Stampede I received my RT-590 yesterday. Hooray!!! My first pellet grill.

[Iceberg]

I ordered this grill a week ago today and received it yesterday. I could have had it delivered the day before but would not be home for the delivery. That is some fast shipment time. I live in central Texas so Rec Tec is a few states away.
I finally got all the finishing touches put on the assembly this morning (no, I did not work on it all night.) Assembly was pretty straight forward and any glitches were "user error". For instance, I installed and tightened down all the leg bolts and then discovered I have to use the leg bolts to attach the drop-down work surface on the front of the grill. Hey - I just turned 80 and give an old guy a break!
This afternoon I put the grill through the "break-in" routine: put 1/2 cup of pellets in the firepot, put in the all the inner'ds and turned it on. I set the temp to 400 per the instructions and sat back and watched the temperature climb. It did well until it hit 215 and then it started dropping off. No, I didn't panic. I figured my 1/2 cup of pellets in the fire pot burned up and the pellets making their way down the auger hadn't reached the fire pot. So, I kicked the temp up to Full hoping the auger would get in gear and get some pellets to the fire. Afte about 5 minutes, the temp started gong up again and as soon as I saw it hit 225, I dropped the temp back to 400. Well, the temp kept going up and went on to 445. I was patient but it stayed at about 443 - 446 for about 15 minutes. I admit, I was getting concerned and thought something was going to need recalibration. After that 15 minutes or so at 445, it slowly started dropping and settled in at 400 degrees. I let it run for another hour and the temp never strayed from 399 to 405 with the bulk of the time sitting right on 400. Great controller.
Now, is this all pretty normal for the first light-off? Will I see similiar behavior if I am going to cook at 350? That is, will I see this thing jump up to 400 and then, 15 to 20 minutes later, drop down and settle in at the selected temperature? Appreciate it if one of you could let me know. Thanks to you all in advanced. I love this forum.

 

[Mastertech59]

After the first burn in the temperature swings will settle down, what ever temperature I set the grill to that is what it goes to plus or minus a degree or two, the only time this will change is when you open the lid for more than 30 seconds or more. The controller will sence the temperature drop and tell the auger to put in more pellets, sometimes the temperature will stay elevated for several minutes.

 

[Iceberg]

Thank you Mastertech59.
That is the response I was hoping to hear. I know I am going to love this grill. Now all I have to do is decide what to cook first.

 

[Mastertech59]

We started off with the 321Ribs, came out delicious.

 

[Iceberg]

That sounds like something I might try as my first cook. Thanks for the suggestion. What rub did you use?

 

[AG23]

just got mine Tuesday and I've used it twice already. Today I did a reverse sear ribeye steak. Its probably the best steak I have ever cooked. Best grill I have ever owned.

 

[Iceberg]

AG23 - did you use sear grates for the sear or just a hot griddle or frying pan? I have got sear grates and I thought that after cooking the steaks low and slow, I'd wrap them in foil and take them off the grill, crank it up with the sear grates present and then do the searing. I don't know if that will work or not but half the fun is experimenting. I would hate to screw up a good ribeye though. Haha.

 

[Lawman]

Hey Iceberg, welcome from a fellow Texan. Got my 700 in last week and loving it. I have not had any fluctuation issues unless i leave the lid open for a while like mastertech59 said.

 

[Iceberg]

Lawman - you have given my additional confirmation I am going to like this grill. Thank you.
Looks like you are located where Texas history is paramount. And, by looking at your avatar, you must like B-25 nose art?

 

[Wslayer]

I would suggest putting a reliable digital thermometer inside to verify that the temp is accurate. May need to do some minor tweaking with the offset or feed rate. ( RT video explain) I used 4 probe in each corner of 590 to find where the hot spots are. Good luck, awesome units. Let us know if alarms work.

 

[cutplug]

With the PID controller you faked it out when you turned it to max.
It thinks ahead so it took a little to bring it back down.
You will be fine and welcome!

 

[Iceberg]

Wslayer: I have a Maverick digital thermometer I can try and check how accurate and look for hot spots. Thanks for the suggestion.

Cutplug: I wondered if I screwed up the PID logic when I kicked up to Full and then dropped it back to 400. It seems to have straightened itself out despite an ignorant operater.

Thanks to all of you. This is an excellent forum.

 

[AG23]

AG23 - did you use sear grates for the sear or just a hot griddle or frying pan? I have got sear grates and I thought that after cooking the steaks low and slow, I'd wrap them in foil and take them off the grill, crank it up with the sear grates present and then do the searing. I don't know if that will work or not but half the fun is experimenting. I would hate to screw up a good ribeye though. Haha.

Thats exactly what I did. I took it to about 120-125 internal temp. Took it out and wrapped it in foil. Put my sear grates in and cranked it up to 500. It took about 10-15 min. Put the steak back and did about 1 min to each side. Steak came out perfect! Doing my first brisket tomorrow. Hoping I don't mess that up.

 

[Lawman]

Lawman - you have given my additional confirmation I am going to like this grill. Thank you.
Looks like you are located where Texas history is paramount. And, by looking at your avatar, you must like B-25 nose art?

Yes I do on all accounts. I grew up with Coleto creek in my back yard and 5 miles from the Fannin battlegrounds. I have always been a history & aviation buff and my son really enjoys military history. The Yellow Rose is stationed at the CAF hangar in San Marcos. We visit there several times a year.
John

 

[Iceberg]

I share your interest in aviation history. I used to belong to the Planes of Fame Museum in Chino, CA. The B-25 they have there is names "Photo Fanny". If you are ever in that area, I suggest you stop by. They have a huge collection of WWII operational aircraft including the only flying authentic A6M5 Zero powered by the original Nakajima engine. Check it out online.