Pellets smokers?

[atmat]

Would add that guys are winning competitions with pellet smokers, despite what some dudes here say.

And I’d add Mak to the list of top tier pellet smokers.

 

[Yooper]

Anyone using the smaller Reqteq 380 unit? Wouldn't mind adding a pellet grill to the arsenal but don't want to splurge on the bigger units just yet. The 380 is more in my price range.

 

[fisherman983]

Anyone using the smaller Reqteq 380 unit? Wouldn't mind adding a pellet grill to the arsenal but don't want to splurge on the bigger units just yet. The 380 is more in my price range.

I think the one I have is the 410? It works great just not big enough for multiple racks of ribs or big brisket. I really like it. Just need something a touch bigger. I think another recteq is what I'll get

Sent from my SM-S928U using Tapatalk

 

[doc holiday13]

Is that the internal probe or an external one? (i.e. the one inside that reads temp for controlling the auger vs the ones you stick into meat).

Had an external probe go bad on me at the worst time. Smoking chicken kebabs for a buddy's birthday party. Can't risk serving undercooked chicken...but it shouldn't take over an hour! Yep, bad probe. Dry chicken. Everyone said it was good, I knew it wasn't haha.

Internal probe.

I do need to buy some new externals but I've abused them so the fact that 1 of the 2 still works is a miracle

I have a 590. In hindsight I should have gone with the 380 and replaced my smoker with a ceramic komodo/green egg or built a offset smoker

 

[doc holiday13]

They all do the same thing dude. Burn sawdust pellets. If they were good smokers I think you’d see them in bbq competitions…. But you don’t. Oddly enough you will see webers there tho….

If i'm doing a smoke, I actually squeeze chunks of oak or cherry on top of the heat diffuser plate. The grill holds the temp and the chunks of wood slowly burn like a real smoker

 

[cuerro viejo]

Yoder, you need a trailer to pick it up, unless you have a short truck and a lot of strong friends. That should hint towards build quality

 

[Nightfarce Ops]

I`ve come from stick burners, and charcoal units of 50+yrs of experience smokin meats. Sayin this with no ego, i`ve shamed many a people with my experience on bbq`d foods. I finally gave the stick burners up due to my age and psychical disabilities and did some soul searching, then bought the Recteq BYB1200. I`ve used the Recteq quite a bit now, and i have zero issues getting GOOD smoke out of it. The RT app is not to bad to use, its very easy, and it`s very handy where i don`t have to get up an walk outside to check the smoker.

I`m familiar a little bit with pellet poopers, and this Recteq consistently holds the temps within a couple degrees of its set points thru the entire cooks. If a person can`t make good food on a Recteq pellet pooper, they`re doing something very wrong. Knowing what i know today, i would not hesitate buying the Recteq brand, again. There is a friend of mine in this forum, that has seen many of my cooks, and now the cooks from my Recteq BYB1200, he would back me up on the cooks i get from this Recteq. I get a excellent smoke ring on my cooks with this BYB1200 that would shame a few of stick burner smokers out there.

Recteq, for me!
YMMV


Here is some pics of my first ribs on the BYB1200

 

[Reburn]

I have the old model reqtec 590. Frankly it blows the doors off my brothers traeger. Especially on cold over nighters. I have never had a flame out like the other dude. The app says I have completed 226 cooks for a total of just over 400 hours. yes I will cook hotdogs on it for 8 minutes not including warm up time too. Did a stouffer's lasagna on it one time just to try. It will hold hotter then 550 on max as well so works fine for searing steaks. Over all I like it better then sticks, propane or charcoal. I vaccum it out and clean it after I run through a hopper of pellets which is about 50 lbs. Its the right size for a 13# pork butt or a 10# spatchcock turkey or 2 beer can fryer chickens and a dozen legs.

 

[atmat]

Honestly between a pellet grill and a griddle, all my outdoor cooking is handled. I just gave away my charcoal Weber. It doesn’t do anything better than the other two items do except for toasting marshmallows.

I still have a soft spot for charcoal. But I’m also in a super high fire risk area with very frequent burn bans (e.g., not allowed to run a chainsaw last summer unless you had a shovel and fire extinguisher nearby) — so it was just tough to justify keeping.

