Bull Replacement meat probes..........and some gripes.

[JohnDS]

Hello. My name is John. I'm new to the forum and pellet smoking in general. I've purchased the RT700 about 6 months ago and am mostly satisfied with it. I did a brisket my first cook with no water, no mopping or spraying, no wrapping, and no injecting on my first cook. I wanted to see how well it performed, so all i did was trim and rub with the "Joe Rub" and set it at 225. I gotta say the brisket really turned out great, and for a no hassle cook, I'm pretty impressed. I really love that rub and I wish I knew how to make it myself. Just for review purposes for anyone looking to purchase, I'll list my gripes.

- Would be nice if hopper lid opened the other way. It's kind of annoying holding a 40lb bag of pellets with the lid opening toward you and in your way if loading from the back. You can load from the side easier, but still have to switch sides to load the other side if you don't feel like reaching. An easy fix with the lid I assume, but still annoying.

- I feel like the legs that come with it were purposely built lousy so you are inclined to buy the upgrade. They wobble way too much for a $1000+ smoker and make it top heavy. The upgrade should have came standard.

- I purchased the "cold smoke box" with the smoker, but I haven't even installed it after watching you tube videos. It looks like the bottom rack is the only rack that stays cold enough to cold smoke. So I assume that's why RecTec changed the name from "cold smoker box" to "smoker box". It's kind of useless I think.

- The app needs a serious update which I see a lot of people complaining about. It keeps saying device disconnect which is annoying. But the app does work well otherwise.

- Inside the hopper where the seams seal, some of them are welded and some are high temp silicone. I don't understand why it was not completely welded, as I notice when changing pellets or when the hopper gets empty, the silicon starts flaking off into the pellets.

- Email communication. I had emailed RecTec with a lot of questions before I had purchased, and never got a response.

- Finally, the reason why I'm here is that I notice it is not regular 3mm connections where the meat probes plug in, so I am having a hard time finding a replacement meat probe since one of them is sporadically fluctuating in temperature and not reading steady and accurately. I assume this was done purposely as well since meat probes in general don't last long. Do they sell an attachment that plugs into the rectec ports that can match up to a regular 3mm plug in meat probe so I can purchase regular probes? Also, I would love to hear anyone else's opinion on my gripes as well. Thank you.

 

[Stile 88]

Have you called rectec with these concerns ?? i would be very interested on how they answer you and take care of you on this. i have yet to buy and am waiting for this big announcement

 

[JohnDS]

I haven't called them. The smoker is 6 months old and I should have complained when I first purchased. I am happy with the way it performs though, which is the important thing. By the way, I did email them about the meat probe and they just called me and are sending me a new one. So I am thankful for that.

But I still would like to know if anyone can specify what type of male plugs are on the end of these rectec meat probes so I can find a connector that works with the regular male 3mm or 3.5mm meat probes that you see on amazon. Anyone?

 

[Mike]

First and foremost, welcome to RecTecForum @JohnDS!

Glad to hear your brisket turned out well. I'm hoping to cook my first brisket soon and will probably use the same "no fuss" method for my first try.

You bring up some good points and I'll add my two cents to some of them if you don't mind.

Would be nice if hopper lid opened the other way. It's kind of annoying holding a 40lb bag of pellets with the lid opening toward you and in your way if loading from the back. You can load from the side easier, but still have to switch sides to load the other side if you don't feel like reaching. An easy fix with the lid I assume, but still annoying.

When I cook, my grill is up against the deck railing or the house so I've never loaded my grill from behind but if you're doing it that way I could see how this would be a bit of a problem.

My suggestion would be to load the from the side. This is how I've always loaded it and haven't had any issues. Which is probably why I don't mind how the lid opens.

I feel like the legs that come with it were purposely built lousy so you are inclined to buy the upgrade. They wobble way too much for a $1000+ smoker and make it top heavy. The upgrade should have came standard.

I fully agree the legs on the Rec Tec Bull need some attention. It didn't take but a couple days after owning my Bull grill and tipping it over on a concrete floor. Luckily I caught it so no damage, but yes the grill is certainly top heavy.

Does it need the comp cart? In my opinion probably not. I don't think it needs to go to that level but Rec Tec could improve on the legs a bit. Sturdier wheels, wider base would go a long way.

This is why I recommend all Rec Tec Bull owners to at least do the Rec Tec Wheel Mod.

The app needs a serious update which I see a lot of people complaining about. It keeps saying device disconnect which is annoying. But the app does work well otherwise.

The app could certainly use an update. The fact it just outright won't work when setting it up because of a 5Ghz wifi is annoying. The disconnect messages is also annoying. I get it if my phone has been locked, unlock the phone and the message is there and it will then either re-connect or I'll have to close and re-open the app.

Email communication. I had emailed RecTec with a lot of questions before I had purchased, and never got a response.

