Pellets smokers?

[doc holiday13]

Recteq has amazing customer service and their products are very reliable. I've burned about 1 ton of pellets since I got mine in 2020. Only issue I've had was the grill temp probe died about 6 months ago and they sent me a new one for free

 

[SteveAndTheCrigBoys]

Recteq has amazing customer service and their products are very reliable. I've burned about 1 ton of pellets since I got mine in 2020. Only issue I've had was the grill temp probe died about 6 months ago and they sent me a new one for free

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.

 

[Ramem7mm]

I have a GMG Daniel Boone that probably has close to 2,000 hours over the last 6 years. Only items I have changed is the heating elements. The coating is flaking as well on the outside a little bit but the inside is still fine. When this one quits I am not sure what I would get but the prices sure have gone up.

 

[mainbeam pursuit2]

I guess I'll be the oddball, I have a Yoder 640. Have had absolutely no problems.

 

[satchamo]

Pellet smokers are the manbun of grills. Buy a Weber, good charcoal, and study on zone cooking. It will literally do everything better than a pellet grill from high heat searing to long smokes. You’ll save money to boot and your friends won’t make fun of you for using an outdoor ez bake oven

 

[bat-cave]

I have a Rectec 590 and am very happy with it. I have no idea how many bags of pellets I've used, but my grill is ~7.5 years old, and I use it an average of four times per month. No complaints, and I would buy another Reqtec in a heartbeat. I also bought one for my daughter, and she loves hers as well. I initially opted for the Reqtec over the Traeger, as it is capable of reaching higher temperatures. At the time, the feedback indicated that the Reqtec was better at maintaining consistent heat. The top players were also minimal in their disclosure of which models had Wi-Fi options when I bought mine.I mentioned this because these were significant factors for me at the time.

Ultimately, the temp issue is not a big deal, as I was hoping to use it as a Grill alternative in addition to a smoker. For me, that's a non-issue, as each has its place on the deck, and now I've added a HALO griddle to round out the outdoor cooking tools.

The Rectec App was initially quite underwhelming, but it has improved since then. IMHO, the WiFi aspect is a must-have. It's way too easy to sit at my desk or run an errand and keep an eye on my smoker.

 

[SteveAndTheCrigBoys]

Pellet smokers are the manbun of grills. Buy a Weber, good charcoal, and study on zone cooking. It will literally do everything better than a pellet grill from high heat searing to long smokes. You’ll save money to boot and your friends won’t make fun of you for using an outdoor ez bake oven

 

[NealS02]

I second some of the comments above about Traeger. It doesn’t impart much smoke flavor even with super smoke mode and long slow cooking times. It also doesn’t sear well if you want to use it as an all purpose grill and smoker. I have a Masterbuilt smoker (electric box/cabinet style) that does an awesome job of smoking, but is a pain to babysit. I am likely going to sell my Traeger after years of use and get a propane grill with the Masterbuilt to smoke.

 

[Fowl Play]

Not on your list, but will say I have been very happy with my Camp Chef. Mine has a searing station on the side, which is a nice addition for getting a great reverse sear on steaks after getting it to desired temp on the smoker. The new ones have the addition of the smoke box which seems like an awesome addition for a pellet grill. I still use a smoke tube if I want to get a high level of smoke. Believe you can still get a good discount through expertvoice if you qualify for that.

 

[atmat]

Pellet smokers are the manbun of grills. Buy a Weber, good charcoal, and study on zone cooking. It will literally do everything better than a pellet grill from high heat searing to long smokes. You’ll save money to boot and your friends won’t make fun of you for using an outdoor ez bake oven

Lol what a dumb take.

 

[satchamo]

Lol what a dumb take.

Saving money, having a way more versatile cooking object and making way better food is dumb?

I owned a Traeger for years. They are one trick ponies and they aren’t even good at it.

 

[MarkOrtiz]

I started with a z-grill and had that for a few years. I inherited a Traeger and I'm happy with it. Way better than the z-grill. we cook everything on it.

 

[NEhunter]

Been using a Yoder 640 for several years. Has been great.

 

[Cubby]

Another vote for Reqtec, I have a 580 and it has been perfect and the CS is like no other. I once sent them an email and explained that where I live in Mt that in the winter the cover is vey hard to remove and install because it is so tight and recommended that they make they make the cover slightly bigger, not even 24 hours later I got a call from them and they offered me a free cover and free shipping for my trouble. Very stand up company.

 

[SteveAndTheCrigBoys]

Saving money, having a way more versatile cooking object and making way better food is dumb?

And spending more time babysitting it. Some people value convenience and pellet grills/smokers are convenient.

 

[atmat]

Saving money, having a way more versatile cooking object and making way better food is dumb?

I owned a Traeger for years. They are one trick ponies and they aren’t even good at it.

Traeger isn’t anywhere close to the best brand of pellet smokers.

And if you think pellet smokers aren’t good at smoking then it’s operator error.

 

[satchamo]

And spending more time babysitting it. Some people value convenience and pellet grills/smokers are convenient.

You don’t have to babysit charcoal. There’s dozens of temp controlled fans out there. I never babysit mine and it’s WAY more reliable than a pellet smoker. Pellet smokers will snuff out quicker than shit. Charcoal doesn’t….

 

[atmat]

You don’t have to babysit charcoal. There’s dozens of temp controlled fans out there. I never babysit mine and it’s WAY more reliable than a pellet smoker. Pellet smokers will snuff out quicker than shit. Charcoal doesn’t….

You clearly don’t know what you’re talking about.

 

[satchamo]

You clearly don’t know what you’re talking about.

Yeah, tell that to the prime brisket I lost because my pellet smoker snuffed out over night. It also happened to a pork butt. I know multiple people who have had this happen as well.

Charcoal stays lit until it is burnt and has air moving to it. It won’t snuff out until you run out of fuel.

So how do I not know what I’m talking about?

 

[satchamo]

Traeger isn’t anywhere close to the best brand of pellet smokers.

And if you think pellet smokers aren’t good at smoking then it’s operator error.

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….