Bull New Beginnings

[MeatMeister]

Hello, everyone from the GREAT STATE of TEXAS. I have been lurking this forum for the last couple of months debating whether I was going to go against my long held belief that pellet smoking is cheating in inauthentic. I have been working with stick smokers for my whole life and thought pellets were not real wood and therefore not real smoking. Well, after having a neighbor smoke a brisket for me on his pellet grill, I was sold on the final product. Once I decided to spend more $ then my wife would be happy about, all of my research led e to THE BULL for my budget.
Im beyond excited and grateful for the info I have received on this forum. Cant wait to get my Bull smoking and try some of these recipes I have seen on here. I ordered the 700 with cover and front shelf as well as the Matador ($100 off). I have a few questions in regard to my order...
1- What sort of cover do you recommend for the Matador? Has anyone found a good flat griddle for it?
2- Is the Sear Kit worth the $ or will i just end up using my BGE with charcoal for that purpose
3- One of my misgivings about pellet grills has always been that the pellets are PROCESSED and not pure wood. Which pellets do you recommend to ensure consistent results?
4- Wheel Mod on new RecTec? I have seen plans on this forum for the old legged 700 but wondering if anyone has done with the new model.
5- probes- Are the factory probes sufficient or do most people upgrade them?
6- any other MUST HAVE accessories?
THANKS SO MUCH FOR ALL OF THE GUIDANCE

T

 

[Bif Hunkly]

Welcome from Smithville! I only have a few answers:
3. I've only been using RecTeq pellets (I think they are made by "Cookin Pellets") but they have been outstanding.
4. I bought the competition cart and love it. I then turned my leftover legs into a cart.
5. I bought a ThermoWorks Signals and freakin' love it. I don't bother with the RecTeq meat probes anymore. ThermoWorks has sales all of the time so if you wait long enough, you'll get a good price for it. You might pick up an extra ThermoWorks air probe in case you aren't paying attention and accidentally touch the probe to a grate and blow the probe... not that I'm speaking from experience...

 

[MeatMeister]

Welcome from Smithville! I only have a few answers:
3. I've only been using RecTeq pellets (I think they are made by "Cookin Pellets") but they have been outstanding.
4. I bought the competition cart and love it. I then turned my leftover legs into a cart.
5. I bought a ThermoWorks Signals and freakin' love it. I don't bother with the RecTeq meat probes anymore. ThermoWorks has sales all of the time so if you wait long enough, you'll get a good price for it. You might pick up an extra ThermoWorks air probe in case you aren't paying attention and accidentally touch the probe to a grate and blow the probe... not that I'm speaking from experience...

Awesome info thank you for your time. are the thermoworks wifi or bluetooth or what? I liked the idea of monitoring tems from my couch

 

[mooncusser2k]

You'll enjoy the Bull, it's a solid unit and produces great results. Waiting for yours to arrive will be hard.

Re #3: Lumberjack is popular and gives great results. Kingsford is what RT now promotes and many of us have had good results from them. Bear Mountain is another popular choice, and others go with PitBoss competition blend because 40lb bags are available under $20 (eg, Lowe's).

Re #4: Modifying the current wide leg design isn't as easy as the old straight leg version. You can still swap out the swivel casters easily enough. (And you may need to if you move the grill regularly - more than one of us had the stock ones fail.) Swapping out the fixed wheels is more complicated. Some have come up ways to do it, posts are out there (use the Search tool).

Re #5: The stock Recteq probes can be calibrated and are fine to get you in the area. No real need to "upgrade" what you'd plug into RT's controller. Many of us will use a separate instant-read thermometer for accuracy once the RT probes get in the ballpark. The instant-read also helps probe for tenderness.

Some of us also have a separate remote thermometer, like the Thermoworks unit mentioned. Other popular options available from Fireboard and Inkbird (last year their 4-probe WiFI model went on sale for $50). Plenty of options out there including WiFi, Bluetooth, some with both, and some with a dedicated receiver (sometimes called pager-style). None of these are required, but they can offer some capabilities Recteq's app doesn't. They're also a backup for situations when RT's alerts aren't working, which has happened lately.

Re #6: The front shelf is a must-have. You may also want to invest in a bigger refrigerator and bigger pants.

 

[MeatMeister]

Thanks so much for taking the time to fill me in. I think I have watched every rectec related video online and I’m itching to get this Bull on my patio. Looking forward to continuing my education. Thanks again. God Bless.

 

[ThatGuy]

Congrats on the new smoker.

A lot of folks on this forum have sealed their lids with high temp gasket material. I did the day I assembled mine and don't regret it. It really helps keep the smoke on the meat and the stainless looking, well...stainless.

You may already have these, but a really economical item I use more than I thought I would is a couple of wire baskets. They are very handy when moving products on/off or around the smoker.

These non-stick mats are pretty useful too. They fit in the baskets mentioned above and can be used directly on the smoker grates as well. Mine have proven to be quite durable.

All the best

 

[We'reSmokin'Now]

You may also want to invest in a bigger refrigerator and bigger pants.

Seriously!

Congrats on your Bull....these things are awesome.

 

[MeatMeister]

All great and useful information. Thank you for your advice.

 

[BigD'sBBQ]

I've had my Bull for several weeks now...also watched every recteq vid known to man...lol I sealed the lid and hopper while assembling which I'm glad I did. Saves having to clean all the grime to get the lavalock to stick. When you get the outer shelf it hides the bullring completely when down and pretty much when it's up too, so I moved the ring to the front of the new shelf. Also a must have is the sear kit...very impressed. The grill temp got to over 600 and was still climbing. Get them from the grillgrate website though, they are a bit cheaper and there are promo codes for 10% off. I think I paid 84 dollars shipped to TX. Also bought the the cooking mats but haven't used them yet...hope that helps!!

 

[Bif Hunkly]

Awesome info thank you for your time. are the thermoworks wifi or bluetooth or what? I liked the idea of monitoring tems from my couch

Sorry for the delay - bought a new Canon camera and have been busy reading up on it. I believe I've hit that point in life where technology is officially going over my head. Now I can relate to my parents when they always had me set the VCR clock...

The Signals is both wifi and bluetooth. I believe it tries to use wifi first and if something goes wrong or it's not available, it switches to bluetooth. It's worth the price of admission.