Blaz'n vs Rec Tec pellet smoker. Help me determine what is best for me

[Amateurbbq]

Hi everyone. My name is Mike and I have been researching pellet grills and trying to decide what one is best for me. I'm new to this forum so I'm hoping I'm posting in the right spot. My Grandpa and Uncle both own Traeger grills and I love the taste of the food done on them.

I am looking for a smoker that is user friendly, dependable, quality/durable and will not break the bank (ideally under $1500). Based on my research so far I have ruled out Traegers and GMG. I also have ruled out the Q450, FEC PG500 and MAK 1 due to higher costs (especially with add ons) and/or the size of the cooking surface. I looked at a Yoder smoker in person and although it appears to be really well made I felt like some other smokers offered more features at the same or lower price point and would use less pellets during the cook. The two grill/smokers I have found that seem to appeal to me the most at this time are REC TEC and Blaz'n. I am looking for a cooking surface over 600sq in and in addition to smoking may decide to grill an occasional burger or steak.

The advantages of the Blaz'n Grid Iron I have come up with are 1) Removable fire pot 2) Meat probe which monitors internal meat temp and lowers grill temp once the desired temp is reached 3) More cooking space with included second shelf 4) WIFI capabilities (not sure how important this is) 5) Stainless steel roller grates for easy cleaning 6) Made in USA

The advantages for the REC TEC are 1) Full mode/Extra smoke mode on PID controller 2)All internal parts are 304 SS (The fire pot on the Blaz'n is steel. Again not sure how important this is) 3) Largest hopper at 40lbs 4) Lower price (about $500 cheaper) 5) 6 year warranty which covers everything but paint 6) Shorter auger since hopper is in middle of grill which I was told is less likely to jam

Given the advantages I have noticed I was hoping someone with more experience could help me decide what features are truly important and which are not. Also if there are any other grills that seem to live up to my desires that people could speak for I'm all ears. I would also like to hear if anyone has had any problems with one of these grills or why they choose the grill they did. I think both are good grills but I just can't seem to determine which features I will need/want the most. Thanks for any advice.

 

[Tricky]

I own the full-sized Rec Tec. I can't speak to whether it is better than the other unit you mention, but I will say that Rec Tec has fantastic customer service. I've had a few minor issues with my unit over the years I've had it and when I call their customer service number in Georgia -- usually on the weekend when I'm starting or in the middle of a cook -- they will walk me through troubleshooting recommendations, and when necessary have sent out replacement parts ASAP.

I like gadgets and would love a WiFi-enabled unit that I can monitor remotely and an integrated meat thermo that can be programmed to lower the cook temp when target IT is reached. That said, because I've never had those I can do without them -- and I'd never reply on my cooker to lower the temp itself, as I would want to control what it was doing. But those features sound great to me. Not sure I'd pay another $600 for them, but I'm sure some would.

That's my $.02

 

[Dweverett]

I own the Rec Tec as well and have been very happy with it. Heavy duty construction and as is typically reported, great folks to deal with. I think your assessment of the pros and cons looks right. I've never used the blazn so can't really do a comparison. As I recall, the weight is roughly the same between them so would guess that overall thickness of metal is similar.

On Wi-Fi, never had it so can't say for sure but I think I'd be hesitant to use it to drop the temp. First, I'm usually cooking to feel not temp. Second, I'm not always perfect in placing the probe in the first place so always double check with my thermo pen in a few places. I suspect I'd end up letting the computer turn down the heat only to find that I was actually 10 degrees cooler than I thought.

That said, I don't think you will be disappointed in either choice. Rec Tec was (IMHO) clearly the best bang for the buck 5-6 years ago when I bought mine. Lots more competition now but it's still a really strong option.

 

[Dweverett]

Adding my thoughts on your list of differences for what it's worth.


The advantages of the Blaz'n Grid Iron I have come up with are
1) Removable fire pot Don't see this as a big deal, I don't clean mine all that frequently and when I do I'm vacuuming out the whole pit so doing the firepot at the same time is easy.
2) Meat probe which monitors internal meat temp and lowers grill temp once the desired temp is reached As mentioned in my prior post,
not sure I'd use the ability to turn down the heat but having the probe is valuable. Lots of alternatives out there but this is saving you some amount of money.
3) More cooking space with included second shelf I don't always fill mine but a little extra never hurts. I did recently buy the shelf that Rec Tec sells and used it for the first time a couple weeks ago. Not a ton of headroom in the Rec Tec for it but it worked for me.
4) WIFI capabilities (not sure how important this is) I'd like WiFi just for flexibility on how far away I can be an monitor temps. Can always buy something like a Smoke/Gateway which is probably somewhat better than what's built into the Blazn but that also eats into your $500 savings
5) Stainless steel roller grates for easy cleaning Not seeing this as much value. Grates on the Rec Tec clean easily -- I'm not cooking at the super high temps that bake things on like I do on a normal grill
6) Made in USA Definitely a preference for me. Rec Tec does have that small local company feel to it even though the actual manufacturing is overseas. That said, it's still not the same as doing everything over here

