Bull My Bull Arrived, and it's Glorious

[TrojanUSC1]

First pellet smoker, coming from a Smoke Vault gas smoker. Assembly went ok, although I think I'm regretting getting the folding shelf. Unit is built very solid, so I smoked some eggs last night just to test it out and today have my 36 hour dry brine brisket in'er with mesquite pellets.

Can't wait to see how it goes, and excited to learn tips and tricks from this community.

 

[NU2SMOKE]

Congrats on the new smoker! Why the regrets on the shelf...everybody loves them?

 

[ifican]

the shelf is handy, however lets cross our fingers you temp gauge is solidly calibrated. First longer cook i did on my was just ribs, which ended up taking several hours (yes hours) longer then they should have which made me then calibrate probes. If i had done brisket first it would have been a day and a half cook .

 

[TrojanUSC1]

Congrats on the new smoker! Why the regrets on the shelf...everybody loves them?

Yep that’s why I got it. Dunno, feels unnecessary but maybe I’ll come around .

the shelf is handy, however lets cross our fingers you temp gauge is solidly calibrated. First longer cook i did on my was just ribs, which ended up taking several hours (yes hours) longer then they should have which made me then calibrate probes. If i had done brisket first it would have been a day and a half cook .

Hah. I was thinking of that as well. I will have to figure out a good way to test the grill gauge, but will check the probes by using an instant I have calibrated separately. Any tips on calibrating grill? If the probes are off I’ll just have to calibrate them before the next cook.

 

[ifican]

doing a brisket your meat probes dont matters so much, as you start getting kinda close you can probe for texture and finish when it feels right. The RTD you can either use a separate / external (like the one i just posted for sale by the way) or once you are confident the meat probes are close enough can use them.

 

[cookingjnj]

Welcome to the club....enjoy the heck out of your Bull. Just like NU2 indicated, pretty sure you are going to love that shelf too. I use mine ALL the time.

 

[dsandersus]

Congratulations and welcome to the nut house... Smoked nuts of course.

 

[Uncle Bob]

,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Dunno, feels unnecessary but maybe I’ll come around .

I had similar feelings when I first got my Stampede, which was fine since RT didn't offer a shelf option. But, sorta like the ol' saying " you don't know what you don't know", once you start to use the cooker there will be times when that shelf comes in handy. I ended up making one for my grill, and though I don't use it on every cook, when there are a number of hunks o' protein on the grate it is handy to have at load and unload time. Once you start really working your grill you'll likely come around to appreciating that shelf more.

 

[NU2SMOKE]

I can say that i cannot imagine not having the shelf. Like Bob said once you start using it you will love it. Hell when you use the grill your gonna love it, the shelf, hell youll go outside just to stare at it..lol Cant wait to see the food your going to make!

 

[Mike]

Congrats on the new Rec Tec Bull @TrojanUSC1 and welcome to RecTecForum!

I started out without a front shelf on my RecTec Bull and it didn't take long for me to realize how much I wanted one. Glad I have one on mine now.

 

[TrojanUSC1]

Welp, first cook went really well. By day from Wednesday:

1. Assembly @ midnight
2. Deviled Eggs before work (Cuz... it's all I had. Mesquite smoking these for over an hour was WAY overkill)
3. Brisket from Specialty Market (dry brined and dry rubbed myself)
4. Chicken Drumsticks (Costco, pre-marinated)
5. 2 STL Style Ribs (Costco, pre-marinated), Sausages, and Hot Dogs (why not?)

Everything turned out great. The ribs were so good even my wife ate some, and she hasn't eaten ribs in 20 years since my mom cooked them and she had to. I did go through a *ton* of pellets. For some of the longer cooks, I may foil wrap & oven them at a certain point. But that's also a hassle to swap probes etc so maybe ill just spend.

Next Steps:

• Retractable Power Cable (as another user posted and modded)
• Elongated smoke stack (Need to research, but right now it's smoking my whole backyard. Would love to tunnel it up/away so I can keep the smoker close to the main seating area)
• Calibrate probes (seemed mostly on, but would like to get it perfect)
• Test out the sear kit on some steaks!

Anyways, loving the grill. Thanks for the cool community here!

Edit: and yes, I'm coming around on the shelf!

 

[ericm007]

Very nice and congrats. I'm picking up my 590 tomorrow. Those Costco drumsticks are a good deal, especially if you can catch them when they're $2 off.

 

[gwrace1]

The nice thing about the shelf is it folds down. So if not needed it's out of the way. But from my perspective you can never have enough shelves. We ordered one with our 700. Congrats on the new grill.

 

[sherman]

Congrats on the new grill, but I thought Trojans preferred Traegers from Costco...

GO BRUINS!!!