I’ve always been a bit of a (light-hearted) bbq snob. Wood smoke on my stick burner, or charcoal/chunks of wood on my Weber kettles. Maybe a part of me didn’t want to splurge for a nice pellet pooper, so I never gave them much consideration. Although I do know how convenient they are, since they basically run like an outdoor oven. Easy startup, long low-fuss runtimes for briskets and butts for pulled pork etc.

Well, last weekend a friend called me to ask what I’ve heard about the different pellet cooker brands on the bbq sites I frequent. I know enough to know that in his price range, Rec Teq is considered one of the best, and we talked for about an hour on the subject, and it piqued my interest enough to sign up on their email list. I figured since I know they rarely run flat out discount sales, just usually bundle promos, I could avoid the temptation to splurge. Well, they’re running 15% off sitewide thru tomorrow, so I went for it!

I settled on their second biggest model, the RT 1250. Plenty of cooking space and extra features like a folding front shelf, second cooking grate, and power outlet. Gotta say, once I decided to fold, I’m relieved at the thought of how much easier some cooks will be!

Now if I can just get Mrs. Outnumbered to start using it!

For Christmas of 2019 my wife bought me the RT-590. We got it on the Black Friday sale, so I scored the competition cart for free.

It’s by far the best pellet smoker/grill I have ever used. In the summer you can get it up to 600°, maybe a little more. Smokes as low as 180°. It’s just a spectacular appliance. I love the ability to control my temps from anywhere. Hopper is nice and big.

(This may not be an issue with the RT-1250 as you have a back hopper)

The only thing I wish that this had was a pellet shutoff to the auger. Reason being, and I will forewarn you, if you run it on “FULL” it’ll get hot AF and grill some great steaks. The problem is it gets so hot the pellets in the auger start to burn back from the fire pot. (This is because the fire pot is centrally located and requires a long auger tube to carry the pellets). Then the entire auger tube catches fire. It will burn back and catch the hopper on fire also. Easiest way is to empty the hopper as best you can and them use a leaf blower to fuel the fire and burn it out.

I have already pulled out the mesh piece to guard your hands from the auger. At some point I will see about adding a small slit and a trap door to shut off pellet flow.

Anyways, don’t let that scare you off. Season that bad boy and start making great food!

Pellet grills are really handy, and oh so convenient. The one you picked out sounds great, I'll probably pick up a rec teq when I replace my current grill.

They might not be quite as good as a stick burner, but mine paid off big for me yesterday. I put a rack of ribs on and an hour in I got a phone call and had to make an unexpected trip to the hospital. I hate leaving it unattended, but I had to go so I turned it down to 200, dragged it out to the middle of the patio where it couldn't hurt anything if something went wrong, and headed in to town.

Everything ended up being ok and I got back home about 4 hours later. The ribs were still in good shape- just in time to glaze and finish. Not the way I usually do them, but they came out great. I think if I was cooking on a stick burner I'd have had to write that meal off.

I’ve had a 1250 for a year and a half now. I haven’t used my Weber gas grill since. I haven’t had any issues with a back burn or a hopper fire and I’ve cranked it up to full to sear steaks many times. I’ve done many different cooks and all have come out amazing. Ribs, brisket, pulled pork, steak, chicken wings (a favorite of family and friends), salmon. We haven’t had a bad meal off of the 1250. I use the Smokehouse pellets from Sams Club. Never any issues. Some brands you have to watch for pellets that are too long. You’ll get bridging and a jam. Keep an eye for that Estes truck with your new toy. You’ll enjoy it.

I bought a 590 last spring despite being a dedicated Egghead and KJ user and it's been great for weeknight chicken meals. I had a Yoder in the past and while it was built far better than the Recteq the temp swings were all over the place. The 590 holds temp steady and pretty even across the grate. One thing I've learned is when you're finished cooking at a higher temp turn the heat down to 225 or so until it stabilizes down there. It helps prevent burnback.

I got my 590 as a gift from my kids Christmas 2021. I love everything about it. I did add the competition cart and front tray.

Interesting comparison article (need to scroll down quite a bit).
https://www.bbqguys.com/bbq-le...ls/recteq-vs-traeger

I won a traeger 650 through work. Have not received it yet. Msrp is like $1300 so that’s cool. Everyone I know with one says I’ll love it but I’ve been using an old school smoker for several years now. Can’t grill on it though. I have a Weber kettle for grilling. We’ll see.

Kind of a small thing but something I have picked up. I have been a dyed in the wool kamado, lump charcoal and wood chunk user for many years and like numerous folks of my ilk disparaged of the very light smoke flavor that pellet grills in general seem to impart on the finished product. I have found after using my pellet pooper for a time that the flavors are much enhanced by using 100% single wood pellets. Most of the normally available big brand pellets are blends with an oak base plus a lesser percentage of flavor woods or even worse "flavored" (I assume chemicals or oils). Oak has a very subtle flavor, which is great for baking and some delicately flavored dishes but not the best if you are expecting a more robust taste such as on beef, pork or lamb cuts of ample proportions. I have been using 100% hickory, cherry and apple single wood pellets with much success for pork butts and brisket. I have also found some pellet brands that are hickory, cherry and apple blends without the oak that seem to work well also. If you seem to like a more flavorful smoke try the 100% pellets and see if it is more to your liking. Another thing that helps to infuse more flavor is to begin the cook at a low temperature while the meat is cold as this allows more of the smoke flavor time to collect, then raise the cook temp, I usually raise the grill setting after the internal temp reaches 90ºF.

quote:

Originally posted by bettysnephew:
I have found after using my pellet pooper for a time that the flavors are much enhanced by using 100% single wood pellets.

Yup. With our being new to a Traeger, we were counseled to use hickory or mesquite depending on the protein and not any pellet "blends." Thus far the smoke flavor imparted has been delectable.

I love my RT-700! Makes great meat!

Not enough pictures in this thread, so...











All cooked on the RT-700.

Tony.

Bought a RT-B380 Grill a couple of years ago. Bought it because I was getting tired on dealing with Charcoal for my Weber Kettle.

Very happy with it. I don't do long smokes, so this grill does what I want. Quick to light, holds temperatures good and fairly easy to clean. I do mostly Chicken, Steaks, Ribs, Hot Dogs and Hamburgers.

My brother has a Traeger, dunno which model but it's at least several years old. He loves it, cooks a lot of meat on it. He smoked a big turkey breast on it for Thanksgiving, I swear that was THE BEST Thanksgiving turkey I've EVER had. Sorry, Mom.