recteq X-Fire Pro 825

[garmp]

Where might I see one to kick the tires, so to speak, in/near the St. Louis, MO area?

 

[jpicc1]

Long time gas griller and also BGE owner. Total newbie on pellet grills. Just got the fire-pro 825 the Saturday before Mothers Day. Main reasons were my gas grill was 15 years old and had seen better days and I had bought one of my daughters a Traeger Ironwood for Xmas - which she raves about. I've so far done 6 cooks on it. They are in order :

1. Beer Can Chicken
2. Reverse Seer NY strips
3. marinated shrimp on skewers
4. grilled pork chops
5. roast pork loin
6. burgers and dogs

Let me start off by saying I was learning as I was cooking so some of my experiences may be learning curve.

The positives I've seen so far are :

• Every single item was delicious. They were all moist/juicy and cooked at the right level.
• Included probes seem pretty accurate compared with others I've used in the past.
• Knobs and controls are pretty self explanatory.
• App pretty easy to use
• Have not experienced any grease fires yet but also have not done any long term smokes yet.

The negatives I've seen so far :

• Not much if any smoke flavor - one of the reasons I went from gas to pellets. Also not much visible smoke during cook - don't know if this is normal for a pellet grill.
• So far fairly small high temp zone when opening the grill up all the way - really only about 8 linear inches on the high temp side. Don't know if this can be adjusted somehow in the fire box to give a wider heat radiance or this is how it is.
• IMO the grates on the high temp side need to be able to be lowered a bit to take full advantage of the quite serious heat being generated by the fire below. Using a laser temperature gauge, I was showing only about 480 at the grate after about 20 minutes vs off the chart down at the fire box.

I short I am still learning and have not come to any final conclusions. Would love to hear any insights from long time pellet guys.

 

[MOSmoke]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experiences with the new X-Fire. Many of us are always interested in the feedback on the new products as they are released. In reading through your comments I noticed that you didn’t think that there was much smoke flavor imparted in your cooks. Based on the list you provided it seems like your cooks were most likely done at higher temperatures. A pellet grill will never replace a stick burner for smoke profile, but I will also add that once you get above 275 degrees you’re not going to get a lot of smoke flavor on a pellet grill. They really make their magic on low and slow cooks. I’m curious how the X-Fire performs on something like ribs, pork butt or brisket that requires more time. Happy grilling and please keep us updated on your results.

Cheers!!

 

[garmp]

But how is it to clean? Grease pan under pellet smoker portion, the flame portion, both?
I like slow cooking, but occasionally a hot grill is needed. Would this fill the bill or just stay with my 590 and the old gas grill?

 

[Jim6820]

or just stay with my 590 and the old gas grill?

That would certainly be my choice.