Stampede Rec Tec Stampede Review

[Mike]

If you're looking for an independent review of the Rec Tec Stampede (RT-590) then be sure to check out the video review below.

I was really looking at the Rec Tec Stampede and the Rec Tec Bull when I was in the market for a new grill and only ended up going with the Bull due to the larger size. Otherwise, after watching the Rec Tec Stampede review video, it looks like the Stampede would be a great fit for anyone that didn't need or want the larger capacity of the Bull.

Rec Tec Stampede review

 

[BigSmoke]

I have the Stampede and love it! The reason we went with the Stampede is the size, it's the perfect cooking space for my wife and I, and a few guests. It handles 3 racks of ribs easily. So far I haven't felt like I needed more cooking space. You actually get to use more of the available space because temperatures tend to be more uniform on a pellet grill compared to gas or charcoal.

 

[Uncle Bob]

I purposely waited awhile to post to this specific thread as I wanted to get some real time smoking experience so as to not fall victim to confirmational bias supporting the "wisdom" of my choice. When I went shopping for a pellet smoker the things I read lead me to look for a PID temp monitoring system. That narrowed the field quickly, especially at the price point I was comfortable with. Once I brought my focus on RT it became a matter of choosing between the Stampede and the Bull. Both struck me as high performance (relatively speaking) units with good performance. The easy choice would have been the Bull since having more capacity, even though not immediately necessary, is useful. But my patio already has a fairly well equipped "kitchen" with cabinets/counter space, a kamado, and gas grille along with a typical array of furniture. Given the space I had available the Stampede was a better fit, though the Bull is only a bit longer/bigger. As it turns out the Stampede is just great. Most often it's just my bride and I which barely challenges the size at all. When we entertain we rarely have more than 6 to 8 others. In reality there's only about 6 inches of additional grate width (approx. 20 inch depth) in the Bull over the Stampede. While that can be useful, it's hardly a game changer.

After a couple months of use doing ribs, roasts, pizza, chicken, steaks and burgers we're just tickled for the most part with the Stampede. The additional warrantee length of the Bull was tempting, but considering that the control system is essentially the same, and the build/material is near identical, as a practical matter there's little additional risk with the Stampede. If I'd had the space I might have chosen the Bull anyway, both are top notch IMO.