Based on the recommendations on this thread, I pulled the trigger and got a RecTec RT-700. As promised, I'm going to share my experiences thus far, which involve buying it, assembling it and an initial smoke of some pork ribs.
tl;dr - Great smoker, solid build and newbie friendly. Some minor issues that reflect a need for better quality control at wherever these things are fabricated. Company is very customer-oriented and easy to get a hold of.
Value - A
For $1,895, I got the smoker, searing kit, folding front shelf, cover, competition cart, 200 pounds of pellets, a couple of cooking mats, and a t-shirt. Currently, the "gold" package at $1,999 is pretty close, with the addition of a smoke box and no t-shirt.
Delivery / Fulfillment - B
Free shipping via freight. Only downside is that the freight company has scheduled a morning delivery but, come to find out, residential is always end of the day. Ended up missing a day of work because of that. The grill and accessories came on a pallet with no visible damage. The competition cart was back ordered. There was a letter taped onto the pallet stating as such, but it was on the "back" of the pallet, I didn't see it, and called RecTec in a panic. Anyways, got the competition cart a couple of weeks later, all good. Packaging is top-notch. Thick cardboard protects the grill very well.
Smoker Quality of Materials and Construction - A
The RT-700 is built like a tank. Thick stainless steel which should stand up to the elements well. The pellet hopper, auger, fire box are solid. The lid is thick enough to keep heat in but lifts easily and fits well over the barrel.
Assembly - B
Assembly is relatively straight-forward, with the exception of the competition cart, see below. Definitely a two-person job, but you don't need linebackers to pull it off. Printed manuals would be kind of nice - the videos are kind of a pain to deal with, and you can print the manual, but the PDF is oriented to the screen, with black backgrounds and such, and seems like it would take a lot of ink to print. Nitpicking, I know, it's the 21st century, we don't print manuals any more...
Competition Cart - C
The competition cart was the most frustrating part of this whole exercise. RecTec has a video on assembling the cart where the pieces basically fall into place and screwed together with less effort than buttering bread. I would have liked to have seen them do that with the cart parts I got. The side panels were bent enough that it took a decent chunk of force to hold them together and let the screws get things mostly aligned. The shell that holds up the smoker was visibly bent on the edge. I eventually got it together, but when we got to the point where we mounted the smoker on the cart, it got painful. After about 30 minutes of wrestling the the unit (pushing, shoving, etc.) we got all but one bolt to go in, and ended up using a smaller bolt where that went. The parts of the cart itself are powder coated but there were lots of nicks and scratches. I'm pretty sure I'm going to need to go over it again in the not-too-distant future with some touch-up spray paint or something. The cart felt like it didn't get built with anywhere near the quality control of the smoker. Can't say 100% for sure, but I'm pretty sure these issues were not related to the packaging or shipment of the cart, but handling before it was packed.
Front Shelf - Incomplete
We mounted the front shelf and it took a few seconds to figure out what was wrong. The bull was upside down. We called RecTec, sent a picture, and they're sending me out another shelf.
Pellets - B
Got 200 lb. of pellets with the package I got. The bags seemed like they had been sitting around a while (faded, etc.) and one bag of pellets was taped together with shipping tape. Aesthetics aside, the pellets work great on my first cook, smelled wonderful and imparted a pronounced, but not overpowering, flavor. Smoke was nice and "blue".
Cooking - A
This is my first time using a dedicated smoker. I followed the instructions for the initial run (400 degrees for an hour with a few ounces of pellets thrown into the fire box). Controls are easy to use. One of the reasons I chose this smoker was its reputation for consistent temperature and efficient pellet usage, and the RT-700 delivered. For my first cook attempt, I got a rack of pork ribs and used the 3-2-1 ribs recipe on RecTec's site; substituting honey-mustard (no yellow sitting around) and my own rub. I think they turned out really well, and the family agreed. I was able to use the WiFi app to monitor the smoker, although I really didn't have to mess with it much.
Customer Service - A
Humans pick up the phone, and they're empowered to help and pleasant to deal with. Company seems very customer-focused.
