Stampede really unimpressed

[ajack]

Have been on BGE for more than a decade, bought recteq to see what the hype is. I have done 2 pork butts, turkey, burgers, chicken breasts and a ham. I would say on 10 hour pork butt cook smoke flavor is a 1/10 and the meat is overall not as tender as Egg. What are your suggestions? I used the recteq comp blend pellets.

The grill is really well made but the flavor is lacking...

 

[pungo]

Welcome to the forum...
Without details about your pork butt cook, it's hard to provide suggestions.
If done right, it should fall apart, so something is probably wrong with your procedure
Depending on the size, 10 hours seems too short.
Some people use a smoke tube for more smoke flavor, I don't bother for long low and slow cooks.

 

[ajack]

doing some reading here, maybe the RT pellets are not so good...?

 

[ajack]

Nothing is wrong with my procedure, have cooked hundreds of butts on eggs and weber kettles. smoked 5.5lb butt at 215 for a couple hours because it smokes more and then bumped to 225, at around 165 I wrapped in foil, increased temp to 250 until internal temp of 205, I checked probe tenderness from 195 on. Finally had to pull and eat, I did notice that parts of the butt were tough and others tender. I did this same cook two times with two different pork butts to make sure it wasn't an odd piece of meat.

 

[kstone113]

Your procedure sounds good. Whether there is much smoke flavor or not, your pork butt should be tender. The only time I've had the meat not as tender as I would like would be when I rush it.

Was this like a half pork butt? From my experience, I count on around 24 hours for butt porks and I've done quite a few. Even when I do carntias and I try to flatten the pork butt to cook faster, that is usually close to 10 hours so I'm not sure would a full pork butt(bone or no bone in) would only take 10 hours. With a green egg, sure, I could definitely see that. But again, your procedure seems sound so not sure where the disconnect is.

As far as smoke flavor, that is a complex answer. The pellet do make a difference but not that much. When I got my pellet grill, I was coming from just a vertical propane smoker which I just used chips and chunks for the smoke. But when I switched to pellet, I noticed a huge difference. So compare that to a green egg, that would be an even bigger difference.

Most that switch to pellet that are coming from any kind of smoke flavor they are used to notice a difference. I've tried lots of things to add smoke flavor and the good news is you can add it in for fairly cheap. The cheapest route is to get a smoke tube. But the key to the smoke tube is mix in wood chips in there. I personally like to use(only for the smoke tube because of the price per poud) royal oak charcoal pellets and mix in whatever wood chip flavor I'm going for. This does make a noticeable difference. There is other methods like a cold smoker by SmokeDaddy. I have the magnum PIG by smoke daddy which is like a mini chimney you add charcoal and wood chunks to and it blows in the smoke into the chamber. This route is fairly expensive(around $150 or so for what I have) and then you have to drill a hole in your grill. Some put wood chips on the heat flector which works also. I've found the easiest thing to do is the smoke tube with wood chips. The cold smoker somewhat defeats the purpose of the pellet grill because you have to keep feeding the cold smoker with wood and/or charcoal about every hour or so. But it does get the job done.

One other thing to note is as your grill gets seasoned, you will see more smoke come out of your chimney and will get more smoke flavor though it will still be subtle b/c it is pellet smoke which is just light in nature. But in the beginning with a new grill, a lot of that smoke will stick to the walls of the grill and not make it to the meat. This just takes time and cooking.


For now, I would go down the smoke tube route. I know I keep saying it but the key is the wood chips mixed in. I've found smoke tubes with just pellets doesn't make a big difference in the flavor of the smoke in the meat.


Hope this helps.

 

[Thor8594]

Pork Butt,
I usually smoke my PB at 180º (max smoke) for 4-5 hours then turn up the temp to 225º until it hits the stall (160º-165º). At that point I wrap and turn the heat to 275º and cook until it hits 190º-195º, the I take the butt out of the wrap and put it on the grate to set the bark and take it up to 203º. Put it back in the tray and wrap and put it in a cooler for 1-3 hours to rest.

You will find that a bunch of us who came from wood burners to the pellet realm have complained about the smoke infusion, it is real.

To me, it is learning the tool that you have to work with in order to give you the desired tasting proteins that we have all come to love. Every different smoker has its own idiosyncrasies and we must learn them, I learn with every cook and have had my bull for 2 years.

Good luck and please don't give up.

 

[ajack]

What are the best pellets?

 

[richman62]

Have been on BGE for more than a decade, bought recteq to see what the hype is. I have done 2 pork butts, turkey, burgers, chicken breasts and a ham. I would say on 10 hour pork butt cook smoke flavor is a 1/10 and the meat is overall not as tender as Egg. What are your suggestions? I used the recteq comp blend pellets.

