- May 17, 2016
- 14
- 33
I bought a RecTec Trailblazer a couple days ago and thought I'd share my initial thoughts and results in case anyone was interested. I'm coming from an MES 30 that I had for about 2.5-3 years and finally had the heating element die for a frame of reference.
Ordering
The process was super easy and fast. I got the whole thing (grill and accessories) a mere 2 days after I ordered it. That includes my last minute addition that I sent via the generic contact form on their website. They called me to confirm what I wanted and added it to the order. Easy and seamless with real human interaction. Great.
Building
I think putting it together took all of 30 minutes from cutting open the box to the end. It's just a few pieces that you have to screw together to attach the lid. The rest is just placing in things like the drip tray, grate, etc.
Ease of Use/App
The app is easy to get things set up and get the Trailblazer connected to your WiFi. To me this is much more useful than the Bluetooth apps/thermometers I've had in the past. There's no range limitations and I can check on it and even adjust things if I need to while I go get other things done. It's easy to use and relatively straight-forward, though I think there are too many screens between controlling the smoker and the opening screen. Most of it is social media stuff that I don't care about. There's some "sure, I see why it's there stuff" that's kinda useful like USDA min temp recommendations, etc. The feature that I think is really a lost opportunity is that there is a whole section of recipes. That's great! Then every single recipe on there, even the sides, use some proprietary rub/spice blend from RecTec (not great). Overall, I like the Wifi functionality, the ease of set up and the actual controls for the smoker are nice and functional when you get there, there's just some bloat and lost opportunity to it.
The opening screen
Smoker Controls
Temp Chart
Smoking
The large hopper is a serious step up from my MES which, initially, I had to refill the chips for every hour to hour and a half. That was....not enjoyable. I'd used an AMNPS in the MES, but it was inconsistent how it burned itself out way too fast or would stop burning and was overall just inconsistent even when I tried to manage the airflow identically each time. I eventually bought their cold smoker and used that as a hopper which bought me a few hours between refills.
The RecTec holds enough pellets to definitely finish the ribs I made today (7 hours, I don't wrap them and just let them cook with an occasional spritz). It maintained temp (225F) the whole time and there was a good amount of smoke while not being overpowering. For reference, it was lightly raining and about 50F out most of the time (though under my deck which water does get through, but probably limits it). It was an easy experience that could have been relatively set it and forget it (though I interrupted the cook a few times to spritz the ribs and add in the sides. Overall, I was thrilled with the experience and it's definitely a step up from my MES. The food tasted PHENOMENAL and there really was a difference from the old electric. My wife and I were blown away by everything.
I do think it is a little smaller than I had anticipated. I had thought that, with the second shelf, I'd be able to get 2 side trays (the trays are approx. 10" x 10'" underneath and 2 racks on the upper shelf. I could not because of the legs on the shelf. In hindsight, that worked out because if the mac n cheese had been in there the full 3 hours I had planned, it probably would have been too smoky for me. At 1.5 hours it was perfect. I think the Trailblazer probably holds 2 pork butts or 1 brisket or 3 racks on the bottom, base shelf. The upper deck essentially allows you to add a side tray.
The Cook
Ribs
I made 2 racks of ribs. I used my usual pork rub (still had a bunch from the last batch I made). I smoked them for 7 hours total at 225F and they were nearly perfect. They had a little tear to them still and weren't falling off the bone which was the goal. I used the Pit Boss Competition pellets because my Lowe's had them and they were quick to get a hold of. I have other pellets on the way, but these actually worked out great. I place a chunk of very rinsed, very moist fruit wood (apple in this case) under the ribs to arch them. I have no idea if it really adds any moisture or flavor, but the idea seemed nice. I spritzed the ribs every 2 hours(ish) with a combo of apple cider vinegar, the rub and Tony Chachere's seasoning. The final 45 mins or so, I painted on a light coat of BBQ sauce (Sticky Fingers Carolina Sweet). They cooked for about 4 hours on their own on the bottom rack. After that point, I moved them up on the second shelf so that I could add in the sides.
Mac N Cheese (no boil)
This was AMAZING. My wife couldn't stop eating it. The mac is a variation on a no boil recipe I found on here that I modified to my own liking. I'm not a measurements kinda guy, but can give you some rough amounts on the ingredients.
1lb box of noodles
6ish cups of milk
1-1.25 sticks of butter
1lb of sharp cheddar
1/2 tub of ricotta cheese
1/4 large bag of mozzarella
garlic powder
coarse black pepper
white pepper (half the amount of black pepper)
Tony Chachere's seasoning
Cayenne pepper powder
Salt
- Put it all in a tray and mix it together. Make sure the noodles are all submerged.