Overall, happy with my purchase. Thanks again to this community!
tl;dr - Great smoker, solid build and newbie friendly. Some minor issues that reflect a need for better quality control at wherever these things are fabricated. Company is very customer-oriented and easy to get a hold of.
Value - A
For $1,895, I got the smoker, searing kit, folding front shelf, cover, competition cart, 200 pounds of pellets, a couple of cooking mats, and a t-shirt. Currently, the "gold" package at $1,999 is pretty close, with the addition of a smoke box and no t-shirt.
Delivery / Fulfillment - B
Free shipping via freight. Only downside is that the freight company has scheduled a morning delivery but, come to find out, residential is always end of the day. Ended up missing a day of work because of that. The grill and accessories came on a pallet with no visible damage. The competition cart was back ordered. There was a letter taped onto the pallet stating as such, but it was on the "back" of the pallet, I didn't see it, and called RecTec in a panic. Anyways, got the competition cart a couple of weeks later, all good. Packaging is top-notch. Thick cardboard protects the grill very well.
Smoker Quality of Materials and Construction - A
The RT-700 is built like a tank. Thick stainless steel which should stand up to the elements well. The pellet hopper, auger, fire box are solid. The lid is thick enough to keep heat in but lifts easily and fits well over the barrel.
Assembly - B
Assembly is relatively straight-forward, with the exception of the competition cart, see below. Definitely a two-person job, but you don't need linebackers to pull it off. Printed manuals would be kind of nice - the videos are kind of a pain to deal with, and you can print the manual, but the PDF is oriented to the screen, with black backgrounds and such, and seems like it would take a lot of ink to print. Nitpicking, I know, it's the 21st century, we don't print manuals any more...
Competition Cart - C
The competition cart was the most frustrating part of this whole exercise. RecTec has a video on assembling the cart where the pieces basically fall into place and screwed together with less effort than buttering bread. I would have liked to have seen them do that with the cart parts I got. The side panels were bent enough that it took a decent chunk of force to hold them together and let the screws get things mostly aligned. The shell that holds up the smoker was visibly bent on the edge. I eventually got it together, but when we got to the point where we mounted the smoker on the cart, it got painful. After about 30 minutes of wrestling the the unit (pushing, shoving, etc.) we got all but one bolt to go in, and ended up using a smaller bolt where that went. The parts of the cart itself are powder coated but there were lots of nicks and scratches. I'm pretty sure I'm going to need to go over it again in the not-too-distant future with some touch-up spray paint or something. The cart felt like it didn't get built with anywhere near the quality control of the smoker. Can't say 100% for sure, but I'm pretty sure these issues were not related to the packaging or shipment of the cart, but handling before it was packed.
Front Shelf - Incomplete
We mounted the front shelf and it took a few seconds to figure out what was wrong. The bull was upside down. We called RecTec, sent a picture, and they're sending me out another shelf.
Pellets - B
Got 200 lb. of pellets with the package I got. The bags seemed like they had been sitting around a while (faded, etc.) and one bag of pellets was taped together with shipping tape. Aesthetics aside, the pellets work great on my first cook, smelled wonderful and imparted a pronounced, but not overpowering, flavor. Smoke was nice and "blue".
Cooking - A
This is my first time using a dedicated smoker. I followed the instructions for the initial run (400 degrees for an hour with a few ounces of pellets thrown into the fire box). Controls are easy to use. One of the reasons I chose this smoker was its reputation for consistent temperature and efficient pellet usage, and the RT-700 delivered. For my first cook attempt, I got a rack of pork ribs and used the 3-2-1 ribs recipe on RecTec's site; substituting honey-mustard (no yellow sitting around) and my own rub. I think they turned out really well, and the family agreed. I was able to use the WiFi app to monitor the smoker, although I really didn't have to mess with it much.
Customer Service - A
Humans pick up the phone, and they're empowered to help and pleasant to deal with. Company seems very customer-focused.
Overall, happy with my purchase. Thanks again to this community!