The grill is really well made but the flavor is lacking...

A lot of good suggestions.
This will be long but I hope it helps. A pellet smoker will cook differently than a stick burner or BGE. Sometimes MUCH differently. Pellets will not, in general, give as much smoke flavor as your BGE, as pellet smokers burn way more efficiently. They produce a nearly perfect thin blue smoke so desired, but not tons of it.
Cooking times and procedures may have to change from what you are used to. The temp is generally more stable (even than a BGE which are phenomenal) so times and temps are different.
Brands of pellets makes a big difference, as does type of wood. some brands just don't taste as good or smoke as much. Check mad Scientist BBQ on Youtube. He did a review on different pellets and what he feels are best.
Now for my experience. I have been cooking on an RT680 since they first came out way back when. My pork butts are so good now that my family won't go out for BBQ anymore and just have me cook them up. I do inject and use good rubs.
I cook at 225 the whole time using quality Cherry pellets. I never change the temp, as I don't force the cook. When I had to replace my controller, the prime button went away and an xtra-smoke button took it's place. I'm not sure what the newer grills have, but on mine, it cycles the fan on and off to decrease the burn efficiency and make more smoke. Temp is still pretty accurate but not quite as tight.
After the first hour or two, I will spritz with a simple mix of worcestershire, soy sauce and water every hour. I smoke until internal temp is 160-165. Bark at this point looks pretty good with nice color. I double-wrap in foil, then back on the grill until it hits 205. I pull and vent the steam. At this point I go one of two ways:
Option 1. I put a little more rub and maybe some sauce in it, then back on the smoker for a half hour to firm up the bark. It then comes off and is loosely covered, then rests for maybe a half an hour.
Option 2. Just vent, tent and rest.
I have never had a bad or tough butt, and the flavor is incredible. The smoke is there but not heavy, which my family prefers.
I have wrapped in butcher paper which seems to give a firmer bark. I also have done without wrapping at all, but you have to be really patient. It will not be quite as moist, but it has a LOT of good, smokey bark.
One thing I want to try after seeing this for a brisket is to NOT preheat the smoker. Put it in cold and the let it sit while the smoker pumps out tons of smoke while it heats. Maybe this weekend!!
Hope this helps.
Rich

 

[Dr.Floyd]

You can try putting some wood chips directly on top of the heat deflector. That always works for adding some cherry smoke flavor to the pork butts I have cooked. I usually don't wrap at all and every one has come out juicy and tender. I do use extreme smoke 185 for the first couple of hours, then bump up to 225 overnight.

 

[whta]

@ajack, I too am a recent "strayer" from the BGE, and like you, am finding the smoke flavor "so-so" at best. I have done low and slow (be careful with the 40 - 140 in 4 hours), have used extra smoke tubes with pellets/chips, and used 3 different pellet brands so far, and nothing close to the egg.

On Thanksgiving day, I did a small 10-pounder in the BGE, and on the Saturday after, I did a 14-pounder in the 700. NO COMPARISON in taste and both were brined, seasoned, and final temps were exactly the same.

That being said, I am enjoying the extra space, the set-it-and-forget-it, changing the temp from my phone, and the lower temps for cream cheese .

I will continue on and experiment some more, doubt I will get rid of it. It is a very well-built smoker.

 

[Gonefishin]

I came from a Weber Smokey Mt a few years ago, I agree the flavor is much less with pellets. FWIW, I’ve used numerous brands and flavors of pellets, as well as a smoke tube, and playing with different low temps, will not near the flavor, at least to me. By the same token, I don’t have to fiddle with the fire on long cooks. For me that’s the trade off. The RT is also a hell of a lot easier to clean.

I‘ve considered getting another WSM for the times I want full flavor but have yet to do so.

 

[pungo]

I would say on 10 hour pork butt cook smoke flavor is a 1/10 and the meat is overall not as tender as Egg.

Something is wrong, I've done over 50 pork butts on my 590 and every one of them came out fall apart tender. Have you checked the cookbox temp with another measuring device, 10 hour seems way too short. Pork butt has to be one of the easiest meats to smoke, nearly foolproof...

It's no secret that pellet grills are not known for a heavy smoke flavor, they're known for their ease of operation, which many people will sacrifice some smoke flavor for the hands off operation.

If you wanted a heavy smoke flavor, getting a pellet grill was not the best choice

 

[cutplug]

Also If your procedure is to pull when still tough that could be an issue.
Also like brisket a long rest never hurts.
Pellets, I think for the most part folks get too worked up on different pellet brands and woods.
Get a smoke tube for more smoke or use the BGE.

