Bull First-hand experience with some posted issues

[Buckeye smoker]

So tonight I made some Reverse seared Ribeyes. They turned out incredible as usual love The Bull. Unfortunately, I experienced a couple issues after a year of owning my smoker without any.
I decided to try it on full" tonight to see how hot she would really get. (And 600° is doable at my house.) 70°/500ft ASL.
Btw, I got to 572° because I had to open the grill to sear, and flip my sear.
At the end of my cook, I put the smoker down into extreme smoke mode (like I always do) and gave it a few minutes to adjust. Then shut it off puting it Into shutdown mode. When shutdown completed I noticed it was still smoking pretty good, (5mins after) and I had a flashback to grease fire posts I've read, as well as posts about burn pots smoldering. I wasn't nervous about anything happening because I always cool my grill to zero heat before covering it or puting it away.
But I was curious and took the unit apart. And two issues came to light. (3 possibly)
1) the burn pot was indeed hot and still burning/smoldering.
2) grease was indeed pooled in the seam of the drain end of the drum. (Not on fire but hot) and also leaking out of the seam onto my concrete garage floor.
3) The other possible issue was that I gave Bear Mountain another chance with a different flavor and they absolutely run hotter.
Issue 1) I totally agree that the shutdown mode's primer function should be a "startup" function.( I'll call RecTec after the Holiday to discuss it and get back to the group.) That would help to keep the pot from burning longer. The Bear Mountain Pellets may have also.been a factor since I've never had this problem before at 450-500° and actual I don't really see the need for 600 or 700° on these Smokers , but that's just my opinion*
Issue#2)...The Sear Plates extend passed the drip tray. They cover the full width of the Bull, and have drip holes all the way across. This allows the grease to fall on the Grate support edges as well as the bottom of the grill. That has potential for fire at high temps.
My grill was slightly off level causing the grease to puddle on the exhaust end, but, the barrel (imo) shouldn't leak. (Also 2 issues I'll talk to them about)
Issue#3)...I still personally feel the Lumberjack's are better but won't bad mouth BM's the Hickory performed pretty well. I'm not sure if the extra pellet heat is a real issue or not, but something to think about at high heat shutdowns.
With all this said, I'm not mad or disappointed in RecTec or the RT700. Nor am I afraid to use it at any temp. However for my needs including searing ,pizzas etc.... 450° is all I need. (Personal opinion)
Just posting this for members to have the info. And to keep in mind for future cooks.View attachment 4170

 

[Buckeye smoker]

 

[PSU-85]

I was surprised by the 600 temp with the App revision. I wondered if it would really get there or if it was a programming error since the grill display seems to go from 500 to full but the app says its heating to 600. I made smash burgers last night and the temp kept rolling past 500 so I thought maybe it was possible. But I threw the burgers on at 510 so we could eat.

I turned the grill back to Lo when I put cheese on the burgers and toasted the buns. 5-10 minutes later while we were eating I shut the grill down with the app from the dinner table. Later I went out to the garage and found the grill still smoking. I'm guessing this must have been 15 minutes after I shut the grill off and the grill went through its cool down.

Most of my fatty foods have been cooked on the back of the grates so I haven't seen the grease issues that you experienced but the grates definitely fit tight into the grill opening making it likely that grease will drain past the drip tray. Would hate to have a grease fire. I think I might start rotating the grates 90 degrees so they don't extend past the drip tray.

 

[Mastertech59]

I really don't like using the Bull for high heat cooks I have a little portable Weber gas grill and sometimes put the sear plates on it. Rotating 90 degrees like mentioned above may help with the grease dripping into the lower barrel area. The barrel leaking RecTec will probably send you a tube of the orange high temperature Permatex to seal it with, make sure the barrel is clean and then clean it with rubbing alcohol. You may also have a small leak in the grease trough that needs to be sealed too. Side to side level isn't as important as front to rear level, the grease can run off the ends of the grates and drip into the bottom of the barrel.

 

[Buckeye smoker]

Yes you're both correct, and I've thought of these things also. The sear plates are not a "RecTec thing" they're made for multi-grill use. I also noticed even the centered holes allow grease and driipings to coat the bottom of the sear plates eventually dripping down into the grill. But the 90° turn is a great partial solution for everyone.
I agree that the orange sealant will be sent out. The smoldering is the only real concern, as we saw in one post here on the site , where it actually continued to burn all the way up the hopper. I'd like to see the primer function switch to Startup instead of shutdown. And again I've never had that problem with the Lumberjack's even at high temps.
I'll let ya know what they say.

 

[Mastertech59]

Probably need to run the grill on extreme smoke for several minutes after using full or other higher heat cooks, then turn the grill off when the internal temperature drops, this could be monitored using the app.

 

[Infantryman]

Most of my fatty foods have been cooked on the back of the grates so I haven't seen the grease issues that you experienced but the grates definitely fit tight into the grill opening making it likely that grease will drain past the drip tray. Would hate to have a grease fire. I think I might start rotating the grates 90 degrees so they don't extend past the drip tray.

My Bull took a solid hour on full to get to 500°F then I waited another 15 minutes only to reach just another 10°F hotter to do those smash burgers and kielbasa I posted a pic of yesterday. I didn't have anymore patience for preheating and went with the temp I had. I don't personally believe my Bull can reach 600F. Excellent idea on the rotation of th grates 90°. Definitely going to be doing that, thanks for the tip. No one needs a grease fire.

 

[bfletcher]

I dislike the shutdown feature enough that I pull the plug seconds before the auger feeds pellets into the pot. I don't have sear plates but I've contemplated them; you raise a point I had not considered about drippings escaping the grease tray.

 

[Infantryman]

I don't have sear plates but I've contemplated them; you raise a point I had not considered about drippings escaping the grease tray.

I was on the fence about the sear plates, but I'm glad I bought them. I do mostly high temp grilling (425°F +) and they offer a nice addition to the regular grill grates in my opinion. Some folks replace the regular grill grates with all sear grates. Mostly I do steaks, chops, burgers, etc. I only do long, low and slow smokes 3 - 4 a month on the weekends mostly. You won't regret the sear grates if you decide to get them.

 

[Buckeye smoker]

Probably need to run the grill on extreme smoke for several minutes after using full or other higher heat cooks, then turn the grill off when the internal temperature drops, this could be monitored using the app.

I do that in general, this was a mix of hotter setting and hotter burning pellets. It was down to 300° before entering shutdown mode it shouldn't have been a problem. And 99.9% of the time hasn't been. I'm trying to remember if shutdown timer is a set 300secs or if it is timed to the grills measured heat. I'll have to watch it next time.

 

[Mastertech59]

I do that in general, this was a mix of hotter setting and hotter burning pellets. It was down to 300° before entering shutdown mode it shouldn't have been a problem. And 99.9% of the time hasn't been. I'm trying to remember if shutdown timer is a set 300secs or if it is timed to the grills measured heat. I'll have to watch it next time.

The grill shutdown is on a 300 second timer, it's not based on the previous grill cooking temps.

 

[Infantryman]

The grill shutdown is on a 300 second timer, it's not based on the previous grill cooking temps.

That's correct, doesn't matter if you're at 180°F or 500°F+, the shut down timer doesn't change and stays at 5 mins.

 

[Mastertech59]

That's correct, doesn't matter if you're at 180°F or 500°F+, the shut down timer doesn't change and stays at 5 mins.

Should it yea maybe, I really don't do many high temperature cooks on my Bull, I'm glad I can. There may be a new SS Bullseye in my future for these type of cooks, otherwise I just use my Weber gasser for grilling things like this and searing at this time.