New DualFire owner - disappointed?

[SacSmoker]

Hello,

I’m a new pellet grill, dual fire owner. I only had propane/ briquette grills, and I have a wood chip master built smoker with cold smoker attachment.

The grill itself is very neat, but Iwas disappointed it didn’t come with rope seals like traegers, and I expected it to be dual wall, which it wasn’t for the price. Either way I’ve added lavarock and I highly recommend that. I will also be ordering the high temp RTV because there’s a lot of smoke leakage between chambers. There’s also an open hole on the direct heat side which I have plugged with another bolt and washer. Speaking of washers, I’ve added more stainless washed on the inside, as you only get one.

For the “direct heat” side, it’s kind of a gimmick. Doesn’t sear or smoke any better than the other side. It’s mostly a small chamber to conserve pellets IMO.

Tried smoking pork ribs today, it not used to this lack of smoke. Maybe because I’m used to thick white smoke my master built puts out, but the recteq feels more like an oven. I’ve filled their 6” smoke tube with wood chips and that seemed to help get some visible smoke and smell. I’m running the grill on low at 180*, and I reduced the minimum pellet feed rate to 2%, back from 3.5% factory. (2% on “direct heat” and 3.5% on smoker side from factory)

Either way I like the grill and I will find a way to make it work, especially for the price I’ve paid.

Any tips from recteq vets to get more smoke is welcome.

Dog was scared of the grill lol!

 

[Motodad1776]

White smoke isn't clean smoke, you want light bluish to almost clear.......that is clean burning. Some reports of this machine not producing much smoke which I find interesting, and some of the build quality reported on the new model grills seems a bit lackluster. Love the pup by the way and yeah seems a bit freaked out, and welcome to the forum. Best thing to do is call Recteq "don't email" and report your experience and findings to them......this forum isn't affiliated with Recteq.

 

[C. Keeper]

Hello,

I’m a new pellet grill, dual fire owner. I only had propane/ briquette grills, and I have a wood chip master built smoker with cold smoker attachment.

The grill itself is very neat, but Iwas disappointed it didn’t come with rope seals like traegers, and I expected it to be dual wall, which it wasn’t for the price. Either way I’ve added lavarock and I highly recommend that. I will also be ordering the high temp RTV because there’s a lot of smoke leakage between chambers. There’s also an open hole on the direct heat side which I have plugged with another bolt and washer. Speaking of washers, I’ve added more stainless washed on the inside, as you only get one.

For the “direct heat” side, it’s kind of a gimmick. Doesn’t sear or smoke any better than the other side. It’s mostly a small chamber to conserve pellets IMO.

Tried smoking pork ribs today, it not used to this lack of smoke. Maybe because I’m used to thick white smoke my master built puts out, but the recteq feels more like an oven. I’ve filled their 6” smoke tube with wood chips and that seemed to help get some visible smoke and smell. I’m running the grill on low at 180*, and I reduced the minimum pellet feed rate to 2%, back from 3.5% factory. (2% on “direct heat” and 3.5% on smoker side from factory)

Either way I like the grill and I will find a way to make it work, especially for the price I’ve paid.

Any tips from recteq vets to get more smoke is welcome.

Dog was scared of the grill lol!

View attachment 23373

Please, don't smoke the puppy.

 

[C. Keeper]

White smoke isn't clean smoke, you want light bluish to almost clear.......that is clean burning. Some reports of this machine not producing much smoke which I find interesting, and some of the build quality reported on the new model grills seems a bit lackluster. Love the pup by the way and yeah seems a bit freaked out, and welcome to the forum. Best thing to do is call Recteq "don't email" and report your experience and findings to them......this forum isn't affiliated with Recteq.

The puppy is freaked out due to poor build quality.

 

[SacSmoker]

Please, don't smoke the puppy.

We’re not in Springfield

 

[TheRicker]

Hello,

I’m a new pellet grill, dual fire owner. I only had propane/ briquette grills, and I have a wood chip master built smoker with cold smoker attachment.

The grill itself is very neat, but Iwas disappointed it didn’t come with rope seals like traegers, and I expected it to be dual wall, which it wasn’t for the price. Either way I’ve added lavarock and I highly recommend that. I will also be ordering the high temp RTV because there’s a lot of smoke leakage between chambers. There’s also an open hole on the direct heat side which I have plugged with another bolt and washer. Speaking of washers, I’ve added more stainless washed on the inside, as you only get one.

For the “direct heat” side, it’s kind of a gimmick. Doesn’t sear or smoke any better than the other side. It’s mostly a small chamber to conserve pellets IMO.

