Stampede One mans trials with pellet smokers.

[Gpsman007]

This story begins in the late 80’s when i used a weber charcoal grill and an electric brinkman bullet smoker of which both gave excellent results. Then one day i saw a traeger at my local meat shop and was both intrigued at the possibilities and dismayed at the cost of such a grill. Time went by the brinkman died and so i bought another bullet type smoker which i thought was similar but better but would i soon find out was not. Smoking 4 butts for sons graduation party i took the lid iff to find a black sheet lying over the meat which turned out to be the paint off the inside. I returned this smoker and went in search of one of these new Fangled pellet smokers. I ended up with a Louisiana Grill which i believed to be made better than a traeger. I had excellent results with the Louisiana grill and this was kept on a covered porch but it soon rusted out and was trashed during a move. Next up went to broil king gas grill and a pitt boss upright pellet smoker which did a good job if you could keep it running. Year one replaced the controller, year 2 the auger motor and internal probe and then more issues with controller. Out with the pit boss and an oath to never buy pit boss again. Finally here i am a toss up between a green mountain DB or the Recteq. Dont know why but just never could buy the traeger a mental thing i guess. I now own the RT 590 and so far so good. 1 cook thighs which were great. Cook 2 pork butts again great. Cook 3 pork chops and spares awesome. We shall see over the next few years and I will post updates here. I reminisce of the days of that hand-me-down electric brinkman which was well made, worked great…yes you had to stay with them and keep throwing in wood but nobody ever said you might need a smoke tube for your smoker. Anyway the search for the perfect meat smoker has brought me here…for now.

 

[Beach Bum]

Great story. My first smoker was a small Brinkman about 30 years ago.

 

[Stratratbj96]

My first one was an Acorn from Lowe’s. I bought it for my son birthday but he was still living at home. We had some good times cooking together on it and that thing would hold 225 for 8 hours on a hand full of lump charcoal and a couple of blocks of mesquit. We made some damn good ribs and pork butts on it. He took it with him when he got married and moved across town. So now I’m waiting on a RT-1250. It will be my first pellet smoker. Looking forward to getting back in the groove!

 

[sdynak]

Great story & good call on the Traeger. I owned 2 and had various issues with both and they did not perform. I'm sure I could have put some $ into them and get on par with a RecTeq but decided to make the move. Product is ok.. I'm sure others out there compare and the warranty can't be beat. The company seems to be going in the wrong direction as far as customers but that is a separate discussion.

 

[Dano]

My first pellet grill was a Daniel Boone made by Green Mountain. Fantastic grill! So good I had 5-6 or so friends purchase the same model from the same place I purchased it for the referral I got a free 40 lb. bag of pellets.

5 years went by and one day when I was vacuuming out the ash I noticed rusted out area on the belly of the smoker behind the fire box. Only had a 3 year warranty. Called Green Mountain asked about the warranty. No luck. They basically said I should grease the belly with fat and that would have prevented the rusting out of the grill.

Started to research other pellet grills. About 3 years ago I purchased a 590 and so far I can’t be happier. Quality of the product is second to none as is the customer service. Any of the few issues I have ever had is addressed by RecTeq quickly and promptly. This is a very satisfied RecTeq owner.

 

[ol' stonebreaker]

I first bought a used Traeger and started out having temp issues, thought "OK, this is used". Ended up replacing every part possible to no avail, so gave it away and bought the 340. Initially had temp swings but got rid of the Traeger pellets I was using and, on my son's recommendation, bought Pit Boss and have been a happy camper ever since. Moral: not all pellets are created equal.

 

[Gpsman007]

This story begins in the late 80’s when i used a weber charcoal grill and an electric brinkman bullet smoker of which both gave excellent results. Then one day i saw a traeger at my local meat shop and was both intrigued at the possibilities and dismayed at the cost of such a grill. Time went by the brinkman died and so i bought another bullet type smoker which i thought was similar but better but would i soon find out was not. Smoking 4 butts for sons graduation party i took the lid iff to find a black sheet lying over the meat which turned out to be the paint off the inside. I returned this smoker and went in search of one of these new Fangled pellet smokers. I ended up with a Louisiana Grill which i believed to be made better than a traeger. I had excellent results with the Louisiana grill and this was kept on a covered porch but it soon rusted out and was trashed during a move. Next up went to broil king gas grill and a pitt boss upright pellet smoker which did a good job if you could keep it running. Year one replaced the controller, year 2 the auger motor and internal probe and then more issues with controller. Out with the pit boss and an oath to never buy pit boss again. Finally here i am a toss up between a green mountain DB or the Recteq. Dont know why but just never could buy the traeger a mental thing i guess. I now own the RT 590 and so far so good. 1 cook thighs which were great. Cook 2 pork butts again great. Cook 3 pork chops and spares awesome. We shall see over the next few years and I will post updates here. I reminisce of the days of that hand-me-down electric brinkman which was well made, worked great…yes you had to stay with them and keep throwing in wood but nobody ever said you might need a smoke tube for your smoker. Anyway the search for the perfect meat smoker has brought me here…for now.

Update: a month ago i had a couple of butts smokin on the 590 and watchin the temps on the app. When i check the app at around 2:00 message said wifi signal lost which is not uncommon cause bad internet in my area. Got home around 3 to discover my recteq had been stolen along with the butts. Nothing is safe anymore. Loved the 590 much but am moving up to 700. We will see how this plays out

 

[DesertRat]

Just to follow up on stone breakers comments, and Administrators, delete if this is out of line, but I just went to Home Depot. They had a whole aisle full of Traeger pellets on sale. They were marked down to I believe it was $17 and change. I thought, well, I’ve never had Traeger pellets but this might be a good time to try them. What’s left of my brain calculated that 17 or $18 for a 40 pound bag was not a bad deal. Then I went over to pick them up. 20 pound bags! Some bargain!