Covers, yea or nay?

Good air flow-No dust-No Bugs-everything stays dry, and all for $30.00 at Sams/Costco,etc.. and with "practice you can throw it over the Bull in 1 throw"
 
I'm thinking this question would only be valid for those on the east coast or PNW where rain is common place.

I have 3 grills, all covered with the best covers I could find, the RT being the one they sell for the 340 that I got a year ago, the other 2 are maybe 2 or 3 years old.

After it rains, if I pull any of the covers, I find the grill wet. If I check them a day later they are still wet. Seeing as how none of these covers work for very long, they do a better job of holding in the rain then keeping it out, is one better off without one? I'm thinking about doing away with them.
As a newbie to Rec Teq (700 this week!) I’ve reached out about this and here’s what the company said this morning. “

Thank you for reaching out to us. The grill holds up great on its own! I leave my grill uncovered year round and have no issues with it. The biggest thing is that the hopper remains closed. As long as the pellets in the hopper remains dry, there should be no problem.” Lastly, living in Chicagoland the other rep said to wait for the heavy duty cover if you do decide to buy one.
 
I live in south texas or should I say I live in a swap. Sometimes it rains here for weeks straight. So I cover my 590 to make sure the pellets stay dry and I also cover the grill with a roof and that seems to do the trick. When the weather is nice I uncover it and let it breathe. Making two pork butts tomorrow for my son and his buddies. Shredded pork tocos baby!!!!
 
I'm thinking this question would only be valid for those on the east coast or PNW where rain is common place.

I have 3 grills, all covered with the best covers I could find, the RT being the one they sell for the 340 that I got a year ago, the other 2 are maybe 2 or 3 years old.

After it rains, if I pull any of the covers, I find the grill wet. If I check them a day later they are still wet. Seeing as how none of these covers work for very long, they do a better job of holding in the rain then keeping it out, is one better off without one? I'm thinking about doing away with them.
I cover mine but use a 3rd party cover. I also found that my grill would be wet under the cover after rain and I would have to take teh cover off after the rain was done to let it dry out. I think the cover for the 680/700 just has too many seams and is too tight so it is very prone to leaking at the seams. I instead spent $30 on a cover off of amazon and am super happy with it. https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00VG12YXS/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_HDGW0EZ70Y1BEW2PJFTG?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
 
I do without. Bugs, rodents, etc take those covers as open invitation to setup shop. Uncovered I can just cover the openings to keep the pests away.

Only issue you'll run into is the grease bucket fills with water. I've got mine covered now so that's solved.
It does help .... if you remember to put it on ! ! !
Got Snow.jpg
 
I learned many years ago that a grill cover holds any existing moisture in and even causes moisture inside the cover when hot outside. I quit using a grill cover about 25 years ago and I've never had a single rust problem since then. That said, I use my RecTec 700 every day and since some days do come with rain, I bought a 10 X 10 heavy duty canopy at Harbor Freight ($159) and it keeps my RecTec and the area dry for me to grill in the rain. This canopy has been up since May of this year, same time I got the RecTec. The feet are screwed into the deck. We had 60 mph straight winds one day in June and the canopy survived just fine.
IMG_0876.JPG
 
Your thoughts about a cover doing more bad then good echo mine, what part of the country are you in Kenny?
 
I wanted to make a post update. The above Harbor Freight canopy has been great till three days a few days ago when some severe storms came through with heavy rain. I guess where the canopy set out in the UV since May allowed it to stretch and three of the four corners filled with water and I'm talking a lot of water, perhaps 70 gallons per corner and I could not lift or push up on any of the corners to get the water out. So I just took a knife and cut a small slit in each of the corners and the water drained. So I ordered a better gazebo, but still a cheap one and I'll see how it holds out. Tax and all it was $823 on Amazon. Here is a pic of it.
IMG_0921.JPG
 
I like to keep my grill pretty clean,so I like to cover it,personal choice
 
I wanted to make a post update. The above Harbor Freight canopy has been great till three days a few days ago when some severe storms came through with heavy rain. I guess where the canopy set out in the UV since May allowed it to stretch and three of the four corners filled with water and I'm talking a lot of water, perhaps 70 gallons per corner and I could not lift or push up on any of the corners to get the water out. So I just took a knife and cut a small slit in each of the corners and the water drained. So I ordered a better gazebo, but still a cheap one and I'll see how it holds out. Tax and all it was $823 on Amazon. Here is a pic of it.
View attachment 12334
That looks really nice! My neighbor has a similar one and it's cool looking, especially for the price.
 
My 700 is under overhead cover now, but still put my cover on if I know if will be a couple days until the next cook.
 
That looks really nice! My neighbor has a similar one and it's cool looking, especially for the price.
Thanks! I really did not know what to expect as it was one of the cheaper ones on Amazon, but there were no issues with missing parts or bent parts, etc... Longevity and no leaks when it rains are my concerns now. We are suppose to have some rain in the next couple of days, so I will report back on that.
 
I had my cover off for a few days after a cook. It rained one day. The Bull was dirty and needed a cleanup, which I got around to. Then I put the cover (full RT-700 plus the smoke box) on and washed the cover while on the grill. Once the outside of the cover dried, I removed it and turned it inside out and let it dry while the grill itself dried some minor condensation that had formed.

I still don't see putting the cover on as any hassle. It took me less that 2 minutes, maybe 1 minute.
 
One thing about the Cover .... NEVER start the Grill from work, and forget you had the damn thing covered ! :eek:

NO, I haven't had THAT happen .... YET
IF the cover is on, the plug is out. ;)
 

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