It's time for a wood pellet smoker/grill

nature boy · « **on:** 6 Mar 2021, 10:03 pm »

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

Craig B · « **Reply #1 on:** 6 Mar 2021, 10:21 pm »

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.

Ice10 · « **Reply #2 on:** 7 Mar 2021, 12:27 am »

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.

rklein · « **Reply #3 on:** 7 Mar 2021, 03:40 am »

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

GentleBender · « **Reply #4 on:** 7 Mar 2021, 12:24 pm »

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.

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.

Zyphryx · « **Reply #5 on:** 7 Mar 2021, 01:56 pm »

That's a beauty. Always wondered about the pellet grills but I can't seem to give up the stick burner.

SoCalWJS · « **Reply #6 on:** 7 Mar 2021, 05:25 pm »

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.

nature boy · « **Reply #7 on:** 7 Mar 2021, 05:45 pm »

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

Craig B · « **Reply #8 on:** 7 Mar 2021, 10:51 pm »

RecTeq is a no-brainer in my book. Much heavier gauge construction than Traeger. And customer service is stellar.

nature boy · « **Reply #9 on:** 15 Mar 2021, 09:25 pm »

The beast has arrived.

nature boy · « **Reply #10 on:** 24 Mar 2021, 10:19 am »

Maiden smoke for two butts.

NB

Craig B · « **Reply #11 on:** 24 Mar 2021, 11:31 am »

I predict you won't foil the drip pan for long.

nature boy · « **Reply #12 on:** 25 Mar 2021, 12:37 pm »

Oh yeah! 17 hour smoke on those big butts. Simply barkolicious,!

NB

GentleBender · « **Reply #13 on:** 25 Mar 2021, 01:22 pm »

I still foil mine after almost three years. Just makes clean up easier. Thanks nature boy, now I want some pulled pork.

mav52 · « **Reply #14 on:** 25 Mar 2021, 01:33 pm »

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.

Marbles · « **Reply #15 on:** 25 Mar 2021, 05:52 pm »

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!!!

VinceT · « **Reply #16 on:** 25 Mar 2021, 05:58 pm »

I still like my old analog BBQ grills and smokers

These seem super easy, just set and forget

Marbles · « **Reply #17 on:** 25 Mar 2021, 06:00 pm »

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.

TomS · « **Reply #18 on:** 25 Mar 2021, 11:04 pm »

Quote from: Marbles on 25 Mar 2021, 06:00 pm

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!

Marbles · « **Reply #19 on:** 26 Mar 2021, 12:02 am »

Doing great Tom, thanks. Will PM you when I sober up a bit...