Bull Help me get this across the finish line!

[Gary_M]

It arrived yesterday! Very speedy shipping by ESTES Freight, in fact, it arrived early! I certainly wasn't expecting that. I assembled yesterday after work. Will be firing it up this morning for the first time.

 

[sdynak]

Awesome!! Enjoy & post some pics

 

[Gary_M]

I tried to yesterday and it was held up for moderator approval. Does the forum not allow linked (hosted) images? Or maybe I don’t have enough posts?

 

[Greg Jones]

I tried to yesterday and it was held up for moderator approval. Does the forum not allow linked (hosted) images? Or maybe I don’t have enough posts?

You should be allowed to post images that are on your device by clicking the ‘Attach files’ button. @Mike would have to answer the question about hosted images, but I do know some forums discourage them because when a hosting site goes dead, the images in the forum go dead also.

 

[WooPigFoodie]

OK, I'm sold, I'm in, I want the RT-700. It seems to be one of the best values at that price point, and the spiffy styling is the icing on the cake.

I just need that last bit of push to get approval from the ministry of acquisition of non-essential items. My wife likes BBQ, but not as much as me. She's more of a grilled steak, type. Which is fine, I have no problem with that. But my efforts to occasionally try for some smokey flavors on the gas grill are pretty lame as you can imagine.

She contends that with our limited patio space, the RT-700 would take up too much space, and therefore we would need to get rid of the gas grill. As a result, she is afraid that we would lose the ability to make great steaks the way that she likes them. My opinion is that we have enough room for both grills.

So, here are some questions, both about getting her onboard and some questions that I have as well:

• Keep the gas grill for more flexibility? (Finishing steaks, chops, etc)
• Can you cook a properly seared steak on the Bull?
• Should I add the searing kit to my order?
• Should I purchase the smoke box? (my wife loves smoked salmon and smoked cheeses)
• Once ordered, how long does it take to arrive? (I'm in Northern Indiana, so I'm in the same half of the country as Recteq)

Thanks in advance, I hope to be joining in the fun soon.

I chucked the gasser via Craigslist. I do my steaks on the 700 on grill grates. Sometimes I smoke at 180 for an hour first and finish on full heat, other times just flash straight on full heat. That’s about 550 for me. Here’s a few pics. Note, I’m no pic genius, and I like my steaks rare.

 

[fullhouse32]

That T-Bone turned out perfect.

 

[C. Keeper]

You should be allowed to post images that are on your device by clicking the ‘Attach files’ button. @Mike would have to answer the question about hosted images, but I do know some forums discourage them because when a hosting site goes dead, the images in the forum go dead also.

When I post a hosted image I usually just send @Mike the $10 (cash) posting fee.

 

[Grilltreats]

Congrats! There was a struggle with picking up the RT-700 at first here as well. But, for my birthday my wife surprised me with a Bullseye. She had the neighbor help get it into the house and hid it from me until then while away on a 10 day hunting trip. I only mentioned I would like to have a Bullseye once, not being real sure about it at the time. The two have literally changed how we cook most meals. Recteq lifestyle they say...

 

[C. Keeper]

Congrats! There was a struggle with picking up the RT-700 at first here as well. But, for my birthday my wife surprised me with a Bullseye. She had the neighbor help get it into the house and hid it from me until then while away on a 10 day hunting trip. I only mentioned I would like to have a Bullseye once, not being real sure about it at the time. The two have literally changed how we cook most meals. Recteq lifestyle they say...

Nice surprise, enjoy!

 

[sdynak]

I chucked the gasser via Craigslist. I do my steaks on the 700 on grill grates. Sometimes I smoke at 180 for an hour first and finish on full heat, other times just flash straight on full heat. That’s about 550 for me. Here’s a few pics. Note, I’m no pic genius, and I like my steaks rare.

Ok.. now I just got real hungry!! That looks amazing!

 

[Gary_M]

Here are a few photos from delivery to burn in to the first cook. I’m beyond happy with the initial impression. It is built solidly and the burn-in and first cook maintained a rock solid temperature of 400. Very impressed!

 

[sdynak]

Here are a few photos from delivery to burn in to the first cook. I’m beyond happy with the initial impression. It is built solidly and the burn-in and first cook maintained a rock solid temperature of 400. Very impressed!

Awesome stuff.. that is the issue.. it is just rock solid. More stable than a kitchen oven. Those thighs look delicious.. Enjoy!

 

[fullhouse32]

Tasty looking thighs!