Tried smoking pork ribs today, it not used to this lack of smoke. Maybe because I’m used to thick white smoke my master built puts out, but the recteq feels more like an oven. I’ve filled their 6” smoke tube with wood chips and that seemed to help get some visible smoke and smell. I’m running the grill on low at 180*, and I reduced the minimum pellet feed rate to 2%, back from 3.5% factory. (2% on “direct heat” and 3.5% on smoker side from factory)

Either way I like the grill and I will find a way to make it work, especially for the price I’ve paid.

Any tips from recteq vets to get more smoke is welcome.

Dog was scared of the grill lol!

View attachment 23373

Welcome to the forum.

So did you add lava rock on the direct cook side?

That “open hole” may have been for a temperature probe.

The direct heat side also does not have the grease management that he direct side has. So be mindful of that if you consider doing anything fatty low and slow on that side.

I do hope the grill will work for you in the long run. Please keep us posted as you progress through your journey.

 

[SacSmoker]

Welcome to the forum.

So did you add lava rock on the direct cook side?

That “open hole” may have been for a temperature probe.

The direct heat side also does not have the grease management that he direct side has. So be mindful of that if you consider doing anything fatty low and slow on that side.

I do hope the grill will work for you in the long run. Please keep us posted as you progress through your journey.

They do have a notched cover for the probe for the direct heat side. But the hole was separate, definitely on purpose as the shelf has a notch for it also.

I’ve added lava rock to both hatches.

In future will RTV inside the barrel as there’s leakage between the chambers. I know you want to have some draft, but the smoke pours out of everything.

After cooking the ribs, could see a smoke ring, but no smoke flavor I would except, like out of my Masterbuilt chip smoker.

 

[Nikeguy53]

I have noticed the more you use it the better the smoke you will see and taste.

 

[Ol' Smokey]

I’ve filled their 6” smoke tube with wood chips and that seemed to help get some visible smoke and smell.

In future will RTV inside the barrel as there’s leakage between the chambers. I know you want to have some draft, but the smoke pours out of everything.


Which is it? Add a smoke tube to get visible smoke, or smoke pours out of everything?

 

[SacSmoker]

I’ve filled their 6” smoke tube with wood chips and that seemed to help get some visible smoke and smell.

In future will RTV inside the barrel as there’s leakage between the chambers. I know you want to have some draft, but the smoke pours out of everything.


Which is it? Add a smoke tube to get visible smoke, or smoke pours out of everything?

Both, get more smoke and only have it come out of the chimney.

 

[RPopeilFan]

So, as a recent convert myself, I will say that you should not expect air control like a traditional smoker nor smoke flavor at the same temps. The fan pushes more air than the stack can handle and flows more than you would want from stick or charcoal smoker. In the end it is a pellet heated oven. When I tried sealing my 1250 like a stick burner I got worse results not better. In the end I decided to drink beers and enjoy the patterns the smoke makes as it leaks around the door.

 

[C. Keeper]

So, as a recent convert myself, I will say that you should not expect air control like a traditional smoker nor smoke flavor at the same temps. The fan pushes more air than the stack can handle and flows more than you would want from stick or charcoal smoker. In the end it is a pellet heated oven. When I tried sealing my 1250 like a stick burner I got worse results not better. In the end I decided to drink beers and enjoy the patterns the smoke makes as it leaks around the door.

I love your style

 

[SacSmoker]

Well took it apart for the first time to clean and it looks like there’s burn back in the direct heat side.

Had about 2-3 short high temp cooks in it. Stock settings, lumberjack char pellets. Does this look normal? Indirect heat side for reference.

 

[Waterboy]

I don’t know that it is normal to have it burn back that far but there are typically a few charred ends of the pellets in my grills. I’ve had back burn a few times though which is why I always check the grill 15-30 minutes after shutdown. I final installed a camera to be able to check my grills without having to go out there.

 

[Beach Bum]

Well took it apart for the first time to clean and it looks like there’s burn back in the direct heat side.

Had about 2-3 short high temp cooks in it. Stock settings, lumberjack char pellets. Does this look normal? Indirect heat side for reference.

View attachment 23393

View attachment 23394

View attachment 23395

How high is your cook temperature? When you shut down, are you staggering the temperature down or going straight to shut off? When I run either of our RT grills at 300 or above, I always bring the temperature down in steps to about 250, then I shut down. I had one back burn in the B380X going from 400+ to shutdown. Then I changed my approach after some advice.

 

[SacSmoker]

After this last cook, I stage down the temp to 250, but the fire was already in the auger tube.

 

[TheRicker]

Stepping down the temp before shutting down from a high heat cook is highly recommended. But I’m wondering if there’s grease getting in the fire pot since you’re referring to the direct heat side where there’s no grease capture or management taking place? I’m guessing grease could drop straight down into the fire pot?