AudioCircle
Community => Non-audio hobbies and interests => The Culinary Circle => Topic started by: nature boy on 6 Mar 2021, 10:03 pm
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My 17 year old Weber Genesis grill has finally bitten the dust. She served my family well. After some extensive research, I ordered a nice RecTeq RT-700 wood pellet smoker/grill. 40 lbs pellet hopper, great design & construction, WiFi controlled with temperature accuracy within +/- 5°F.
Pretty damn cool.
NB
(https://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=221650)
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Congrats on the 700! I'm in about my 5th year of ownership of Mini 300 (the forerunner of the current 340). I managed to find one very lightly used, in fact it looked like it had never been used - only the scent of past smokes gave it away. It works fine for just the wife and me, but its size creates limits, for sure. We've had great luck with pork shoulders and ribs, salmon, reverse sear steaks, brisket, chuck roast (for eating as a meal, and for shredding and using as a base for chili), even Papa Murphy pizzas. We've even cured and smoked a couple of pork bellies for home-made bacon. About the only thing I haven't had success with is chicken breasts.
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That is beautiful and thank you for introducing me to RecTec. Being a life long Weber fan I was disappointed to see how their SmokeFire model stumbled out of the blocks (more like fell flat on their face) as I thought they had so much potential.
I’ve been using a Weber Smokey mountain for many, many years (about as hands on as they get) but think I’m ready to feel guilty about smoking being so easy. A RecTec may be in my future.
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Very nice. A friend of mine has the 700 and loves it. I own a Camp Chef Woodwind 24 along with the sidekick. Reversed seared Ribeye never tasted so darn good! Just bought a smoke tube for it.
Regards,
Randy
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I have had two to the RecTec 700 grills for almost three years now and love them. Consistent and easy results on everything I’ve cooked on them. It is basically a WiFi controlled smoke oven. I did two briskets last weekend and sold one to a co-worker. So easy to cook them for 17-20 hours until they are a tender smokey masterpiece.
(https://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=221682)
I started with a propane smoker with a big firebox that I would fill with charcoal and logs of wood and came out with some good results, but it is so much work that I could rarely use it. I never got much sleep doing brisket on this setup due to having to keep putting logs on it and being paranoid that I was going to ruin $70+ of meat. These RecTec 700 grills can be turned on from the grocery store so that they are ready to rock and roll when I get home with the meat. In fact you aren’t stuck at home since you can set alarms on the two meat probes and turn the grills up, down or off at the push of a button on your phone.
They have made great progress on their app and constantly update it. It is much better than where it was three years ago.
The last thing I want for one of them is the cold smoker attachment. I bought a smoke tube for when I have shorter cooks for smaller cuts of meat like steak or chicken and really want some extra smoke. As you can tell I love these things and they are holding up great with minimal work unlike the big propane firebox smoker that is a lot more work to setup and clean.
Enjoy that RT-700 and have fun learning how to cook everything on it. It even does a great pizza.
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That's a beauty. Always wondered about the pellet grills but I can't seem to give up the stick burner.
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Congrats!
I too am on the verge of owning my first pellet pooper - something I thought I would never do. I keep hearing that they are getting better and better and if you invest in a decent one they turn out some great BBQ. I did some research and decided on the MAK. They are backordered, so it will be awhile. Gives me some time to do more research and learn some of the tricks.
Heard many good things about RecTec. You should do well for a long time.
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RecTeq reviews are excellent, RT-700 has a 6 year warranty, and the company had top notch customer service. Had three emails responded to within 3 hours.
NB
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RecTeq is a no-brainer in my book. Much heavier gauge construction than Traeger. And customer service is stellar.
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The beast has arrived.
(https://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=222036)
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Maiden smoke for two butts.
NB
(https://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=222317)
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I predict you won't foil the drip pan for long. :wink:
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Oh yeah! 17 hour smoke on those big butts. Simply barkolicious,!
NB
(https://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=222364)
(https://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=222365)
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I still foil mine after almost three years. Just makes clean up easier. Thanks nature boy, now I want some pulled pork. :drool:
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I went with a Green Mountain since we have a dealer in town. Couldn't get a RecTeq close by. So far, 4 pork butts, 10 slabs of ribs, 1 beer can chicken, 8 hamburgers, 2 rib eyes and two 10 lbs briskets. So far , yummy.
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A friend of mine loves his RecTek 700.
Funny story for me, not so much for him. The only time I have eaten on it was on his birthday in September. He had just returned from deploying to Turkey, he's a unit Cammander and a pilot flying KC135 refueling tankers. He made steaks and I brought him a bottle of Red wine. He cooked steaks and his live in girlfriend of 7 years made great sides.
He got really drunk, and I went back to my cabin.
I ran into him a few weeks later and he tells me he passed out with his phone open and his girlfriend saw that his boom operater (attractive girl) had been sexting him. She found out that they had been having sex the whole (hole?) time they were deployed. She moved out, but not before telling the base cammander etc..
He tells me that the girl friend will be in town the following week and asks If I want to meet her. Sure, I'll come back to my cabin next week.
They show up, he gets drunk, tells me they just got married!!! They did it to lesson punishment.
I saw him a few weeks ago, allready divorced, or at least they had split up.
But hey, the steaks on the RecTek were great!!!