 

[jfjohn77]

I would only like to kick-in some info on smoke tubes, which I highly recommend ($14). You won't regret having and using them if you want the smoke flavor that cannot be achieved with a pellet grill alone. Now you can add wood chips to the top of the heat deflector but once they burn out its pretty hard to add more with meat on the pit. Here's my trial and error experiences. Smoke tubes are good for about 3 to 4 hours burn time. In tyring to get a longer burn time, I thought I would be smart and get one of the A-maze-n smoker maze product ($30). Suppose to go for about 12 hr... mine didn't. Don't get me wrong, it works, but a little finicky. If you fill it to the top the fire will jump over to the next row, you will end up with a temp spike and you grills fan cycling trying to compensate for a temperature not of it's own making. It can be a issue during a cook. I wanted to try the Maze because I figured I could just easily refill it without removing it from the grill for additional smoke time. Not so easy! Then I thought I would be cheap and attempt to design my poor man's version of the Smoke Daddy. I got 2 (not just one to see if it would even work) of the smoker boxes ($10 ea.) My intention was to fill them with pellets, chips and some small chunks, lay one on each side of the firebox (touching it) down in the bottom of the barrel and let the firebox do the work. In 8 hours they never lite. Of course my temp was never over 300 except at start trying to get them to light at 450. Maybe not the boxes fault, I didn't hold there long, I wanted to get the meat on. Today I'm trying to find a way to make them work. I have the pit open (no meat), the boxes setting on the deflector with the lids open (the grill off) and I can't keep them lit.

In short... save your time and money, get a Smoke Tube and don't look back! If you want a longer smoke time get 2 and swap them out just as the first is close to burning out. You can have the second lit and ready to go. You can keep swapping forever, although that would be overkill after a point. I mix pellets and chips in mine with no problems, just be sure to take the time to be sure it is fully lit before placing in your pit. Below are pics of my tube as well as my mistakes.

Oh, and one other important thing to consider. The smoke tube will take up less grill space than the other options.

 

[Waterboy]

Here are a few photos from delivery to burn in to the first cook. I’m beyond happy with the initial impression. It is built solidly and the burn-in and first cook maintained a rock solid temperature of 400. Very impressed!

Congratulations! Very nice first cook. You’ll have fun trying out all sorts of cooks on that grill.

 

[Gary_M]

Thanks, everyone. The thighs were very good. I was able to take them to a family gathering about an hour after the test. I figured since I didn't burn them, I'd let other people try them. There were none left to bring home!

Tonight I'm going to smoke a pork butt overnight. Fingers crossed!

 

[jfjohn77]

An added note about the Smoke Box... I spent this morning adding some holes to the top of the box and also around the bottom sides. seems to be working now. I have the pit off with the lid closed and the thing is still smoking up a charm! I added these holes in stages until I found where it would stay lit. But, in truth I should have just bought and started with a Smoke Daddy, which I will anyway.

 

[KahunaRed]

Get a Benzomatic MAP torch gas kit from Home Depot if you want a good sear like restaurants. Then get this torch head which flares out the flame which makes it great for searing. https://amzn.to/34xv0ze

You use MAP gas as it burns much hotter and sears quicker which is great for reverse searing plus the MAP gas burns clean so you don’t get any aftertaste from the gas.

 

[Loungin]

OK, I'm sold, I'm in, I want the RT-700. It seems to be one of the best values at that price point, and the spiffy styling is the icing on the cake.

I just need that last bit of push to get approval from the ministry of acquisition of non-essential items. My wife likes BBQ, but not as much as me. She's more of a grilled steak, type. Which is fine, I have no problem with that. But my efforts to occasionally try for some smokey flavors on the gas grill are pretty lame as you can imagine.

She contends that with our limited patio space, the RT-700 would take up too much space, and therefore we would need to get rid of the gas grill. As a result, she is afraid that we would lose the ability to make great steaks the way that she likes them. My opinion is that we have enough room for both grills.

So, here are some questions, both about getting her onboard and some questions that I have as well:

• Keep the gas grill for more flexibility? (Finishing steaks, chops, etc)
• Can you cook a properly seared steak on the Bull?
• Should I add the searing kit to my order?
• Should I purchase the smoke box? (my wife loves smoked salmon and smoked cheeses)
• Once ordered, how long does it take to arrive? (I'm in Northern Indiana, so I'm in the same half of the country as Recteq)

Thanks in advance, I hope to be joining in the fun soon.

My opinion, Just bought my 700 in March 2021, tried to make steak without sear kit, I couldn’t. Tried using cast iron pan inside but still didn’t come out great. I planned on selling my grill when I bought the 700 but I’m glad I didn’t. Instead I sold my old (big) gas grill and bought a smaller $150 gas grill just for searing and so the wife can make burgers or whatever without having to worry about messing with the smoker. I’d keep your grill for searing. I don’t have smoke box, so no comment. I live in Chicago, delivery took about 3-4weeks. Here’s the push you need, my wife never cared or talked about smoked meats before. After having the grill 2 months she told me her favorite thing right now is coming home from work and seeing and smelling the smoker going. She gets excited. I absolutely love this thing. You won’t regret it