 

[SmokeOCD]

@ajack - You didn't say you sold off your egg. Why not use the egg? I've had a dozen grills/smokers on the patio at once (numbers are going down). They all do different things better than others. Figure out what the recteq does well for you and use it for that. Continue using the BGE for pulled pork, the recteq will never go from 1/10 up to 10/10 for you.

 

[Motodad1776]

So weird, as I have done bar none some of my best BBQ on my 590, and yes I have owned about every BBQ system known to humanity......don't give up on it yet OP.

 

[Chief_USN_Ret]

As many here have already stated. If you are comparing the amount of "Smoke" flavor you get from Charcoal vs a wood Pellet, there will be a good amount of difference.
With Charcoal or Sticker Burners, you are getting more Ash/Char, than actual wood flavored smoke.
With a Pellet it is more nuanced.
On your pellet smoker, you can get more smoke by cooking lower for longer (180° - 205°), and then bump to 225 for finishing etc. or buy smoke smoke tubes. ALso always make sure you meat is COLD when going into the chamber full of smoke if you want to impart more smoke into it.

Also if you want more smoke flavor I would suggest you use a stronger flavored wood. Hickory, Mesquite, Pecan are some of the strongest and will give you more of the "Char" you might be used to coming from a BGE, but make no mistake Char is not Smoke.I use Bear Mountain Pellets (Hickory or Mesquite depending on what I am cooking).
I also use 2 smoke tubes if I am cooking a larger pieces (Pork Butt, Full packer brisket) to get even more smoke into it.

 

[spartanhuntr]

I, like you and WHTA, am a BGE owner. I am confused by the tenderness issueh. As you know that is all about how long the meat sits at a prescribed temperature. It has little to do with the cooker. If i put a pork butt in the oven i can get the same tenderness...i just need to cook it different. Low and slow tends to promote that because you can maintain the required internal temp a long period without over cooking. But again... any cooker that can do that (pellet/BGE even gasser indirect) should get to same tenderness.

On the smoke... you can do all of these tricks to get more smoke on your Recteq but it isnt a BGE. WHTA nailed it. The whole point of having both is I use my Rt700 for set it and mostly forget it and my BGE when i like to play with it a little more. Interesting for me it almost works out that i use my Rt700 for during the week cooks. Stuff i can set and prep before work (or the night before) Put on the Bull and then pull it at dinner time for family (while working all day). With my BGE it is weekend fun.

I will say with the super long cooks i dont see the difference as much. Brisket/butts... etc. where i cook 12+ hours it isnt as different from the BGE. But where i see a huge difference is 2 hour cooks... chops.. steaks.. etc. btw... when i use the tube (which i rarely to anymore) i would put it on for the last couple of hours of the cook. Fill the tube...light it and just let it sit there during finish.

Keep playing with it. But the only advice is just accept the pellet smoker has a different purpose. I dont think it is ever going to be better in flavor than my BGE.

 

[Crubos]

Nothing is wrong with my procedure, have cooked hundreds of butts on eggs and weber kettles. smoked 5.5lb butt at 215 for a couple hours because it smokes more and then bumped to 225, at around 165 I wrapped in foil, increased temp to 250 until internal temp of 205, I checked probe tenderness from 195 on. Finally had to pull and eat, I did notice that parts of the butt were tough and others tender. I did this same cook two times with two different pork butts to make sure it wasn't an odd piece of meat.

Good morning,
Your technique works for your other cookers but not for a pellet. Your technique needs to change for using a pellet. Almost all my large proteins are overnight cooks. My recipe is as follows, trim and season, let rest for about 6 hours in refrigerator, put on at 180°, it will take about 10-12 hours to get to 160°-170°. Spritz if you want to. Wrap and kick smoker up to 275°. They will be done in 2-3 hours. For pork butts I pull at a number, 203°. Place in a dry ice chest for 2-4 hours.

 

[dosmas2xs]

Have been on BGE for more than a decade, bought recteq to see what the hype is. I have done 2 pork butts, turkey, burgers, chicken breasts and a ham. I would say on 10 hour pork butt cook smoke flavor is a 1/10 and the meat is overall not as tender as Egg. What are your suggestions? I used the recteq comp blend pellets.

The grill is really well made but the flavor is lacking...

You're comparing apples to oranges, is problem#1. Pellet smokers will inevitably be less smoke then an offset, green egg, etc and hence why people add a smoke tube when they want that smoke flavor punch. Reqtec is just a quality PELLET smoker with an awesome warranty and when compared to a camp chef, trager PB holds temps much better

 

[Wslayer]

What are the best pellets?

Lumberjack hands down. Like the Bear Mountain but they seem to be cut longer. I have had lags in temps mainly because takes some doing to auger them in. Emptied the pellets and no issues since. Gave them to friend who runs Traeger