Anyone have one of these smokers? If so, what are your thoughts?
I've been on their site a few times and they're a bit pricey but the warranty looks solid and they get great reviews.
I have a 22" Weber grill and a Smoky Mountain but I'm kind of wanting something bigger to do a brisket or bigger cuts of meat on. I've looked a Traeger and a few others but keep coming back to Recteq.

I don't have any first hand knowledge but I will be following as I too am in the market for a smoker.

I have it narrowed down to the Recteq and the Yoder.

I know one downside to the Recteq is that they are made in China where the Yoder's are made in the US.

The Recteq's are mainly stainless steel which is a plus. The Yoder is much heavier than the Recteq and it costs a fair amount more.

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Recteq will be my next grill. I currently have a Treagar and while it does good, I cannot wait until I get the recteq. I have been researching smokers and grills for many months and I keep coming back to these. The temp control, as well as the construction, seals the deal for me.

I have an RT700 that we got about 4 months ago and love it.

I personally use a stick burner. However I have a good friend of mine that used his Rectec for competition bbq and is regularly a top 3 finalist.

I chose Yoder over Recteq and had a YS640 for a few years. As far as I know Recteq makes a great smoker and I wouldn't hesitate to buy one if I was looking for a pellet smoker. With that said I moved away from pellets due to the cost, the need for electricity, and the lack of smoke flavor in the food. Yes, you can use an Amazen tube for more smoke, and I did. Pellet smokers are excellent at convenience but burn so clean they don't give much smoke flavor. I use the BGE and KJ for all my smoking and most of my grilling. The Weber picks up the rest, mostly winter grilling.

quote:

Originally posted by mark60:
I chose Yoder over Recteq and had a YS640 for a few years. As far as I know Recteq makes a great smoker and I wouldn't hesitate to buy one if I was looking for a pellet smoker. With that said I moved away from pellets due to the cost, the need for electricity, and the lack of smoke flavor in the food. Yes, you can use an Amazen tube for more smoke, and I did. Pellet smokers are excellent at convenience but burn so clean they don't give much smoke flavor. I use the BGE and KJ for all my smoking and most of my grilling. The Weber picks up the rest, mostly winter grilling.

This is what I'm kind of afraid of, not much smoke flavor.
I do quite a bit of pork butts and I get the smoke ring plus the smoke flavor with the Weber kettle and the Smoky Mountain.
I would just like a bigger area for bigger cuts and the pellet grills seem to have that.
Some of the offset smokers have room also but are not the "set it and forget it" type.
I'm probably going to wait until Spring to do anything anyways so I have time to think about what I want.
Good info so far.

First hand experience, I have the 680, the first version that came out 5 years or more ago and I love it. No issues at all, even did the upgrade when the wifi version came out with no problems. I use the company brand pellets, I have tried a few other brands and they don't seem to feed as well.

With the wifi I can light the smoker, set the temp and check the probe temp remotely. Set and forget.

While the pellet smokers may not provide quite as much smoke flavor as a stick smoker, the convenience they offer is worth the difference to me. As Sig229-SAS says, you can monitor your cook remotely. I put 2 pork butts on my RecTec 700 last night at 1700 hours and let them cook while I slept. Got up at 0430 and inserted my probes, walked my dogs while monitoring the internal temps and was back home in time to take the first one off at 0630 when it reached 200 degrees and the second one at 0830 when it reached temp. No muss, no fuss.

Stick smokers may provide more smoke flavor but they require that you get up every couple of hours to monitor the chamber temp and add wood to adjust cooking temps.

I looked at the Yoder and the RecTec and went RecTec for several reasons. Weight was one as I have to move my smoker around various terrain and the extra weight was going to be a problem. Secondly, cost. RecTecs ship free, Yoder wants a goodly sum. The cost difference between the 2, including shipping, was going to be almost $1800.

The RecTec has performed up to my expectations and I would buy one again. It does cost a little more but the materials, while not as thick/heavy as the Yoder, are much more robust than the Trager and Green Mountain brands.

