Here's the deal. If you eat food cooked on any of the pellet units you will have a hard time telling the difference in food quality, if you could even tell. So now, the rest is what do you want to spend and for what?
That's highly debatable and I know there's plenty of people out there that would 100% disagree with you on that. I can't personally vouch, but I know there's others out there that would be quick to argue this one.
Now, after owning the Rec-Tec a while, if it came time to buy a new one and all things were exactly as they are today, I would do it over again. Yes, some parts are manufactured in China but the company is in the US, no it's not built like a tank, but it is built like an armored vehicle .... you get it.
While this is good, it's in no way an advantage that any other units don't have, especially Yoder since 100% American made. But is good to hear that the RecTec holds up mostly. That being said, the thickness of the steel (and therefore thermal mass) don't even come close to a comparison. Yoder will win that battle every time. Whether the controller and auger and what not will hold up long enough to ever be able to judge the steel's thickness with regard to rot, rust, etc, remains to be seen. I doubt either unit would last long enough to see severe effects of rust and wear.
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Bottom line .... cost doesn't make the food better ..... Kalamazoo makes a grill that burns gas, charcoal and wood, costs $25,000. Do you think the food from that grill tastes $24,000 better than everyone's food here on the forum? I don't think so. Maintaining temperature and the cook's skills are probably two of the biggest factors in food quality. Most pellet grills have great controllers so maintaining heat is a no brainer, the rest is up to the cook to sharpen his/her skills. This is just my somewhat biased unbiased opinion. Hope it might help in some way. Good Luck!
This is where I completely disagree. When it comes to pellet smokers, several items are crucial:
1. Temp accuracy -- is the pit probe actually maintaining the temp it's claiming?
2. Temp variation -- is the temp actually all over the place, or is it solid steady?
3. Recovery/overshoot compensation -- is the unit dropping 50F when you open it, and compensates by raising the temp by 150F instead of simply recovering?
4. How is the heat distributed throughout the unit.
Now, say what you want, but the assertion that a more costly model isn't going to make better food is just NUTS. You're thinking of it all wrong here, and only thinking about the end, not the means. You gotta COOK the food to make it good, and if you're constantly battling temp swings, inaccuracy, hot zones, bad recovery overshoots, etc, then you're gonna have a bad time, period.
When it comes to pellet smokers, increases in cost typically correlate with 2 areas:
1. The material of the smoker -- 10awg steel in the Yoder vs what on the RecTec -- 20awg?
2. The performance of the Heat Mgmt System
Beyond that, any other increases typically correlate to random bells and whistles being added on.
Bottom line, I'm not saying a RecTec won't make great food, but Yoder has a history of excellent BBQ pits, and they've been tuning their pellet series for some years now, with excellent results.
It all boils down to A) how much you wanna pay, B) if you ever plan on selling it, C) how long you want it to last. If OP can afford the Yoder 480, then by all means go for it.
