we order 5 (or 6 - could be debated) bags of Rockwood from Firecraft, it will ship FREE to the troops. . . . wonder if there is some silly fine print about continental 47. . .

SaintJohnsEgger · May 2017

Photo Egg said:

tenpenny_05 said:

The BGE website says they are the same grid diameter. Sorry, not bigger.

As far as portability goes, the MM has the built in handles and weighs less than the small.

Unless I'm missing something? Can the Small fit upright in the trunk of a car without risk of tipping over?

We would have no idea how much space you have in your trunk. But if I was traveling with an Egg, I would have enough stuff packed around the Egg that it would not tip over. I have taken my Small and Mini with me in the past. In both my Explorer and my little Subaru Outback.
I also made a portable carrier/table to hold them. The legs pull out and it makes it very portable. Many on this forum have similar holders that are very compact and much sturdier than the Mini Max handle carrier. But yes, the MM base is shorter than the Small BGE by a few inches and they use the same dome. And yes, I do have the BGE feet that go between the Small Egg and the wood.

Got a bit of a leveling problem there @Photo Egg?

Mattman3969 · May 2017

tenpenny_05 said:

My friend has a mini egg that he brings to work when we do cookouts, its cute but almost useless.

You guys are great telling people how they are wrong. So GO!

Don't know how many you cook for but I've cooked for 6 on the mini. That was steak and shrimp. Cute but almost useless is such an understatement from someone that hasn't used one. Cute is an accurate statement. You just have to think a lil more on how to make it happen when using the mini.

Chubbs · May 2017

Mini is useless??? It's used 5x more than my large. He'll buy two minis and some lump for the cost of the MM and have more cooking space

cookingdude555 · May 2017

Mini is useless to cook for people at work. I have three weber jumbo joes that I used to take to work for cooking. One I bought used for $20, and the other two were end of season purchases at target for $25 each. These things have the same grid space as a large egg, and they are easily portable, especially with the locking lid. I convinced my boss to buy 2 26" kettles for the company, and now we use those instead. Were cooking for 100+ people on them again next week. I would not move a ceramic. Its not worth the hassle. Yes it can be done, but its no where as easy as other solutions. When cooking for a group, a tiny mini is not going to cut it, nor will a mini max. This is not meant to offend. I have a mini, and a small, and love them, when I am cooking for myself or a few people at home.

The akorn jr is very intriguing. I have wanted one of them for a while, even put it in my cart at walmart, and then taken it out. I have a bubba keg with the trailer hitch and that thing is awesome. Same concept of double walled with insulation in the middle. If I were looking for portability, I could get 4 akorn jr's for the same price as one mini max.

Legume · May 2017

I once cooked 5 racks of ribs on a mini. They were possum ribs, so a little smaller and everybody refused to eat them, but 5 racks!

thetrim · May 2017

Anyone bashing the Minimax is a loser.

caliking · May 2017

cookingdude555 said:

Mini is useless to cook for people at work. I have three weber jumbo joes that I used to take to work for cooking. One I bought used for $20, and the other two were end of season purchases at target for $25 each. These things have the same grid space as a large egg, and they are easily portable, especially with the locking lid. I convinced my boss to buy 2 26" kettles for the company, and now we use those instead. Were cooking for 100+ people on them again next week. I would not move a ceramic. Its not worth the hassle. Yes it can be done, but its no where as easy as other solutions. When cooking for a group, a tiny mini is not going to cut it, nor will a mini max. This is not meant to offend. I have a mini, and a small, and love them, when I am cooking for myself or a few people at home.

The akorn jr is very intriguing. I have wanted one of them for a while, even put it in my cart at walmart, and then taken it out. I have a bubba keg with the trailer hitch and that thing is awesome. Same concept of double walled with insulation in the middle. If I were looking for portability, I could get 4 akorn jr's for the same price as one mini max.

This is like saying a sedan is useless for transporting 40 people... unless they were circus clowns. That's a different story.

NPHuskerFL · May 2017

This thread is useless when asking eggheads if you should purchase a MM. If overall cost is the deciding factor why own a BGE period? Go get a disposable Wal-Mart grill. I hear they sell "cute" grills. Man up and decide for yourself.

Stormbringer · May 2017

@tenpenny_05 ... it depends on what you cook, how much and also the portability.

