Rec Tec or MB GF

[SweetHeatBBQnSC]

Opps here's the post

https://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?p=4328241#post4328241

Thanks for pointing me to this thread. I read it the other day before you had done the cook, but your write up helps me a lot and I think answers some questions.

 

[SmoothBoarBBQ]

I read it here but can't remember who posted it that they contacted MB CS and MB said that the thin metal is there just to protect the fire bricks during shipping and the metal is supposed to burn off and when it does it doesn't affect the grill performance at all.

Here's a video attached to one review claiming that his firebox is lined with fabric insulation rather than firebrick.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pB7s6dYUmY

Again, this is what the gentlemen is claiming, so who knows for sure, but I'm just putting it out there.

 

[SmoothBoarBBQ]

This is such an important point that is often overlooked. Customer support for my pellet grill (camp chef) literally said to clean out the burn pot before each use (I hadn't been doing that btw). Sort of belies the 'busy man's smoker' image of pellet grills generally.

This is one of the things which drove me crazy about the Rec Tec BFG. I had to pull out all the racks (and they were quite heavy and bulky), then pull out the heat deflector, then the firepot cover, and then vacuum out everything after every cook. The heat deflector needed to be refoiled after every use and that took time as well. Overall it took me 15-20 minutes to clean up the cooker every time I used it and that really got old quickly.

 

[Kanco Connection]

This is one of the things which drove me crazy about the Rec Tec BFG. I had to pull out all the racks (and they were quite heavy and bulky), then pull out the heat deflector, then the firepot cover, and then vacuum out everything after every cook. The heat deflector needed to be refoiled after every use and that took time as well. Overall it took me 15-20 minutes to clean up the cooker every time I used it and that really got old quickly.

Ouch. I was seriously on the train to Pellet Pooper Land but this is a revelation to me. I’m definitely not down with doing that very often—much less every single time. My 1-2k is now safer than it was 5 min ago

 

[darita]

Ouch. I was seriously on the train to Pellet Pooper Land but this is a revelation to me. I’m definitely not down with doing that very often—much less every single time. My 1-2k is now safer than it was 5 min ago

OK...let me be clear...this is not the case with every pellet cooker. Most just need the ashes cleared from the burn pot and the grease tray emptied, if needed. You don't even need to do it every cook, but it's always safer that way.

 

[rwalters]

OK...let me clear...this is not the case with every pellet cooker. Most just need the ashes cleared from the burn pot and the grease tray emptied, if needed. You don't even need to do it every cook, but it's always safer that way.

100% agree! My pellet cooker is brain-dead easy to clean

I could totally see the big pellet cookers being a chore, especially if catering or just cooking for large events often. But for normal day to day use, with a drip pan or foil in place... crazy easy!

I have an overnight cook coming off right now. I’ll spend less than 5 mins on cleanup and I’ll be ready to rock n roll again

 

[Dweverett]

This is one of the things which drove me crazy about the Rec Tec BFG. I had to pull out all the racks (and they were quite heavy and bulky), then pull out the heat deflector, then the firepot cover, and then vacuum out everything after every cook. The heat deflector needed to be refoiled after every use and that took time as well. Overall it took me 15-20 minutes to clean up the cooker every time I used it and that really got old quickly.

That’s interesting because I only periodically vacuum out my 680. Definitely not after each cook. In fact, the couple times I’ve had it fail to light were after cleaning it.

I have gone to having two layers of foil on the drip tray, one of which is pretty loose, so that it’s easy to change the foil without pulling it out. Still obviously have to pull the rack out.

 

[SmoothBoarBBQ]

That’s interesting because I only periodically vacuum out my 680. Definitely not after each cook. In fact, the couple times I’ve had it fail to light were after cleaning it.

I have gone to having two layers of foil on the drip tray, one of which is pretty loose, so that it’s easy to change the foil without pulling it out. Still obviously have to pull the rack out.

The BFG is quite a large cooker, and I'd imagine it takes longer to clean the BFG than their smaller sized cookers. Mind you the BFG is a large capacity cooker, so I was doing 100Lbs of meat at a time, and burning through about 40Lbs of pellets on a 12-16 hour cook. So it needed to be broken down and cleaned pretty much every cook. Also, the grease stuck to the foil on the drip pan would really start to smell rotten within a short period of time...less than a day even in moderate ambient temperatures. So I had no choice but to break it all down and clean it every time I used it.

