Buckeye smoker
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- Grill(s) owned
- Bull
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
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
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