Bullseye Heat Deflector Seasoning

charlesrshell

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1,314
Location
O'Fallon, IL
Grill(s) owned
  1. Stampede
  2. Bullseye
I plan on seasoning my Bullseye grill with canola oil before each use. Should I season the top of the heat deflector too with canola oil?
 
I would suggest no to seasoning the deflector. Considering that the deflector is subject to 700*+ temps, anything you put on it would likely burn off. As fair warning, the deflector will likely start showing some rust early, at least mine did. Just ignore it and grill on. Oh, I probably wouldn’t season the grate either. Unlike your Stampede’s grates, the Bullseye grate is mild steel with a nice porcelain coating.
 
I would suggest no to seasoning the deflector. Considering that the deflector is subject to 700*+ temps, anything you put on it would likely burn off. As fair warning, the deflector will likely start showing some rust early, at least mine did. Just ignore it and grill on. Oh, I probably wouldn’t season the grate either. Unlike your Stampede’s grates, the Bullseye grate is mild steel with a nice porcelain coating.
OK, thanks @Greg Jones. That is good news. I am really more excited about this here Bullseye than I was with the Stampede. She is more like a grill for quickness to cook things and no damn grease drip pan & bucket to contend with. I am heading up to Ace Hardware today to get the SS axle locking nuts and washers. Also going to get that there Simple Green BBQ cleaner to try out. Got another magnet electric extension cord holder on order. How bad does the Bullseye drip on the ground? Anything I can do to help prevent that or is it just the way it is? Can I use my bristle free grate brush to clean the porcelain coated grill? Thanks for all your help.
 
I’ve not seen any grease spots on the ground from my Bullseye. It’s not like the Bullseye has a lot of seams for anything to get out.
 
I’ve not seen any grease spots on the ground from my Bullseye. It’s not like the Bullseye has a lot of seams for anything to get out.
@Greg Jones RT told me that the lid could leak some grease out and get on the ground. Does yours do that? How do you clean your porcelain coated grill? Is the bristle free brush ok to use?
 
I haven’t seen anything on the ground behind the Bullseye other than ash. I did look today at the lower shelf and it looks no dirtier than what you would expect from anything that sits outside without a cover on nice days. I’m probably not the best person to ask about cleaning grates, as on the Bullseye I’ve just turned up the heat to burn off the residue and then when cold wipe away the carbon. I want my grills to be clean enough to be food safe and as grease fire proof as possible, but beyond that I don’t need to see them shine.
 
@Greg Jones in a charcoal or lava rock grill when meat juices hits the hot charcoal or lava rocks it gives the meat a good flavor. Do you think the heat deflector in a Bullseye grill does the same thing?
 
I suppose my best answer is to say “it depends”. If you are low and slow cooking a pork butt on your Stampede, I don’t know if that will happen. Having said that, I still cook my pork butts fat cap down, just in case. If you are cooking hot and fast, I would expect so, especially on the Bullseye.
 
I think I will be using it like a normal grill, no low and slow. How much smoke flavor are you getting from the pellets when you are cooking on medium to high?
 
I think I will be using it like a normal grill, no low and slow. How much smoke flavor are you getting from the pellets when you are cooking on medium to high?
High, negligible. Medium, it depends. I don’t have many cooking routines, but I am pretty consistent that I cook a spatchcock chicken at 425* on the Bull for my wife and I most Sunday nights. Nice balance of smoke, not too much, but enough to know it wasn’t cooked in the oven.

Yesterday, I used the Bullseye instead, and we both noticed the smoke flavor was much less pronounced. Pellets were the same, had a drip pan in the Bullseye which would be similar to the grease pan in the Bull, but for whatever reason it wasn’t as good.
 
I cooked Ribeyes on my Stampede yesterday. Started 225 for about 20 minutes. The smoke flavor was really strong. This happened last week too with chicken thighs. I'm beginning to think to do all my cooks at higher temps so I get less smoke flavor. Or maybe it is the LJ hickory flavor pellets. I am going to get competition flavor next time.
 
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I think fruit woods like apple are supposed to be milder. I did some chicken yesterday with LJ competition blend and thought it was too strong a smoke flavor, at least for us it was.
 
I think fruit woods like apple are supposed to be milder. I did some chicken yesterday with LJ competition blend and thought it was too strong a smoke flavor, at least for us it was.
Did you cook your chicken at lower temp for a while to get smoke flavor? If so, maybe that was why smoke flavor was too strong!
 
Yes, fruitwood is milder, 100% hickory and especially mesquite are going to give you the strongest flavors. Cherry is my favorite for more delicate meats like poultry and fish.
What do you think of the competition flavor? I found that FB Bullseye group you mentioned and joined it. Thanks
 
Did you cook your chicken at lower temp for a while to get smoke flavor? If so, maybe that was why smoke flavor was too strong!

Could well be, I cooked it from start to finish at 225. I wanted as tender as possible with some smoke flavor as the leftovers were being pulled for Brunswick Stew. I forgot how smoke easily overwhelms chicken.
 
I’ve used more of the RT competition blend than anything, over 280# in the past year. It’s a very nice pellet, very clean, low ash, not overbearing, and for the pellet that fuels my grills, I like it best. I supplement often with apple pellets in a smoke tube or actually cherry hardwood placed on the top of the diffuser (I’m a woodworker that works often with cherry, so I have plenty of free scraps to do this).
 
Could well be, I cooked it from start to finish at 225. I wanted as tender as possible with some smoke flavor as the leftovers were being pulled for Brunswick Stew. I forgot how smoke easily overwhelms chicken.
How was your chicken skin? Wasn't it tuff cooking at so low a temp?
 
@Greg Jones I see LJ has an Oak flavor. Have you tried that one?
No, but I’m not a big fan of oak smoke myself. For the reason I listed above, I have access to plenty of oak scraps to put on the diffuser, but I don’t care for it.

My favorite pellets so far after the RT Ultimate blend are the LJ charcoal and the Kingsford 100% Hickory. The LJ Competition is good also.
 

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