I purchased the first Recteq 680 and it was a fantastic grill. I'd highly recommend a Recteq.

I've since moved on to a different grill but would purchase another Recteq when I'm ready to replace my Camp Chef Woodwind.

You won't go wrong with Recteq.

I love the RT-700. I've had mine going on 2 years now. It outperforms my old Traeger Lil' Tex Elite by leaps and bounds. I had a Traeger for about 8 years before switching to the RecTec.

Here's mine on the first day...


I do breakfast on it all the time.


Chicken...


Bavette steak and pork...




Smoked a bunch of trout on it this summer...


Here's al that was left...


My old Traeger struggled to reach 450˚, even on a hot summer day. My RT-700 peaks at 600˚ year-round. It must have a temp cutoff because once it reaches 600, it never goes higher.

From what I understand, the control panel is made in the USA, but the chassis is MIC. Nearly the entire grill is made of stainless steel. I don't recall if the lid is stainless or carbon steel. WhenI bought mine I seem to remember it being porcelain coated, but later I saw them advertising the lid as being powder coated. I also remember some of the Traeger would explode during startup because of excess gasses that ignite.



The Rec-Tec goes through a shutdown process that I believe allows the pellets left in the pot to keep burning, but it doesn't feed the pot.

With Green Mountain, the only part you can get is the hood. The rest is carbon steel and powder coated. I use oven cleaner once or twice a year on my RecTec, except the hood. I can get it looking back to new with some oven cleaner, 409 and some scotch-brite.


Mine has been trouble-free in the 2 years I've had mine. I use the temp probes for pulled pork and turkey.

Tony.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: benny6,

I have the RT-700 also and live very close to Yoder, KS so looked hard at both. I am very happy with my Rec Tec and will be buying another for my son for a housewarming gift.

Easy to use and the Wi-fi makes monitoring and adjusting simple from the phone app.

Have not thought that the cook seems not smoky enough.

I don't know how the Rectecs are but my Yoder was a pain in my ass to clean compared to my BGE and KJ. I had to pull the big, greasy deflector plate out and then I'd vacuum the ash. The inside stayed greasy all the time so there was always ash stuck to the grease. With the Kamado cookers I just do a clean burn now and then when I finish cooking and all the nasties are obliterated. I have a kick ash pan in each so it's easy to lift out and dump.

For sure pellet cookers are awesome and an overnight pork butt or brisket is worry free, I love that. I have to buy a new Weber and keep trying to talk myself into a pellet pooper instead but for me I think it's propane sometimes and lump coal for most of it.

Rectec for 5 months -No issues

quote:

Originally posted by Sailor1911:...Have not thought that the cook seems not smoky enough.

As mentioned in my post above, I've not been disappointed with the amount of smoke given off by the RecTec either. I have found that I prefer Oak pellets for pork and a blend of Hickory and Oak for beef. Hickory by itself can be too strong and bitter for my taste when doing a long cook

Below are pictures of a Brisket I did last month with hickory; damn it was good.

Great looking brisket and a beautiful smoke ring.

Love my 700. Had it for 1.5 years now. I like the Lumberjack pellets. Brined and spatchcocked chickens and turkeys, ribs, brisket, beans, scalloped potatoes, pork butts, meatloaf, bacon wrapped tenderloin, ribs all amazing. Being able to cook overnight to avoid long waits is awesome. Customer service is top notch.

I have had my rectec for several years. I bought one several years ago. I love it, performs trouble free. The only think I do is clean it couple times a year.

Check out the Masterbuilt gravity series 560 or 1050. All the convenience of a pellet grill, but use charcoal/lump and wood chuncks.

I have a BGE and wanted more cooking space so I picked up a Rec Tec 700. I would agree with what Mark60 has said about not as much smoke flavor even with using a smoke tube.
I've tried the RecTec pellets, Lumberjack and Bear Mountain and don't get the same amount of smoke as the egg.
With that being said I love the Rec Tec and I would buy one again.