 

[bat-cave]

I took a class at a local BBQ shop a few years back. The owners are competition pitmasters who have won numerous competitions. If they are competing, they will use something like an offset, but they both agreed that at home, they might use a Komodo if time wasn't an issue and for specific meals like pizza (which I can say I have had some excellent pizzas from a Big Green Egg). But if they just wanted to feed their families at home ... they turned to their pellet smokers! These are guys that sold all the high-end brands and are very good at what they do ... haters gonna hate, but just because you have an opinion, doesn't make it right.

FWIW, the single best tip I learned in the class is to inject everything!

 

[svivian]

While we are talking about these garbage pellet smokers….

While the recteq does get to 700+ degrees by itself, you can fit the GMG pizza attachment in most of the newer recteqs with no modifications

I got 1100 degrees one time on accident based on my Amazon thermo gun.

 

[Nightfarce Ops]

While we are talking about these garbage pellet smokers….

While the recteq does get to 700+ degrees by itself, you can fit the GMG pizza attachment in most of the newer recteqs with no modifications

I got 1100 degrees one time on accident based on my Amazon thermo gun.

View attachment 898227

LOL..... that`s pretty kool. I`ve not really paid much attention on how to do pizza in a pellet pooper.

 

[Beendare]

What's everyone using these days?

I have had the Reqteq for about 5 years, it's excellent. Works great no issues.

US made so it's a little more expensive than Traeger.

 

[SloppyJ]

I have a camp chef woodwind pro and it's been great. The ability to dump all of the different areas makes for cleaning easy. I think the new ones even have a built in tray for extra smoke media like chips or even charcoal. Matter of fact, I haven't even used my normal grill since I've owned it going on 2yrs now.

 

[Nightfarce Ops]

I have had the Reqteq for about 5 years, it's excellent. Works great no issues.

US made so it's a little more expensive than Traeger.

I don`t believe Recteq has ever made any of their grills in the USA. As far as i know, they made in china, pretty much like all the others out there. Their quality control is where they`re likely beating the other brands out.

Take a closer look at yours, should be a sticker with the model & serial number, right below those numbers, it likely says made in china.

I know my Recteq says made in china, but does it bother me? Not one bit. Recteq`s are built very well.

 

[Gen273]

Pellet smokers are easy and popular, but they do not produce a true smoked flavor. I have tried a couple of the top brands, and I am not impressed. I would suggest that you at least give a vertical-fed charcoal smoker a look. They are almost as easy to operate and truly produce smoke. However, they are more expensive to buy.

Good luck in your search, smoking meat can be addictive….lol!

 

[bowhuntercoop]

I don`t believe Recteq has ever made any of their grills in the USA. As far as i know, they made in china, pretty much like all the others out there. Their quality control is where they`re likely beating the other brands out.

Take a closer look at yours, should be a sticker with the model & serial number, right below those numbers, it likely says made in china.

I know my Recteq says made in china, but does it bother me? Not one bit. Recteq`s are built very well.

They are somewhat local to me, founded in eastern Ga and still have a us based warehouse though, the owner started making them years ago outta his garage.

My last traegar lasted 10 years, I went pit boss this time for price and flame broil option.

Was 1/3 of the price and regulates temps in the Deep South much better then the traegar ever did. Mine gets used 5-6 days a week, if I get 5 years outta it I will be happy.

 

[hickswr]

Got a pit boss 11 years ago and been waiting for it to die and it runs like day one. Use it at least once a week if not more. I will replace it with another pit boss when that day comes

Same

 

[Nightfarce Ops]

They are somewhat local to me, founded in eastern Ga and still have a us based warehouse though, the owner started making them years ago outta his garage.

Yes, and their warehouse is a storage and a shipping facility in Ga. They don`t make anything here in the USA.

 

[Ridge Runner]

Pellet smokers are easy and popular, but they do not produce a true smoked flavor. I have tried a couple of the top brands, and I am not impressed. I would suggest that you at least give a vertical-fed charcoal smoker a look. They are almost as easy to operate and truly produce smoke. However, they are more expensive to buy.

Good luck in your search, smoking meat can be addictive….lol!

I use a smoke tube on all my cooks where I want smoke flavor and has solved this problem.