- Put it in the smoker under the ribs at 225 for 1.5 hours. Mixed it at 45 mins to allow more smoke to infiltrate (whether that's a real thing or not, I don't know)
- There is A LOT of grease and butter fat at the top of it after the smoking period that makes it seem super thin. Finishing it in the oven allowed that to solidify up
- Finished it off for another 1.5 hours in the oven at 350 to "crisp" it up and solidify
- This filled and almost overflowed the 10" x 10" tray I was using. In the future, I would probably use a bigger tray or make less of it.
Beans
The beans were also really good, though a little more smoky flavor might have been nice. They were only in the smoker for an hour or so though. I used:
- 1x 28oz can of Bush's BBQ baked beans
- 1x 22oz can of Bush's Honey Chipotle beans
- 1x 16oz can of Bush's mixed chili beans (drained and rinsed)
- You could probably just add a second can of this and be just fine if you wanted more beans. There was a lot of liquid in the beans
- 1x Vidalia onion
- 1x jalapeno pepper (if I wasn't feeding my toddler, might have added more spice)
- 1x green pepper
- 1 cup(ish) brown sugar
- 2 cups(ish) sweet and spicy BBQ sauce
- garlic powder
- coarse black pepper
- cayenne pepper powder
- Tony Chachere's seasoning
- salt
- large squirt of honey (there's a decent of sweetness to this, if you like the pineapple thing, I would drop the honey)
I smoked it for an hour and then heated it up in the oven some more because I just started running out of time. I would probably have finished it with 3 hours in the smoker if I'd had the choice.
Final Product
This was, by far, the best smoked meal I've ever made. I think the RecTec really pushed it over the top. The ribs, in particular, are the part I give the Trailblazer the most credit for and they were amazing. There was a perfect smokiness to them that had, in hindsight, just really been missing from my MES. I'm sold and can't wait to toss in a butt or a brisket next! I think, in hindsight, I might have stepped up to the next size just in case if I had to do it over again. It was going to be another $300-400 though. As it stands, this will meet most of my needs. I don't usually smoke my sides and just smoke meat. This can easily handle a brisket, 2 pork butts or 3 racks of ribs which is more than enough to feed my family of 4 (2yr old and 2 mo old included) even when they start eating more. I had to donate a large portion of this to my neighbors even after leftovers were portioned out.
Ordering
The process was super easy and fast. I got the whole thing (grill and accessories) a mere 2 days after I ordered it. That includes my last minute addition that I sent via the generic contact form on their website. They called me to confirm what I wanted and added it to the order. Easy and seamless with real human interaction. Great.
Building
I think putting it together took all of 30 minutes from cutting open the box to the end. It's just a few pieces that you have to screw together to attach the lid. The rest is just placing in things like the drip tray, grate, etc.
Ease of Use/App
The app is easy to get things set up and get the Trailblazer connected to your WiFi. To me this is much more useful than the Bluetooth apps/thermometers I've had in the past. There's no range limitations and I can check on it and even adjust things if I need to while I go get other things done. It's easy to use and relatively straight-forward, though I think there are too many screens between controlling the smoker and the opening screen. Most of it is social media stuff that I don't care about. There's some "sure, I see why it's there stuff" that's kinda useful like USDA min temp recommendations, etc. The feature that I think is really a lost opportunity is that there is a whole section of recipes. That's great! Then every single recipe on there, even the sides, use some proprietary rub/spice blend from RecTec (not great). Overall, I like the Wifi functionality, the ease of set up and the actual controls for the smoker are nice and functional when you get there, there's just some bloat and lost opportunity to it.
The opening screen
Smoker Controls
Temp Chart
Smoking
The large hopper is a serious step up from my MES which, initially, I had to refill the chips for every hour to hour and a half. That was....not enjoyable. I'd used an AMNPS in the MES, but it was inconsistent how it burned itself out way too fast or would stop burning and was overall just inconsistent even when I tried to manage the airflow identically each time. I eventually bought their cold smoker and used that as a hopper which bought me a few hours between refills.
The RecTec holds enough pellets to definitely finish the ribs I made today (7 hours, I don't wrap them and just let them cook with an occasional spritz). It maintained temp (225F) the whole time and there was a good amount of smoke while not being overpowering. For reference, it was lightly raining and about 50F out most of the time (though under my deck which water does get through, but probably limits it). It was an easy experience that could have been relatively set it and forget it (though I interrupted the cook a few times to spritz the ribs and add in the sides. Overall, I was thrilled with the experience and it's definitely a step up from my MES. The food tasted PHENOMENAL and there really was a difference from the old electric. My wife and I were blown away by everything.
