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Pellet Grills and Smokers


Teamdirtyleg

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I finally took the plunge and made a brisket on my recteq.  I got a 13 lbs prime brisket from Creekstone and it was excellent.  It was pretty much identical to when I smoke them on my Lonestar Grillz pit.  I cooked it at 240 most of the way which is lower than I normally do because my big smoker doesn't like to sit at temps that low.  I used B&B mesquite pellets and burned one smoke tube for around 3 hours.  I wrapped at 170 and then turned it up to 260.  It took right at 12 hours.  I am considering getting a bigger model that will let me cook 2 briskets at a time.  Not having to constantly fiddle with the fire was so nice and clean up is 20 minutes the next day instead of 3 hours.

Did you get a recteq tube or a different one?

I did one labor day weekend using a pretrimmed HEB non-prime and won't make that mistake again. Edible but not to my high standards.

I love cooking leg quarters til they are just fall apart tender. Stuff them under the skin with butter.

And my 590’s hotspot is roughly the same as VirginiaLonghorn’s.
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9 hours ago, BearSchlong said:


Did you get a recteq tube or a different one?

I did one labor day weekend using a pretrimmed HEB non-prime and won't make that mistake again. Edible but not to my high standards.

I love cooking leg quarters til they are just fall apart tender. Stuff them under the skin with butter.

And my 590’s hotspot is roughly the same as VirginiaLonghorn’s.

if you want something easy to do you can use that, smoke it, chop, vac seal 1 lb at a time and freeze...then have pretty damn good brisket ready at almost any time

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11 minutes ago, BearSchlong said:

Indeed. I went lazy and ended up with a C+ brisket. Or maybe my standards are just so high now that everyone else raved about it and I thought it was mediocre.

If I'm not doing prime, I will grab a big fat packer and not overdo the trim.

yeah, their prices for trimmed briskets are funny. at that point just buy the packer, trim and render your own tallow to use later

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Camp chef xxl pro vertical. The smoke box adds crazy smoke to the meat. Unlike anything I’ve been able to get on any other pellet grill. I cannot tell a difference between off set ribs and ribs from this cooker. Brisket was also best I’ve done on a pellet grill. Heat distribution isn’t great so you have to move racks around if you are doing a big cook. Awesome product though. IMG_1703.thumb.jpeg.aebd64f372527dd80f80baff03a036fc.jpegIMG_1704.thumb.jpeg.5173101250aa841720e5ded83e1ff188.jpegIMG_1558.thumb.jpeg.9c048d89930d7360e915557405f80dff.jpeg

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  • 4 weeks later...

I received mine as a bday present this weekend. Primed it last night and pork shoulder is smoking this morning and will be ready in 8-ish hours. Just in time for a victory sammich after stomping cougar high. 

Thanks yall. Very happy I found this thread because I'm already impressed as hell with these things.

PXL_20231021_153845850.thumb.jpg.4e4f4ea0e598e183a2bdaa7863c40cdc.jpg

 

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Has anyone with a recteq used the Lo / Xtreme setting?

I did yesterday for the first time for some ribs and it was fluctuating wildly. It would drop to 125 and then go back up way past to 280 and then back to the correct 180 for a while.

I called support early on when I noticed and they said it could just be a "gap" in the feed, but it went on for the whole cook. It came out ok, but could've been better.

I'm just now testing it again with some beef jerky and it seems much better so far.

Just not sure why. Glitchy? Or maybe humid fuel from the rains the past week? Mine is under a cover and also under a patio roof. But it has been wet as hell all week.

I'm leaning the latter because now it's holding steady (newer, dryer pellets).

Curious to hear anyone else's experiences.

 

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On 10/29/2023 at 5:42 PM, gofuckyourself said:

Has anyone with a recteq used the Lo / Xtreme setting?

I did yesterday for the first time for some ribs and it was fluctuating wildly. It would drop to 125 and then go back up way past to 280 and then back to the correct 180 for a while.

I called support early on when I noticed and they said it could just be a "gap" in the feed, but it went on for the whole cook. It came out ok, but could've been better.

I'm just now testing it again with some beef jerky and it seems much better so far.

Just not sure why. Glitchy? Or maybe humid fuel from the rains the past week? Mine is under a cover and also under a patio roof. But it has been wet as hell all week.

I'm leaning the latter because now it's holding steady (newer, dryer pellets).

Curious to hear anyone else's experiences.

 

Have you updated the firmware to the latest version?  I've had the occasional spike on long cooks especially when doing greasy things like brisket, but nothing like that.

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On 10/31/2023 at 1:09 PM, kevwun said:

Have you updated the firmware to the latest version?  I've had the occasional spike on long cooks especially when doing greasy things like brisket, but nothing like that.

Late response from me, but thanks.

I actually can't connect yet because my router isn't dual band and apparently the grill wants a 2.4 connection.

But I contacted RecTeq again and they also suggested bumping up the feed rate, so I may try that on the next 180 cook.

The jerky came out great despite the temp swings.

 

 

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On 10/31/2023 at 12:48 PM, Frank Drebin said:

My uncle gave me a brand new Camp Chef he never used.  I usually use the egg at home or a stick burner at ranch.  Probably won't use Camp Chef for brisket, but will for ribs, pork and chicken.  Do people like the Camp Chef?

I'm just now catching this. I like Camp Chef and have two of them. I bought the Persuit 20 almost two years ago and it has performed without a hitch. I got the Woodwind Pro 24 about 6 months ago and haven't had any problems. The woodwind is cool because it lets you burn wood chunks above the firepot for more smoke flavor!

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16 minutes ago, Antidean said:

Going to try a ham for T-Day on my Rec-Teq. Searching online recipes/processes seem all over the place.

Was thinking of smoking a uncooked ham and doing the brine. 

Would welcome any advice from those who have done this before.

Recommend you search YouTube for a number of recipes to choose from.

I smoked a precooked spiral cut ham for Easter.  Sprinkled it liberally with my favorite rub, smoked at 225F, spritzing every 30 minutes with crab-apple juice.  No worries with  undercooked pork …

 

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PSA for Lumber Jack pellets. I researched a few but only used the recteq pellets so far.

These are inexpensive and so far so good. I used Hickory this past weekend and it came out great. 20# bags are $12.99 at Academy which is much cheaper than online.

They also claim to process whole tree logs rather than the leftover or recycled wood/sawdust some others do.

 

 

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Did a 25 lbs turkey yesterday.  Took 4 hours and 45 minutes at 300 degrees.  It was so big that I didn't have anything to brine it in that would fit in any of my fridges, so I injected with Tony's cajun butter and seasoned it with Tony's the day before and left it in the fridge overnight.  When the breast hit 145, I put it in a pan and poured 3 sticks of melted butter over it and covered it with foil and cooked it to 165.  It turned out damn good.  I think the flavor from brining is slightly better, but this way was still excellent and it's less of a hassle.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Did a beef tenderloin on Christmas which turned out amazing.

For New years, my wife brined a pork butt overnight and I smoked it to 195. It was like candy. I usually am not a fan of pork roasts but the outer inch tasted like ham. Moving my recteq to the new house next week and trying to figure out my outdoor kitchen situation.

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2 minutes ago, morehornsepower said:

yes yes yes.  Tell me the method for that bark!

Camp Chef pro series has the smoke box to put actual wood chunks. First 2 hours on 200 to get more smoke and bark. 250 til I hit the stall, then 275 to push through it. First time I don’t wrap during the cook, just put tallow under the brisket and foiled it to let it rest. Turned out really good 

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Recteq turning off "remote start" feature in the app. Reading between the lines it sounds like some sort of safety mandate, so I suspect other grill manufacturers with remote start will be turning it off as well. I'm not even sure how to turn my grill on without the app...

Recteq turning off app remote start feature

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I have a 590.  Don’t believe I’ve ever used remote start as it just seems like a potential for disaster not eyeballing that particular function.  I also shut down manually and unplug it for the peace of mind knowing the machine is OFF.

I do use the app to track my probe temps and cook temp (although I go out to check periodically to satisfy my need to pretend I’m doing something useful).  Also, I cook by internal temp, only.  Never believe a timer when instant read probes are available.

Anyway, I don’t see a problem with this intrusion … unless I’ve completely misunderstood the issue. 🤓

Success …

 

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Recteq turning off "remote start" feature in the app. Reading between the lines it sounds like some sort of safety mandate, so I suspect other grill manufacturers with remote start will be turning it off as well. I'm not even sure how to turn my grill on without the app...
Recteq turning off app remote start feature

Fucking government intruding into muh freedoms.

let me guess some idiot turned it on, forgot to take the cover off, and burned his house down
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1 hour ago, Dbeasy said:

I have a whole chicken I want to smoke next week on the tea 590. Thoughts on getting crispy skin?

I do wings these days because a whole chicken has too many variables.  But when I did, it was ..


•Spatchcock the bird to even out the thickness of the breasts and thighs to promote even cooking.  Much easier carving and no backbone to mess with.

•Dry brine it overnight, uncovered on paper towels, in the fridge.  Whatever brine you create, kosher salt is the key, along withcornstarch, will help dry the skin the most for crispiness.

•Preheat smoker to 325F.

•Pat the bird as dry as possible and insert a temp probe in each a breast and a thigh (not touching bone).

•Chicken doneness chart says breast @160F and thighs @175.  When one of those temps is reached, look for clear not pink running liquid … clear is done, pink isn’t.  That’ll be your decision 😎.

•If skin isn’t as crispy as desired, you can always remove the chicken and crank up the heat to finish it off.

•Let it rest under a loose foil tent for 10-15 minutes before carving.

Hope this gives you an idea.  Good Luck!

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19 hours ago, VirginiaLonghorn said:

•Dry brine it overnight, uncovered on paper towels, in the fridge.  Whatever brine you create, kosher salt is the key, along withcornstarch, will help dry the skin the most for crispiness.

I use Diamond kosher salt and baking powder at a ratio of 1/2 cup to 2 tablespoons.

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On 3/4/2024 at 6:12 PM, Hpara759 said:

Suppose to be getting this guy delivered Friday afternoon

Screenshot_20240304-181037.png

Great pellet grill.  Just make sure the heat plate is in correctly when you break it in.  Mine was delivered with the plate upside down (edges should tilt up) and I didn't realize it.  Could not figure out why the temperatures were so out of whack.  Customer support got me straightened out quickly and I'm sure with much snickering after I hung up.

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Just pulled the trigger on the Lone Star Grillz 36" pellet grill. That lead time is going to kill me but excited to get it in hand and smoking all the things. 
Pulled the trigger yesterday on the 40 inch stick burner. 18 weeks out! Those guys are printing money.
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