We have a MMX and a LBGE, there are two of us and three cats. We use the MMX almost all the time now because we can cook what we need on it, and it uses around 20% of the charcoal that the LBGE uses. At the rate we cook food, I calculated that the reduction in charcoal usage would result in the MMX paying for itself in 3.5 years (that's based on UK prices, 4 cooks/week). So there is a financial justification @Eoin you just need to manipulate the numbers

The MMX isn't limited to cooking for two people either, this is last night's cook using a raised grid, four double cut pork chops cooked ala @The Cen-Tex Smoker method, brined and with tsunami spin:

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5017260/uploads/editor/bb/24xd7sk961j5.jpeg

Photo Egg · May 2017

SaintJohnsEgger said:

Photo Egg said:

tenpenny_05 said:

The BGE website says they are the same grid diameter. Sorry, not bigger.

As far as portability goes, the MM has the built in handles and weighs less than the small.

Unless I'm missing something? Can the Small fit upright in the trunk of a car without risk of tipping over?

We would have no idea how much space you have in your trunk. But if I was traveling with an Egg, I would have enough stuff packed around the Egg that it would not tip over. I have taken my Small and Mini with me in the past. In both my Explorer and my little Subaru Outback.
I also made a portable carrier/table to hold them. The legs pull out and it makes it very portable. Many on this forum have similar holders that are very compact and much sturdier than the Mini Max handle carrier. But yes, the MM base is shorter than the Small BGE by a few inches and they use the same dome. And yes, I do have the BGE feet that go between the Small Egg and the wood.

Got a bit of a leveling problem there @Photo Egg?

Took the grills to my brother's house to cook a rib roast and appetizers. Small back yard is taken up almost completely by the pool. The rest is angled for water drainage. I did the best I could at the time.lol
I guess we could have used the gasser.

GlennM · May 2017

I have an Akorn jr at our winter home. It works ust fine for most things. It leaks a bit so keeping it at 225 is difficult. Apparently you can seal it up, I haven't tried. For hotter temps or searing it works as well as anything. I have a lge, joe jr, classic joe and the Akorn. I have had enough experience to make a reasonable comparison

tenpenny_05 · May 2017

Well I was right about one thing. You guys are great at telling a guy how wrong he is.

Legume · May 2017

Stormbringer said:

We have a MMX and a LBGE, there are two of us and three cats. We use the MMX almost all the time now because we can cook what we need on it, and it uses

Do the cats figure into the cooker math in some way?

slovelad · May 2017

tenpenny_05 said:

Well I was right about one thing. You guys are great at telling a guy how wrong he is.

@tenpenny_05 it seems that way, but there are guys on here with a ton of experience, and I've never been steered wrong (except when I step on a scale)

Legume · May 2017

tenpenny_05 said:

Well I was right about one thing. You guys are great at telling a guy how wrong he is.

It was always going to come down to your decision. Few things here are unanimous. How many cats do you have?

tenpenny_05 · May 2017

Legume said:

tenpenny_05 said:

Well I was right about one thing. You guys are great at telling a guy how wrong he is.

It was always going to come down to your decision. Few things here are unanimous. How many cats do you have?

I love cats, but I typically cook them in a crock pot.

DoubleEgger · May 2017

tenpenny_05 said:

Legume said:

tenpenny_05 said:

Well I was right about one thing. You guys are great at telling a guy how wrong he is.

It was always going to come down to your decision. Few things here are unanimous. How many cats do you have?

I love cats, but I typically cook them in a crock pot.

Stormbringer · May 2017

Legume said:

Stormbringer said:

We have a MMX and a LBGE, there are two of us and three cats. We use the MMX almost all the time now because we can cook what we need on it, and it uses

Do the cats figure into the cooker math in some way?

@Legume not directly ... but sometimes when we cook a big bit of reverse seared rib-eye, the butcher gives us an offcut (or occasionally even tail fillet) to cook in addition so the cats have steak at the same time as us

. They seem to appreciate it ... they are freaking huge Maine Coon cats.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5017260/uploads/editor/tx/ko3nh4uhh91e.jpg

@DoubleEgger yep, that's how (our) cats think for sure.

Convince me to pull the trigger on a mini max

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