 

[pharp]

Here's a video attached to one review claiming that his firebox is lined with fabric insulation rather than firebrick.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pB7s6dYUmY

Again, this is what the gentlemen is claiming, so who knows for sure, but I'm just putting it out there.

I don't want to sound like a jerk...but I will probably trust the company that is selling millions of dollars of these...pretty sure they aren't looking to get shut down by using fabric insulation in their charcoal chute.

 

[darita]

I don't want to sound like a jerk...but I will probably trust the company that is selling millions of dollars of these...pretty sure they aren't looking to get shut down by using fabric insulation in their charcoal chute.

+1. I don't think Masterbuilt is going to lie about something like this. Can you imagine how many 560s would be coming back to them with fabric insulation coming out of the chute? Bricks are cheap and they'll last plenty long. I have no doubt the sides of the burn area will disintegrate within a relatively short time, as they already look like they're breaking down after only a few cooks. And like they said, the bricks are replaceable, so no worries.

 

[jgbmgb]

Have had several different Rec Tecs since 2014. All top notch pellet grills. Customer service and a 6 year warranty are top notch. As far as cleaning out ash, we do it after every 5 to 6 cooks. The 700 and the Bullseye are very easy to clean out only takes a few minutes.

 

[rm41400]

This is such an important point that is often overlooked. Customer support for my pellet grill (camp chef) literally said to clean out the burn pot before each use (I hadn't been doing that btw). Sort of belies the 'busy man's smoker' image of pellet grills generally.

Yes and no...

I can pull the grates , heat deflector and pellet pot in about a minute. Not sure the others are that easy but if your NOT ocd you can do that step extremely quickly on a Mak 2 star

 

[worldbfreebase]

https://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=282494

 

[chingador]

The BFG is quite a large cooker, and I'd imagine it takes longer to clean the BFG than their smaller sized cookers. Mind you the BFG is a large capacity cooker, so I was doing 100Lbs of meat at a time, and burning through about 40Lbs of pellets on a 12-16 hour cook. So it needed to be broken down and cleaned pretty much every cook. Also, the grease stuck to the foil on the drip pan would really start to smell rotten within a short period of time...less than a day even in moderate ambient temperatures. So I had no choice but to break it all down and clean it every time I used it.

that BFG sounds like more trouble than its worth to be honest. It seems to be the RT model that gets the largest percentage of complaints. My 590 is really easy to clean, but I only break it down every 3-4 cooks or after a super long cook. I stopped foiling my drip pan a while ago and scrape instead.

 

[SweetHeatBBQnSC]

Going to give the Rec Tec one last try...

Sent from my SM-A102U using Tapatalk

 

[rwalters]

Going to give the Rec Tec one last try...

Sent from my SM-A102U using Tapatalk

Fingers and toes crossed it works for you buddy! If not, what then? MB?

 

[SweetHeatBBQnSC]

Fingers and toes crossed it works for you buddy! If not, what then? MB?

Probably will end up getting the Masterbuilt and whenever I can get a Pit Boss for a good deal might get one just to mess with. That is my thought process at this point.

 

[darita]

Or, get the pellet grill now to play with and see how the MB firebox thing plays out. Even though it may not be a real issue, MB may choose a change, just to quiet the internet talk.

 

[SlowmotionQue]

It surprises me greatly that you prefer the smoke on butts and brisket that pellets provide. The only reasoning I use, is that those two are large pieces of meat so I would've thought it would be a lot more difficult to get smoke flavor into those versus a thinner piece of meat.

Smoke flavor is primarily from smoke which got "onto" the meat as opposed to smoke that got "into" it.

This is no doubt the reason why "dirty smoke" makes food taste awful. It gets "on" it.

I've found that using a smoke tube, usually my 18in A-MAZE-N smoke tube, and with good quality pellets in it and in my Rec Tec RT590 gives a smoke flavor on briskets and pork shoulders that is suitable to my tastes and very similar to results gotten from my WSM for briskets and pork shoulders.

But admittedly, I possibly run my WSM cleaner than some do for long cooks.

In fact, while I don't do it, but many do, ...some will run a brisket on a smoker for a given period of time as they feel fit to get smoke flavor, and then finish it off in the oven, and still get good smoke flavor.

As mentioned earlier though, I build my WSM fire for long cooks in such a way that I think, anyway, gives me less of a chance of getting large amounts of white smoke, or long periods of denser white smoke, that I've seen so many get when they run WSMs.