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I still like my old analog BBQ grills and smokers
These seem super easy, just set and forget
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Late summer I saw him in his garage working on the ReqTek and he told me he left pellets in the hopper and the grill left out in the rain.
Apparently the pellets got soaked and turned into a solid, almost like cement. The auger was stuck pretty good, we finally got it unstuck, put it back together and everything worked as it should.
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Late summer I saw him in his garage working on the ReqTek and he told me he left pellets in the hopper and the grill left out in the rain.
Apparently the pellets got soaked and turned into a solid, almost like cement. The auger was stuck pretty good, we finally got it unstuck, put it back together and everything worked as it should.
Happens to GMG Daniel Boone all the time here in FL. I hate that grill, total POS...should have kept my Kamado Joe when we moved. Hope you're doing well, Rob!
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Doing great Tom, thanks. Will PM you when I sober up a bit...
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I wonder what BBQ covers are for :scratch:
Rains up here and gets - 40
My pellets are 100% no matter the season
Oh my,yes I do cover mine after she cools down.
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I wonder what BBQ covers are for :scratch:
Rains up here and gets - 40
My pellets are 100% no matter the season
Oh my,yes I do cover mine after she cools down.
Well, mine is always covered when not cooking and cooled. We do get a lot of humidity and perhaps there is some moisture retained inside after use. No idea why, but pellets turn to mush, the auger chute clogs up. I even use their branded pellets.
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I wonder what BBQ covers are for :scratch:
Rains up here and gets - 40
My pellets are 100% no matter the season
Oh my,yes I do cover mine after she cools down.
Thank you, just curious what grill you have?
My post was to warn folks that the possibility exists that the pellets can cement up and to also say that after my friend beat the hell out of the auger motor trying to un-freeze it and then literally beat the auger trying to un freeze it, that he was very impressed with the build quality of the ReqTek .
My daughters fiance has a best friend with a Traeger and he (daughter's fiance) wants a Traeger as well. I told him my experience with the ReqTek hoping he would get one.
After doing the research he agreed that the ReqTek is probably better....but he would probably buy the Traeger because of his experience with his friends grill.
It's all good..as long as I get my brisket and butt :P
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I also live in Florida but have never had any issue with the pellets getting wet. I’ve even cooked on them while it was raining and accidentally left them out in the rain after cooking. Living in Florida makes it hard to do long smokes without the occasional rain sneaking up on you. Has to be something with the design of the pellet hopper or maybe the cover trapping the humidity. :scratch: I have never used the cover that I bought since mine are rolled back under the covered back porch. I almost bought the Green Mountain, but there were none with the built-in WiFi around here.
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Perfect porterhouse steak cooked on the RecTeq smoker for Mother's Day dinner. Yummo.
(https://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=224365)
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Just noticed this one! I've got an old Traeger, not made anymore although they make a nearly-identical one. I bought it seven or eight years ago although it was in storage a few years of that time. Recently my family dug it out of storage in South Dakota and brought it to me in Montana. :hyper: Still works like a charm! :thumb: When it finally gives up the ghost I'd consider a Yoder or Rec Tec but so far it keeps chuggin' along. In fact I just made some burgers on it today. I'll probably do some chicken tomorrow and maybe some ribs next week. While a stick burner is nice the pellet pooper is like a gas grill- just turn it on five minutes before you want to cook and put it away once it's cooled. Since I cook for a living I have no guilt or shame about using the "Easy Button" at home! :lol:
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I started smoking with a stick burner and I don’t think I could go back to doing briskets on that thing after using the RecTeq. It is basically a smoke oven. I made beef rib pizzas with smoked vidalia onions.
(https://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=226449)
(https://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=226450)
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Dang, you're making me hungry! :thumb: :lol:
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I just used my RecTec (old spelling because it's an old model :wink: ) to do a chuck roast with onions, garlic, potatoes, parsnips and carrots, and they were fantastic. Shredded about 2/3 of the leftover meat from the 3# roast and made chili with it.
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Well, mine is always covered when not cooking and cooled. We do get a lot of humidity and perhaps there is some moisture retained inside after use. No idea why, but pellets turn to mush, the auger chute clogs up. I even use their branded pellets.
Mine is never left outside. The salt air living close to the beach is a killer on anything regardless who makes it.,
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Not quite finished yet but starting to look tasty. 8)
(https://i.imgur.com/ODWUL7T.jpg?1)
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I guess this is payback. :drool:
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Just thought I'd mention that Traeger is going public. Pretty much every time a company goes public the bean counters get involved and cheapen the product.
If your on the fence about getting a Traeger, I'd do it sooner rather than later. Weber is going public too.
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/wall-street-rivals-morgan-stanley-goldman-back-ipos-rival-grill-makers (https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/wall-street-rivals-morgan-stanley-goldman-back-ipos-rival-grill-makers)
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Interesting! I'd assumed Traeger went public long ago. They started building their grills in China years ago (not saying the quality suffered, I don't know one way or the other). I've been happy with mine but if/when it dies I'll probably get a Recteq RT-B380 Bullseye.
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RecTeq spatchcock smoked chicken. Yummo!
(https://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=226832)
(https://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=226833)
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Hey Gentle Bender! That pizza looks CRAZY good!!!