Patio Legend vs Deck Boss

[SantaCruzJoe]

I'm about to take the plunge and buy my first pellet smoker and I've zeroed in on Recteq. It is just myself and my wife so I don't have need for a large grill for cooking. I'm trying to decide between the Patio Legend and Deck Boss. I think the Patio Legend will be big enough but I'm wondering if the Deck Boss provides anything other than larger cooking area and a larger pellet hopper? According to the description of each grill, the Patio Legend takes 20 minutes to assemble while the Deck Boss takes 60 minutes so I'm wondering what is different and if it is something I need.. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[SmokeZilla]

I'm about to take the plunge and buy my first pellet smoker and I've zeroed in on Recteq. It is just myself and my wife so I don't have need for a large grill for cooking. I'm trying to decide between the Patio Legend and Deck Boss. I think the Patio Legend will be big enough but I'm wondering if the Deck Boss provides anything other than larger cooking area and a larger pellet hopper? According to the description of each grill, the Patio Legend takes 20 minutes to assemble while the Deck Boss takes 60 minutes so I'm wondering what is different and if it is something I need.. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

SantaCruzJoe,

Hello from SoCal. Congratulations on your pending purchase. I have the Bull so I can’t weigh in with any intelligence on your selection. If your experience is anything like mine, when you cook, the family and friends will pop out from behind the trees with smiles on their faces and forks in their hands. It is always better to have (space) and not need it than to need (space) and not have it. Another consideration is the size of the proteins that you may cook. Briskets, racks of ribs, roasts and spatchcocked chickens take up an amazing amount of space with you throw some asparagus, potatoes, a pot of beans or other sides on the grill so you can cook everything on one device. YMMV, good luck.

 

[C. Keeper]

Keep in mind height of the inside of the grill, too.
Will it fit a large whole turkey or a spiral ham?

 

[Jim6820]

I think @SmokeZilla has it right; when the choice is between smaller and a little bit larger, I’d opt for the extra space. Better to have it for those occasions when you might need it.

 

[Pacman]

x3 on the above. I opted for a 1250 when that was a thing. It was more or less in my comfort zone of price. I rarely fill the whole thing, but it's sure nice to have the space when I do. I definitely would not base purchase choice on assembly time as that's (hopefully) a one time deal. I took my time building mine with a pause to get the 6'4" SIL to come over to help me get it on it's feet. It still got completed in a little over an hour with no major mistakes that had to be undone along the way.

 

[SantaCruzJoe]

x3 on the above. I opted for a 1250 when that was a thing. It was more or less in my comfort zone of price. I rarely fill the whole thing, but it's sure nice to have the space when I do. I definitely would not base purchase choice on assembly time as that's (hopefully) a one time deal. I took my time building mine with a pause to get the 6'4" SIL to come over to help me get it on it's feet. It still got completed in a little over an hour with no major mistakes that had to be undone along the way.

Thanks. I wasn't using the assembly time to make a decision. I was just wondering what was different between the 2 grills to make such a difference in the assembly and would it make the deck boss have significantly better performance.

 

[PickleSmoke]

I'm new here and my reply is based on somewhat limited experience. That said, I went with a Deck Boss. My other smoker is a 22" weber smokey mountain and I never fully used the space.

The deck boss seemed like the right middle ground for me. I wanted the classic Bull but it was hundreds more and the deck boss will be plenty for just my wife and I.

If money isn't a barrier, I'd agree with the more experienced folks above - go bigger.

 

[RTFfan]

I got a 1250 and thought I would never fill it. Once my family and friends tried the food I did it quite often. Have done 10 racks of ribs and other large cooks. Moral of the story is, if you can afford it, go bigger

 

[Motodad1776]

Sometimes less is also more.......anything over the 590 would've been wasted space and a bigger footprint than I wanted. I have yet to want/need more cooking space, of course I don't cook in "mass quantities" like many here seem to regularly do. I previously had a PitBoss XL that was HUGE, I quickly realized after owning it for the first year, that I certainly didn't need all that cooking space. Great to have choices, that's a good problem to have.

 

[Almostgem]

I'm going to take a contrarian position. I find the 590 to be big enough for 2 people with a lot of room left over. Having said that I took the difference (plus a little more) and invested also in an B380X to use for hot and fast. Steaks mostly at 750 degrees. This way I don't have to worry about fires when setting to high temps from residual grease inside the smoker from low and slow chicken, beef, and pork cooks.