For long WSM cooks, I build my fire similar to what Harry Soo builds his. I put my wood on the bottom and put my coals over top of it.

Doing it the opposite way, wood on top of white coals, tends to give off a lot of that what smoke. And for a longer time. It's for this reason that I tend to "bury" my wood in the coals.

I use split logs or chunks, always hickory, and a cleaner burning lump charcoal like KJ Big Block, Rockwood, or Fogo, on top of the wood.

I stay away from junk like Cowboy and Royal Oak lump, which I think leaves more of a campfire taste to food.

This, at least I believe, I can't prove it, but I strongly believe, gives me about as "clean" of a fire as I can get in a WSM.

Which is probably why the briskets and pork shoulders that I do in my WSM tastes so similar to those done in my pellet grill.

As a footnote, I suspect that the reason why the smoke profile for ribs and other shorter cooking meats, in my Rec Tec, even with a smoke tube, is "inferior" to the smoke profile for ribs and other "short cook" meats gotten on my WSM or KJ, is related to the period time that the smoke tube pellets actually get burn, and by extension, the amount of them burned in a shorter rib cook time frame, vs the amount of pellets I would burn in the smoke tube over a longer brisket and pork shoulder cook.

In other words, if I do a rib cook on my pellet smoker using a smoke tube, I'll end up burning considerably fewer pellets in the tube over that cook, than were I to do a brisket cook on my pellet grill using the tube. For a brisket or a pork shoulder, I'll burn the whole tube out. And can make it last even longer using ground up pellet dust. I'm thinking that the time period of exposure to "pellet tube smoke", plays a big role in why longer cooking foods give me a smoke profile which is closer to my WSM results.

 

[SweetHeatBBQnSC]

Smoke flavor is primarily from smoke which got "onto" the meat as opposed to smoke that got "into" it.

This is no doubt the reason why "dirty smoke" makes food taste awful. It gets "on" it.

I've found that using a smoke tube, usually my 18in A-MAZE-N smoke tube, and with good quality pellets in it and in my Rec Tec RT590 gives a smoke flavor on briskets and pork shoulders that is suitable to my tastes and very similar to results gotten from my WSM for briskets and pork shoulders.

But admittedly, I possibly run my WSM cleaner than some do for long cooks.

In fact, while I don't do it, but many do, ...some will run a brisket on a smoker for a given period of time as they feel fit to get smoke flavor, and then finish it off in the oven, and still get good smoke flavor.

As mentioned earlier though, I build my WSM fire for long cooks in such a way that I think, anyway, gives me less of a chance of getting large amounts of white smoke, or long periods of denser white smoke, that I've seen so many get when they run WSMs.

For long WSM cooks, I build my fire similar to what Harry Soo builds his. I put my wood on the bottom and put my coals over top of it.

Doing it the opposite way, wood on top of white coals, tends to give off a lot of that what smoke. And for a longer time. It's for this reason that I tend to "bury" my wood in the coals.

I use split logs or chunks, always hickory, and a cleaner burning lump charcoal like KJ Big Block, Rockwood, or Fogo, on top of the wood.

I stay away from junk like Cowboy and Royal Oak lump, which I think leaves more of a campfire taste to food.

This, at least I believe, I can't prove it, but I strongly believe, gives me about as "clean" of a fire as I can get in a WSM.

Which is probably why the briskets and pork shoulders that I do in my WSM tastes so similar to those done in my pellet grill.

As a footnote, I suspect that the reason why the smoke profile for ribs and other shorter cooking meats, in my Rec Tec, even with a smoke tube, is "inferior" to the smoke profile for ribs and other "short cook" meats gotten on my WSM or KJ, is related to the period time that the smoke tube pellets actually get burn, and by extension, the amount of them burned in a shorter rib cook time frame, vs the amount of pellets I would burn in the smoke tube over a longer brisket and pork shoulder cook.

In other words, if I do a rib cook on my pellet smoker using a smoke tube, I'll end up burning considerably fewer pellets in the tube over that cook, than were I to do a brisket cook on my pellet grill using the tube. For a brisket or a pork shoulder, I'll burn the whole tube out. And can make it last even longer using ground up pellet dust. I'm thinking that the time period of exposure to "pellet tube smoke", plays a big role in why longer cooking foods give me a smoke profile which is closer to my WSM results.

I understand your theory on this. My only question would be when I smoked the cheeseburgers on the Rec Tec around 80 minutes they were as smoky as any I have ever done on my WSM?