Stampede Debating 590 vs 700

[bcarney]

I have a Pit Barrel Cooker that I've been using less and less due to having to babysit it. Others say it's light it & forget it, but my barrel temps drop way low if I don't monitor & crack the lid with a piece of foil now & then. It has turned out some tasty food and does it quicker than traditional smoking, so that would be an adjustment for me. Had a nice BBQs Galore gas grill built in to a nice island, but we moved and it stayed with the house. Wife & I both want to get a new grill.

Debating 590 vs 700. It's currently the wife, our 17-year-old son, and I. He'll be off to college soon, so will be just the 2 of us. Do I need the extra room of the 700? (In know, I know, you can never have too much grill.).

Main uses would be pork butts, ribs, brisket (occasionally), burgers, steaks, brats. Have smoked turkeys for Thanksgiving in the Pit Barrel.

Which would you go with? Why?
Assume the 700 would take longer than 590 to get to same temp? (not a huge issue)
Are there any issues with getting either up to high enough temp to sear a good steak & burgers?
Do I NEED the sear kit, or would using the cast iron flat top/grill we that came with our gas oven be sufficient?
Safe to use on a covered porch (possibly screened in in the future) without smoke staining the white ceiling? (I've put the Pit Barrel in the yard on a large piece of stone that the fire put usually sits on.)

I got an ad for a 15% off sale. Anyone know how long that will last?

 

[C. Keeper]

I have a Pit Barrel Cooker that I've been using less and less due to having to babysit it. Others say it's light it & forget it, but my barrel temps drop way low if I don't monitor & crack the lid with a piece of foil now & then. It has turned out some tasty food and does it quicker than traditional smoking, so that would be an adjustment for me. Had a nice BBQs Galore gas grill built in to a nice island, but we moved and it stayed with the house. Wife & I both want to get a new grill.

Debating 590 vs 700. It's currently the wife, our 17-year-old son, and I. He'll be off to college soon, so will be just the 2 of us. Do I need the extra room of the 700? (In know, I know, you can never have too much grill.).

Main uses would be pork butts, ribs, brisket (occasionally), burgers, steaks, brats. Have smoked turkeys for Thanksgiving in the Pit Barrel.

Which would you go with? Why?
Assume the 700 would take longer than 590 to get to same temp? (not a huge issue)
Are there any issues with getting either up to high enough temp to sear a good steak & burgers?
Do I NEED the sear kit, or would using the cast iron flat top/grill we that came with our gas oven be sufficient?
Safe to use on a covered porch (possibly screened in in the future) without smoke staining the white ceiling? (I've put the Pit Barrel in the yard on a large piece of stone that the fire put usually sits on.)

I got an ad for a 15% off sale. Anyone know how long that will last?

Pit Barrel is a pain and worse when food falls off hook.

I'm kinda liking a small grill, I vote 590.

 

[Dr.Floyd]

Right now it is just my wife and I and I decided to go with the 700. I have done some cooks when family was coming over where I had it almost full. The food I was cooking, although not frequently, would not fit on the 590 without an extra shelf. When I was debating over the 590 and 700, it was suggested that it is better to have too much room than not enough. And I don't think I have heard anyone say "I wish I went with the smaller smoker".

 

[BradBQ]

Im single and have the 700. I cook for holidays and parties sometimes so the grill can get filled pretty quick. I even installed two sliding shelves in my 700 and sometimes still push it for room. Id say go the 700. If you get a pan on or an instance where need to cook a little extra, youll be glad you have the 700. There is nothing more frustrating than running out of grill space. Just my .02

 

[SmokeOCD]

If you're willing to pay for the 700 - you might as well get the 1250. I cook on my second rack (1070) more than the main rack. And the front shelf - you're going to end up wanting one anyway if you get a lower model. The cost of adding those two easily justifies the differential in price. You'll be happy with it no matter what you pick - don't stress too much, buy what appeals to you.

 

[Jim6820]

Welcome aboard, @bcarney; glad you’ve joined us.

I have the smaller RT-340 and find it to be quite adequate to cook for 3-4 people. That said, I don’t find that any of the pellet grills works that well for searing. That’s why I also have a gas grill that can reach some insane searing temperatures.

Like all tools, grills have their primary uses that do things well and their secondary uses that are just compromises. Think driving nails with a pipe wrench. It can be done, but not very well.

If you plan on cooking for large groups on occasion, go with the 700; if it is just the three of you, the 590 will be plenty. YMMV

 

[Greg Jones]

Where are you located? There may be some used recteq grills on the market soon in your general area that may be of interest.