I do think it is a little smaller than I had anticipated. I had thought that, with the second shelf, I'd be able to get 2 side trays (the trays are approx. 10" x 10'" underneath and 2 racks on the upper shelf. I could not because of the legs on the shelf. In hindsight, that worked out because if the mac n cheese had been in there the full 3 hours I had planned, it probably would have been too smoky for me. At 1.5 hours it was perfect. I think the Trailblazer probably holds 2 pork butts or 1 brisket or 3 racks on the bottom, base shelf. The upper deck essentially allows you to add a side tray.
The Cook
Ribs
I made 2 racks of ribs. I used my usual pork rub (still had a bunch from the last batch I made). I smoked them for 7 hours total at 225F and they were nearly perfect. They had a little tear to them still and weren't falling off the bone which was the goal. I used the Pit Boss Competition pellets because my Lowe's had them and they were quick to get a hold of. I have other pellets on the way, but these actually worked out great. I place a chunk of very rinsed, very moist fruit wood (apple in this case) under the ribs to arch them. I have no idea if it really adds any moisture or flavor, but the idea seemed nice. I spritzed the ribs every 2 hours(ish) with a combo of apple cider vinegar, the rub and Tony Chachere's seasoning. The final 45 mins or so, I painted on a light coat of BBQ sauce (Sticky Fingers Carolina Sweet). They cooked for about 4 hours on their own on the bottom rack. After that point, I moved them up on the second shelf so that I could add in the sides.
Mac N Cheese (no boil)
This was AMAZING. My wife couldn't stop eating it. The mac is a variation on a no boil recipe I found on here that I modified to my own liking. I'm not a measurements kinda guy, but can give you some rough amounts on the ingredients.
1lb box of noodles
6ish cups of milk
1-1.25 sticks of butter
1lb of sharp cheddar
1/2 tub of ricotta cheese
1/4 large bag of mozzarella
garlic powder
coarse black pepper
white pepper (half the amount of black pepper)
Tony Chachere's seasoning
Cayenne pepper powder
Salt
- Put it all in a tray and mix it together. Make sure the noodles are all submerged.
- Put it in the smoker under the ribs at 225 for 1.5 hours. Mixed it at 45 mins to allow more smoke to infiltrate (whether that's a real thing or not, I don't know)
- There is A LOT of grease and butter fat at the top of it after the smoking period that makes it seem super thin. Finishing it in the oven allowed that to solidify up
- Finished it off for another 1.5 hours in the oven at 350 to "crisp" it up and solidify
- This filled and almost overflowed the 10" x 10" tray I was using. In the future, I would probably use a bigger tray or make less of it.
Beans
The beans were also really good, though a little more smoky flavor might have been nice. They were only in the smoker for an hour or so though. I used:
- 1x 28oz can of Bush's BBQ baked beans
- 1x 22oz can of Bush's Honey Chipotle beans
- 1x 16oz can of Bush's mixed chili beans (drained and rinsed)
- You could probably just add a second can of this and be just fine if you wanted more beans. There was a lot of liquid in the beans
- 1x Vidalia onion
- 1x jalapeno pepper (if I wasn't feeding my toddler, might have added more spice)
- 1x green pepper
- 1 cup(ish) brown sugar
- 2 cups(ish) sweet and spicy BBQ sauce
- garlic powder
- coarse black pepper
- cayenne pepper powder
- Tony Chachere's seasoning
- salt
- large squirt of honey (there's a decent of sweetness to this, if you like the pineapple thing, I would drop the honey)
I smoked it for an hour and then heated it up in the oven some more because I just started running out of time. I would probably have finished it with 3 hours in the smoker if I'd had the choice.
Final Product
This was, by far, the best smoked meal I've ever made. I think the RecTec really pushed it over the top. The ribs, in particular, are the part I give the Trailblazer the most credit for and they were amazing. There was a perfect smokiness to them that had, in hindsight, just really been missing from my MES. I'm sold and can't wait to toss in a butt or a brisket next! I think, in hindsight, I might have stepped up to the next size just in case if I had to do it over again. It was going to be another $300-400 though. As it stands, this will meet most of my needs. I don't usually smoke my sides and just smoke meat. This can easily handle a brisket, 2 pork butts or 3 racks of ribs which is more than enough to feed my family of 4 (2yr old and 2 mo old included) even when they start eating more. I had to donate a large portion of this to my neighbors even after leftovers were portioned out.
