RT-1250 1250 new, pros and cons

[Narcosis5560]

Purchased a new 1250 a few months ago. There is a lot to love about it and a few cons.
Pro's
Overall quality an easy A.
Wifi is nice, had trouble at first but figured it out pretty quick.
I have done multiple long cooks and love the size of pellet hopper.
Second shelf is nice but also causes limitations. I'll add it as a Pro now but you will also see it in the con category.
Cooking grates are heavy duty, easy to clean and will last forever
Customer service A+, I had a horn that was stripped out and angled. One email with some pictures sent and they had a new had a new one at my house within a few days.
Maintenance, the set up makes clean up very easy. I followed the advise on the break in video and using foil on your drip plate makes it even easier. Take the advice and use foil on your drip tray.
App is simple to use and has everything I need.
My unit holds temperatures perfectly. I have had it up over 700 degrees when turned all the way up.
Meat probes are accurate and reliable. They are always within a degree or 2 of my thermoworks, thermometer.
Outer shelf is very useful and sturdy.



Cons
I wish they included written instructions for assemble with the unit. I'm an in-betweener when it come to technology and having to get everything online. I didn't care much for have to watch and pause videos or constantly having to sign back in to go to the next step.
Assembly nuts and bolts, be careful they break easy.
The upper shelf and main reason I went with the 1250. Second shelf is fine if you are just doing ribs, chicken or meats with a lower profile. If you are doing brisket, pork butts or other higher profile meats the second shelf is useless in its current configuration. Not being able to see the unit in person I made the wrong choice for my particular situation.

Improvements I would like to see:
Hopper lid, raise the hinge flush with hopper so that pellets would fall in when closing. (I know, not the end of the world but the hoopers are narrow and I have yet to fill without spilling some.)
Second rack, make it in two pieces, weld a couple of supports to the center that would sit on the lower grate. Something similar to how second cooking rack fit onto egg style smokers.
I like adding additional smoke by using a pellet smoke tube on cooks, configuring some type of holder on the side so its not taking up space on the grate would be awesome.

Overall I love it and recommend Recteq over all the others out there.

 

[C. Keeper]

Purchased a new 1250 a few months ago. There is a lot to love about it and a few cons.
Pro's
Overall quality an easy A.
Wifi is nice, had trouble at first but figured it out pretty quick.
I have done multiple long cooks and love the size of pellet hopper.
Second shelf is nice but also causes limitations. I'll add it as a Pro now but you will also see it in the con category.
Cooking grates are heavy duty, easy to clean and will last forever
Customer service A+, I had a horn that was stripped out and angled. One email with some pictures sent and they had a new had a new one at my house within a few days.
Maintenance, the set up makes clean up very easy. I followed the advise on the break in video and using foil on your drip plate makes it even easier. Take the advice and use foil on your drip tray.
App is simple to use and has everything I need.
My unit holds temperatures perfectly. I have had it up over 700 degrees when turned all the way up.
Meat probes are accurate and reliable. They are always within a degree or 2 of my thermoworks, thermometer.
Outer shelf is very useful and sturdy.



Cons
I wish they included written instructions for assemble with the unit. I'm an in-betweener when it come to technology and having to get everything online. I didn't care much for have to watch and pause videos or constantly having to sign back in to go to the next step.
Assembly nuts and bolts, be careful they break easy.
The upper shelf and main reason I went with the 1250. Second shelf is fine if you are just doing ribs, chicken or meats with a lower profile. If you are doing brisket, pork butts or other higher profile meats the second shelf is useless in its current configuration. Not being able to see the unit in person I made the wrong choice for my particular situation.

Improvements I would like to see:
Hopper lid, raise the hinge flush with hopper so that pellets would fall in when closing. (I know, not the end of the world but the hoopers are narrow and I have yet to fill without spilling some.)
Second rack, make it in two pieces, weld a couple of supports to the center that would sit on the lower grate. Something similar to how second cooking rack fit onto egg style smokers.
I like adding additional smoke by using a pellet smoke tube on cooks, configuring some type of holder on the side so its not taking up space on the grate would be awesome.

Overall I love it and recommend Recteq over all the others out there.

Thanks for taking the time to post your findings. Most importantly, welcome to the forum!

 

[Narcosis5560]

Thank you, long time lurker, first time poster..

 

[kstone113]

I like your smoke tube idea. I don't think any of the pellet grills do this. But like an area with with plenty of airflow to keep it going.

If the 1250 was available when I got my Bull, I would of done the 1250 no doubt. But man, inflation (from Biden - sorry, just true) must have them raising prices. When I got my Bull (3 years in May) it was $1,199. Now I believe that's up to $1,499 so yeah, that's a lot!!! But only $300 more for the 1250 is fairly reasonable for what you get if that's what you want.

When I got my bull, I paid the extra for the comp cart(this was before they did the angled legs so I didn't like how unsturdy it was). And back when I got my bull, they really didn't do any kind of deals. I did buy the bull together(we both got one) with my dad so we talked customer service into free grill covers for us both. $80 value for us both. I also got the front shelf. I believe just the comp cart and the shelf are close to $300.

 

[BNeal]

I agree with the OP's assessment on the directions - there should be a printed version in the box. Also, screws they provide are very soft, so the phillips head strips very easily.

My only other complaint would be with the cover. Once you get it on, it's nice and snug, but it really should come with a zipper - I would pay extra for the cover if they did.

 

[Texas_TL]

I agree with printed instructions and would have liked the parts to be better labeled than they were.

I like the idea for the smoke tube, but the few times I've used mine, it was no issue to snug it up against the left side out of the way.

As for the cover, I'm currently using a Sam's Club cover that I had purchased a few years ago for a different grill and then never used. That same cover is still on Sam's website for $25 and I will likely replace this one with another one of the same kind whenever the time comes. It goes on / off easily, fits snugly at the bottom with the drawstrings, and so far (only had my grill since Nov) has had no issues with tearing, mold, leakage, or anything really.

 

[Chevys10zr2003]

I agree with the list of pros, cons and improvements with the exception of the second shelf improvement. I wouldn't want them to do the second shelf in two pieces with a bracket coming down to the first shelf. For me, that would get in the way more than it would help and may interfere with being able to get as much food on the lower shelf.

The one thing I do wish is the second shelf height would have been adjustable. I did 2 prime rib roasts for Christmas and wanted to put disposable aluminum pans on the bottom rack to catch the drippings and cook the meat on the top rack. I put the pans on the first rack and had about 4 or 5" of extra room above them, meanwhile my roasts were touching the roof of the smoker.