The advantages for the REC TEC are
1) Full mode/Extra smoke mode on PID controller Nice to have to get a heavier smoke flavor but without doing a direct comparison to the other grill it's hard to say how different the tastes are. There are other options as well, like an Amazin smoker tube to add more smoke
2)All internal parts are 304 SS (The fire pot on the Blaz'n is steel. Again not sure how important this is) The stainless in the Rec Tec is impressive. I suspect that something else would start to rust given the extreme heat which would prevent any type of seasoning from building up. At least on the Rec Tec these parts are thick metal. Assuming the same on the Blazn, even if there was some rust it would take quite a while to become a problem.
3) Largest hopper at 40lbs Nice to not have to worry about it but honestly, rare that I couldn't get by with a 20lb hopper. Last weekend was one of those times -- ran it 18 hours in low teen temps without worry. Not my average cook though
4) Lower price (about $500 cheaper) While I am somewhat a believer in the "cry once" philosophy, $500 is a meaningful difference to me and as a percentage even bigger. That's close to enough to also buy the smaller Rec Tec as well which would give me more flexibility than having the extra room on the Blazn. Or, more likely, I would have just kept the $500...
5) 6 year warranty which covers everything but paint There are parts that fail in these and so I have had opportunity to use the warranty.
They have been unbelievable in their support.
6) Shorter auger since hopper is in middle of grill which I was told is less likely to jam I don't know if this is a real benefit or theory.
I will say that in the 5+ years I've owned it I've never had a problem with either a jam or the tunneling that some folks have experienced with other pellet grills, and I've used a lot of different pellets. Whether this is the shorter tube, nature of the hopper or dumb luck I'm not sure but the hopper / feed mechanism seems to be pretty bulletproof

One last story on the service side. When I bought mine it shipped with small rubber protectors between the lid and body. With my usual attention to detail, I completely missed that they were there and fired it up for the initial burn to set the paint -- nicely melting them into the paint. I called them to see if they had any touch up paint which at the time, they didn't. Instead, the apologized for not being clear enough in the directions to warn me to make sure I removed them and then shipped me a brand new lid. It's not like these protectors were hidden -- black rubber against the bright red cover. Completely idiot move on my part.

Let us know what you choose and lets see some pics when you get it!

 

[MossyMO]

Wife and I have had a Yoder YS640 since February 2012 and are very happy with it, no regrets. Often this model is referred to as built like a tank, it is. Made in the USA, 10 gauge steel cook chamber

December 2017 we got a Blaz’n Grid Iron, very impressed with the quality of the build. In comparison to the YS640 it has a larger cook chamber and hopper, center mounted burn pot is easily removable for cleaning and the pro rack system has well over double the square inch grate space. So far very happy with purchase. Made in the USA, 16 gauge steel cook chamber with strategically placed double wall construction.

We purchased the Blaz’n for its ability to cook low ‘n slow 4 grates of ribs for cook offs over the Yoder’s 2 grates. In my opinion the sear kit in the Blaz’n is a disappointment and does not grill or sear with direct heat. We did not purchase it for the feature and will never try it as have plenty of grills for that. Yoder on the other hand has a nice set up, again in my opinion for direct grilling and searing.

Only other experience we have cooking on a pellet grill was doing a few racks of ribs on a Rec Tec Mini, it performed well for us. Made in China, sheet metal construction.

Had the YS640 and Grid Iron out yesterday smoking meat sticks so got a side by side pic of them.

 

[snj1013]

Rec Tec is adding WiFi to their controller any time now. Might want to call and see if you can get some info, but I would bet within the month.

 

[Cub]

I have a blazin and love it

 

[OklaDustDevil]

I bought a Mak 1 Star back around Thanksgiving and absolutely love it. It comes with a meat probe that plugs into the controller, which I find invaluable. Contrary to others' comments above, my entire reason for getting a pellet grill was specifically so it will smoke all night while I sleep. No more feeding splits every hour as required by my stickburners.

So the probe feature works great for me -- if the cook goes a little faster than I expected and the meat hits my desired temp before I'm back out there the next mornin, the smoker will drop temp and maintain until I get out there to turn it off.

The Mak was $1700 delivered so a bit more than your budget. But my point is IMHO I suggest you go with the smoker that has the best and highest tech controller, including the probe feature. After having smoked everything the low tech way for so many years, I find it remarkable to put all this tech to work for me and have the ability to control cook times, cooker temps, meat temps, etc., thru the controller and probe.

Of course I still have my horiz and vertical stickburners so anytime I desire to do it the old fashioned way, I'll fire up those cookers -- but now, DAYTIME ONLY!

 

[pork.rind]

I don’t have any experience with RecTec but i’ve owned a Yoder YS480 and now a Blaz’n Grand Slam. The heat deflector is easy to get in and out unlike the Yoder and you can’t ask for an easier way to remove ash which I do about every two 9-12 hour cooks. For me, I went with the Blaz’n because I couldn’t bring myself to pull the trigger on a grill I hadn’t seen that was made in China for over $1000 after shipping. I’ve had the Blaz’n now for almost two years and have never regretted that decision - other than wishing I had splurged for the Grid Iron!

 

[CTBBQ]

Wife and I have had a Yoder YS640 since February 2012 and are very happy with it, no regrets. Often this model is referred to as built like a tank, it is. Made in the USA, 10 gauge steel cook chamber

December 2017 we got a Blaz’n Grid Iron, very impressed with the quality of the build. In comparison to the YS640 it has a larger cook chamber and hopper, center mounted burn pot is easily removable for cleaning and the pro rack system has well over double the square inch grate space. So far very happy with purchase. Made in the USA, 16 gauge steel cook chamber with strategically placed double wall construction.

We purchased the Blaz’n for its ability to cook low ‘n slow 4 grates of ribs for cook offs over the Yoder’s 2 grates. In my opinion the sear kit in the Blaz’n is a disappointment and does not grill or sear with direct heat. We did not purchase it for the feature and will never try it as have plenty of grills for that. Yoder on the other hand has a nice set up, again in my opinion for direct grilling and searing.

Only other experience we have cooking on a pellet grill was doing a few racks of ribs on a Rec Tec Mini, it performed well for us. Made in China, sheet metal construction.

Had the YS640 and Grid Iron out yesterday smoking meat sticks so got a side by side pic of them.

I've been sitting on the fence and back and forth more than once. Your post helped make up my mind. Thanks! :thumb: