a BIG box showed up in the garage (rec-tec)

timtimmay · May 9, 2015

I was pretty happy to find this when I got home yesterday

.

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timtimmay
May 9, 2015

I did get a chance to unbox and assemble the unit.

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timtimmay
May 9, 2015

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timtimmay
May 9, 2015

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timtimmay
May 9, 2015

Overall I'm really impressed with the quality of the grill. One of the brackets for a leg was welded a little crooked, so there was some extra effort to get that leg on straight. The smokestack mount came a little bent as well.

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timtimmay
May 9, 2015

Other than those two minor items, everything was in good shape and easy to assemble. The biggest disappointment is it just won't stop raining here so I haven't been able to cook on it yet. My rain gauge has over 10" recorded this month and counting. I'll be grilling some steak as soon as it stops and hopefully smoking something next weekend.

seenred · May 9, 2015

Nice Tim! Looks good...congrats! Now get it dirty! :biggrin:

Red

timtimmay · May 10, 2015

Man as soon as the wx cooperates. Flash flood warning, tornado warning, river flood warning, winter storm warning. That's just the last 48 hours!

colorthumb · May 10, 2015

Mine showed up also.. mines smoking a butt and some chicken as we speak. It's 85 degrees outside.. :)

rmmurray · May 10, 2015

That's fantastic, I'm happy for you. Cannot wait to see it in action.

gary s · May 10, 2015

Nice !!!

Gary

timtimmay · May 10, 2015

Man as soon as the wx cooperates

colorthumb said:
Mine showed up also.. mines smoking a butt and some chicken as we speak. It's 85 degrees outside.. :)

Nice! we'll have to keep in touch to see how they are going. The snow left but its blowing 20-30mph so I didn't fire it up. I"m hoping I can at least cook a steak on the darn thing in the next few days. Let me know how the butt and chicken goes Thumbs Up

colorthumb · May 11, 2015

holy smokes. . Had 7 people over and 7 said it was the best.

The gd pork butt took all damn day. 13 plus hours for a 7 lb butt. I pulled it. Wrapped it in foil and 2 big towels and put in the ice chest to rest. I'll get up in a few hours. And put in the fridge . Is 1045 pm.I'm in bed typing but I'm loving this rectec.. gnight all..

gary s · May 11, 2015

Nice Job, Looks great

Gary

frog1369 · May 11, 2015

TimTimmay said:
Man as soon as the wx cooperates. Flash flood warning, tornado warning, river flood warning, winter storm warning. That's just the last 48 hours!

Just so you know, I've cooked on the Rec-Tec in all of that plus below zero temps, blizzard conditions, high winds and various other stuff, it has never let me down. Plug it in and start cooking!

timtimmay · May 11, 2015

frog1369 said:
Just so you know, I've cooked on the Rec-Tec in all of that plus below zero temps, blizzard conditions, high winds and various other stuff, it has never let me down. Plug it in and start cooking!

Thanks good to know. I'll cook in anything but wind (unless I've made promises I have to keep). In my stick burner days I hated the difficulty the wind added. I still don't like to smoke when its too windy because inevatibly I somehow manage to get grease stains somewhere. That and I just hate wind.

Things are looking better for a break in tonight when I get home though!

frog1369 · May 11, 2015

TimTimmay said:
Thanks good to know. I'll cook in anything but wind (unless I've made promises I have to keep). In my stick burner days I hated the difficulty the wind added. I still don't like to smoke when its too windy because inevatibly I somehow manage to get grease stains somewhere. That and I just hate wind.

Things are looking better for a break in tonight when I get home though!

Nice thing is it's not a stick burner so the wind adds very little difficulty. Once you get used to how well it works you'll cook on it all the time. Seriously, we did ribs up here one weekend, temp was minus 5 degrees, wind chill was 35-45 below zero with the wind. It was so cold the auger motor didn't turn when I started it, I had to reach under and spin the fan on the auger motor a few times to get it to go. I figured it wouldn't keep running, but it did, got up to 245 and held it there through a complete rib cook without issue.

timtimmay · May 11, 2015

frog1369 said:
Nice thing is it's not a stick burner so the wind adds very little difficulty. Once you get used to how well it works you'll cook on it all the time. Seriously, we did ribs up here one weekend, temp was minus 5 degrees, wind chill was 35-45 below zero with the wind. It was so cold the auger motor didn't turn when I started it, I had to reach under and spin the fan on the auger motor a few times to get it to go. I figured it wouldn't keep running, but it did, got up to 245 and held it there through a complete rib cook without issue.

That's really good news. I tend to do most of my longer smokes in the middle of the winter when there isn't anything else to do. What do you think about custom fit blanket for winter smoking, worth it?

frog1369 · May 11, 2015

TimTimmay said:
That's really good news. I tend to do most of my longer smokes in the middle of the winter when there isn't anything else to do. What do you think about custom fit blanket for winter smoking, worth it?

I'm still up in the air on that one. It covers the top only, leaves the bottom and sides open. I've never had a temp issue so I know I don't need it, I suppose it cuts down on pellet usage but honestly I didn't really see much difference there, also. I was only cooking maybe twice a a week in winter so if it was every day it may make enough difference in pellet cost to make it worth it.

timtimmay · May 11, 2015

Someone at the office is giving away moving blankets, I might grab one just for the cold cold smokes

timtimmay · May 12, 2015

I was able to break it in last night. I went with some round steak. Round steak is easy on the ego. If it goes well you can tell yourself how skilled you are getting good quality out of a tough cut like that. If it goes poorly, it's not your fault, what can you expect it's round steak!

The steaks were good for round steak. I didn't get good grill marks from the sear kit, I think I needed a longer warm up for that. They were tender for round steak and juicy. Overall I'm happy.

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timtimmay
May 12, 2015

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timtimmay
May 12, 2015

seenred · May 12, 2015

Looks great Tim...now your cooking! To maximize your cookers searing ability, you can play around with different setups to learn what works best for you. Here's what I do, and it really works good for me:

When I'm high-temp grilling/searing, like steaks or burgers, I remove the large grease tray (it acts as a heat shield). Then I put foil down in the bottom of the barrel and over the heat diffuser, to catch any grease drippings. I put the GrillGrates (searing grates) across the right side of the barrel...this seems to be the hotter side of the pit. Then I set the controller to 500* and wait until it reaches at least 450* (usually takes 10-15 minutes) before I put the steaks on. This setup gives me tender, juicy steaks with really pretty sear marks.

I think you've already checked out this thread...but just in case...you can see the setup I'm talking about in this thread:

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/183786/couple-of-quick-ribeyes-on-the-rec-tec-w-qview

Red

unclebubbas bbq · May 12, 2015

Very cool! you're gonna love it. Great product from a great company, they back their product 100%

timtimmay · May 12, 2015

Hmmmm, not sure I want to go to the trouble of pulling the drip tray, but I may just give it a shot next time steaks on the menu.

seenred · May 12, 2015

TimTimmay said:
Hmmmm, not sure I want to go to the trouble of pulling the drip tray, but I may just give it a shot next time steaks on the menu.

Not really much trouble. Takes me about 2 minutes to pull out the grease tray, lay down some foil, and put the GrillGrates in place. But, just because it's what works best for me doesn't mean it's what you'll prefer...heck you may get great results with no setup changes at all. The beauty of cooking for yourself is you get to try different methods and land on what you like best. Give it a try if you want...can't hurt to see if you think it makes a difference.

Experimenting is half the fun IMO!

Good luck and happy smoking!
Red

a BIG box showed up in the garage (rec-tec)

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