Thoughts on a smoker for meat?

[patience0830]

Fond of my green egg. Not enough time to use it in my life. When I retire, a Yoder will join it.

 

[ghuns]

I recently got a RecTec RT-700 and I really like it. It has a very large hopper for pellets. Can be controlled remotely. For long smokes, you can pretty much start it and ignore it. The phone app will alert you if the temperature you set it for varies too much. I used it yesterday as windy as it was, and it did just fine.

Cooked on mine in the wind yesterday as well. Set it on low(180) and it stayed right there.

I bought my RT-700 back when I got my 'Rona bonus check from Trump.

I can't say enough good things about the grill, or about their support. I had a problem once getting it to light. Posted on a Rec Tec FaceBook group about it. I was advised to remove the pellets from the hopper. I did this and found a big wad of sawdust at the bottom. I sucked it out with the shopvac, refilled the hopper and was up and running.

The next morning at 8AM, I got a phone call from a number I didn't recognize so I let it got to voicemail. It was somebody from Rec-Tec wanting to make sure everything was OK. They don't run the various FaceBook groups, but they monitor them.

As to the OP, I thought long and hard about what to get, BGE, offset, pellet, etc. You can cook good stuff on all of them. Hell, I've cooked great briskets and butts on my 22" Weber kettle grill. But IMHO, nothing beats a pellet grill for ease of use and consistency.

If $400 is what you're looking to spend, I'd give this a serious look...

RT-B380 BULLSEYE WOOD PELLET GRILL

It's doesn't have the fancy wifi controller, and it's settings are in 25 degree increments, but it will cook anything you can think of.

 

[teddy12b]

I stopped by two hardware stores within 5 minutes of my work over lunch. No webers to see which I was hoping for but lots of other options. I did see this little bullet smoker that caught my eye. Not just because it was cheap, but because it looked like it'd be very portable and could travel fairly easily. https://www.lowes.com/pd/Masterbuilt-MCS-10B-Charcoal-Bullet-Smoker/1000386187

I'd still like to see a weber before I make any decisions though.

 

[CindyE]

Cooked on mine in the wind yesterday as well. Set it on low(180) and it stayed right there.

I bought my RT-700 back when I got my 'Rona bonus check from Trump.

I can't say enough good things about the grill, or about their support. I had a problem once getting it to light. Posted on a Rec Tec FaceBook group about it. I was advised to remove the pellets from the hopper. I did this and found a big wad of sawdust at the bottom. I sucked it out with the shopvac, refilled the hopper and was up and running.

The next morning at 8AM, I got a phone call from a number I didn't recognize so I let it got to voicemail. It was somebody from Rec-Tec wanting to make sure everything was OK. They don't run the various FaceBook groups, but they monitor them.

As to the OP, I thought long and hard about what to get, BGE, offset, pellet, etc. You can cook good stuff on all of them. Hell, I've cooked great briskets and butts on my 22" Weber kettle grill. But IMHO, nothing beats a pellet grill for ease of use and consistency.

If $400 is what you're looking to spend, I'd give this a serious look...

RT-B380 BULLSEYE WOOD PELLET GRILL

It's doesn't have the fancy wifi controller, and it's settings are in 25 degree increments, but it will cook anything you can think of.

I've heard mostly good things about their customer service. I'm on their FB, too. I had been wanting a smoker for years, but just couldn't decide. Definitely didn't want one i had to monitor all day. I was looking at Traeger, and then posted some questions on a FB smoking page, and someone mentioned Rec-Tec. I didn't want to spend that much, but after more research, pulled the trigger. I've been very happy with mine. I am going to try pizza soon.

 

[teddy12b]

A guy I work with said he has a Traeger and loves it. I don't know if I'm completely sold on the whole wifi thing though. I just don't know if I want one more thing around the house that doesn't work when the internet gets finicky. I'm not even sure I want to mess with one that needs to be plugged in because it'd be nice if it works when the power is out.

 

[HoughMade]

A guy I work with said he has a Traeger and loves it. I don't know if I'm completely sold on the whole wifi thing though. I just don't know if I want one more thing around the house that doesn't work when the internet gets finicky. I'm not even sure I want to mess with one that needs to be plugged in because it'd be nice if it works when the power is out.

...and this is why I still have the Weber kettle and keep a bag of charcoal around.

 

[printcraft]

As a prior Traeger owner, I would pass. For years, they've relied on their name and haven't made any significant changes but they sure jacked up their price. Yoder makes an awesome unit, but they are expensive. However, I can easily get 700-750 degrees on it and still maintain 225-250 for smoking. The other day, I set it at 150 and it held well which is something my Traeger could never do.

For a cheaper option, Lowe's has the Oklahoma Joe. My daughter has one and has been happy. It gets more temperature swings, but it still does a good job. It also has a searing zone which works well.

I picked one up last spring and put my pitmaster IQ temp control on it. It works GREAT!

https://pitmasteriq.com/products/iq110

 

[Bennettjh]

+1 for the ease of a pellet smoker. It feels like cheating.

Just did some bacon-wrapped venison backstraps last week. So good.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

Wow. That, my friend, is nice.

 

[hoosierdoc]

get an auger fed pellet one with wifi controller. sooo easy

 

[hoosierdoc]

Fond of my green egg. Not enough time to use it in my life. When I retire, a Yoder will join it.

auger fed pellet with wifi gives you a lot more time. put my brisket on at bed time. ready for lunch next day

 

[HoughMade]

I bought a pallet of Lumberjack at $10/bag. Shortly after, rural king starts selling it. I'm still a little butt hurt about it.

I get Cabelas brand...at Cabelas (which is one exit away from my office), $9.95/20 lbs.

 

[CTC B4Z]

Anything but pellet. Zero smoke flavor.

 

[CTC B4Z]

auger fed pellet with wifi gives you a lot more time. put my brisket on at bed time. ready for lunch next day

Had mine for 3 years now. Numerous bags and brands of pellets. Never any smoke flavor.

 

[HoughMade]

Anything but pellet. Zero smoke flavor.

To each their own...but my taste buds and those of my family disagree.

 

[Rookie]

Anything but pellet. Zero smoke flavor.

A pellet smoker will never match a stick burner even up. Add a smoke tube and the playing field gets more level.

 

[Rookie]

I get Cabelas brand...at Cabelas (which is one exit away from my office), $9.95/20 lbs.

$10 for 40 pounds.

 

[cburnworth]

I built an ugly drum smoker. Standard barrel with a lid, 2 22" round grill racks, custom built a raspberry pi for temp probes and a fan. All in about $300.

 

[HoughMade]

$10 for 40 pounds.

Great price!

...unfortunately, not close. I have lamented that a RK is too far away many times.

 

[Rookie]

I just realized rural king sells 20 pound bags. I can get a pallet for almost the same price as 20 pound bags, but I don't want 50 bags. Maybe a group buy?

 

[chezuki]

I just realized rural king sells 20 pound bags. I can get a pallet for almost the same price as 20 pound bags, but I don't want 50 bags. Maybe a group buy?

I’d be interested.