 

[bcarney]

If you're willing to pay for the 700 - you might as well get the 1250. I cook on my second rack (1070) more than the main rack. And the front shelf - you're going to end up wanting one anyway if you get a lower model. The cost of adding those two easily justifies the differential in price. You'll be happy with it no matter what you pick - don't stress too much, buy what appeals to you.

I see a 1070 and a 1070 with cabinet. Assume they are the same thing, just 1 has a cabinet. Can I take that to mean that I could get it with cabinet for now, and if we decide to build it into an island later, we could?

 

[bcarney]

Where are you located? There may be some used recteq grills on the market soon in your general area that may be of interest.

Near Raleigh North Carolina.
What makes you say there could be some used ones for sale? People that got them for Christmas and have decided they don't like?

 

[SmokeOCD]

I see a 1070 and a 1070 with cabinet. Assume they are the same thing, just 1 has a cabinet. Can I take that to mean that I could get it with cabinet for now, and if we decide to build it into an island later, we could?

Yep - don't remember exactly how many, but just screws going up from the cabinet into the grill base.
Easily reverseable.

 

[SmokeOCD]

Near Raleigh North Carolina.
What makes you say there could be some used ones for sale? People that got them for Christmas and have decided they don't like?

People upgrading from RT to high-end - pro-sumer grills.

 

[Greg Jones]

Near Raleigh North Carolina.
What makes you say there could be some used ones for sale? People that got them for Christmas and have decided they don't like?

Well, I have a RT-700, a Bullseye, and a Matador that are older than Christmas 2022 but I’ll be posting them here soon, local pickup only. And I like them fine, but as @SmokeOCD has suggested, i’m going a different direction. More of a consolidation of equipment than any disaffection with the recteqs (other than perhaps the Matador). The Bull and the the Bullseye are excellent machines-this is actually the second Bullseye I’ve owned.

 

[SmokeOCD]

Well, I have a RT-700, a Bullseye, and a Matador that are older than Christmas 2022 but I’ll be posting them here soon, local pickup only. And I like them fine, but as @SmokeOCD has suggested, i’m going a different direction. More of a consolidation of equipment than any disaffection with the recteqs (other than perhaps the Matador). The Bull and the the Bullseye are excellent machines-this is actually the second Bullseye I’ve owned.

You know how many times I've said I'll sell off the old grills to justify the new one? I've been into double digits, not sure now - I'd have to go count.

 

[Greg Jones]

You know how many times I've said I'll sell off the old grills to justify the new one? I've been into double digits, not sure now - I'd have to go count.

Yup, but now my daughter and SIL are living in Hawaii and my son is in Germany, so I have no one within 4k miles of me to give them too!

 

[Pacman]

In general I'm only cooking for two these days, but a couple times a year I cook for 25+, and a handful of times for extended family for holidays, birthdays, etc.. I'm very glad I went with a 1250, but I could've probably made do with a 590 (or now a 1070). I went with the 1250 at the time as it had all of the upgrades that hadn't made it to the 700 yet.

With the new auger motor, cast iron deflector, etc., in both the 590 and 700, the difference in getting to temp is probably a minute or two at most.

Not that any of this matters, but coming from a stick burner, I wanted a round barrel rather than some other geometric shape and a smokestack vs. vents. It's purely aesthetics, but to me at least, the 700/1250 look like smokers in my old-fashioned mind.

With all of this said, the 590 is probably the most "tried and true" in the product line, so you're not going to go wrong either way.

 

[Motodad1776]

"Trying not to be biased", but yeah the 590 is the most sorted out and arguably the best of the bunch. I have 2 friends who also recently bought the 590 when they were debating the 700/1250, they have zero regrets and say the 590 is plenty big enough. I have yet to find the limitations of mine in terms of cooking, I find that for most of us anything bigger is wasted cooking space. My 2 cents.

 

[Elias]

No one has been unhappy about having too much space... but there have been complaints about having too little space. So, get the 700 if budget permits. It will get to temp almost as quickly as the smaller smokers.

 

[DenStinett]

My Wife an I love our 700
As other have alluded to; you can always use less less space, but you can't use space you DON'T have, unless you get yourself one of these:
A Lefthanded Grill Stretchers:

We just smoked six Racks of Pork Rib on the Bull
Eat one, Vac-Sealed and froze the Rest
6 Meals, one Cook

Can't do that on a 590

Grills are like a Gun Safe
"Buy the biggest one you can't quite afford !"

 

[C. Keeper]

No one has been unhappy about having too much space... but there have been complaints about having too little space. So, get the 700 if budget permits. It will get to temp almost as quickly as the smaller smokers.

Space, the final frontier

 

[Jim6820]

Yeah, @DenStinett, but then the freezer gets filled up and you have to quit cooking for a while. Where’s the fun in that?

Good looking ribs, by then way!