I've never tried emailing them so I can't comment on that but I have called them a time or two and they are fantastic.

All in all I would agree with @Stile 88 and to voice our concerns with Rec Tec. The times I've talked with them on the phone they all seem to be very responsive and willing to listen. The more of use that tell them the more likely they are to make changes.

 

[navydroid]

If you call them about the temp probe, they will replace it. Part of it being so expensive is the warranty. I've had mine for 6 months and they replaced my controller. Call them. They're customer service on the phone is awesome.

 

[Burq57]

Hello. My name is John. I'm new to the forum and pellet smoking in general. I've purchased the RT700 about 6 months ago and am mostly satisfied with it. I did a brisket my first cook with no water, no mopping or spraying, no wrapping, and no injecting on my first cook. I wanted to see how well it performed, so all i did was trim and rub with the "Joe Rub" and set it at 225. I gotta say the brisket really turned out great, and for a no hassle cook, I'm pretty impressed. I really love that rub and I wish I knew how to make it myself. Just for review purposes for anyone looking to purchase, I'll list my gripes.

- Would be nice if hopper lid opened the other way. It's kind of annoying holding a 40lb bag of pellets with the lid opening toward you and in your way if loading from the back. You can load from the side easier, but still have to switch sides to load the other side if you don't feel like reaching. An easy fix with the lid I assume, but still annoying.

- I feel like the legs that come with it were purposely built lousy so you are inclined to buy the upgrade. They wobble way too much for a $1000+ smoker and make it top heavy. The upgrade should have came standard.

- I purchased the "cold smoke box" with the smoker, but I haven't even installed it after watching you tube videos. It looks like the bottom rack is the only rack that stays cold enough to cold smoke. So I assume that's why RecTec changed the name from "cold smoker box" to "smoker box". It's kind of useless I think.

- The app needs a serious update which I see a lot of people complaining about. It keeps saying device disconnect which is annoying. But the app does work well otherwise.

- Inside the hopper where the seams seal, some of them are welded and some are high temp silicone. I don't understand why it was not completely welded, as I notice when changing pellets or when the hopper gets empty, the silicon starts flaking off into the pellets.

- Email communication. I had emailed RecTec with a lot of questions before I had purchased, and never got a response.

- Finally, the reason why I'm here is that I notice it is not regular 3mm connections where the meat probes plug in, so I am having a hard time finding a replacement meat probe since one of them is sporadically fluctuating in temperature and not reading steady and accurately. I assume this was done purposely as well since meat probes in general don't last long. Do they sell an attachment that plugs into the rectec ports that can match up to a regular 3mm plug in meat probe so I can purchase regular probes? Also, I would love to hear anyone else's opinion on my gripes as well. Thank you.

I was in Walmart yesterday and saw they sell temperature probes with the 3mm plugs. The price was $8.89 for two. I did not take a close look st them, but you might want to check it out.

 

[Uncle Bob]

Another supporting rec for phoning in. Yes, it takes a bit more time than email might seem, but they do respond to the call well. I only have one issue with the wifi, nothing like what others have noted. I can't turn on mine from the phone though all other functions work fine. We spent maybe half an hour on the phone while they worked their question tree and we fiddled with deleting the app from the phone and reloading. Nada. Also, they had me open the bottom panel to access the board and detach the antenna from the board edge to have it dangle, supposedly to make it receive the signal better. No change. After the call I uploaded the app to my wife's phone and damned if it didn't work fine, so perhaps the glitch is something in my phone. That may not help you directly, it's just to show their support is committed to working an issue.

 

[Grilltreats]

I haven't called them. The smoker is 6 months old and I should have complained when I first purchased. I am happy with the way it performs though, which is the important thing. By the way, I did email them about the meat probe and they just called me and are sending me a new one. So I am thankful for that.

But I still would like to know if anyone can specify what type of male plugs are on the end of these rectec meat probes so I can find a connector that works with the regular male 3mm or 3.5mm meat probes that you see on amazon. Anyone?

Well, I suppose those are some good cherry picked points JohnDS. I don't really mind any of those points you brought up myself, considering what the cost was verses the quality of the build.

My grill is also up against a wall as other have mentioned, so I do the side load, and it is easy to do.

I did place a black ty-wrap on the bottom of the nose ring because the clanking of it tested my nerves due to the loose fit of the legs, so I'll have to back you on that point.

I have not had any issues with the probes in my seven months of ownership now. I have calibrated them and they work beautifully for me. If they do give trouble, it is just a quick call on the support line to have another set on the way to me. Remember it is a six year bumper-to-bumper warranty.

The application has worked flawlessly from day one for me. This was after a learning curve to get my router configured for 2.4ghz. All three alarms sound off if hit, and I don't lose connection. It just works quite well. However, I do use an Android phone. I have read about many issues with the iOS platform.

Not a perfect grill by any means, but quite a good one. You would have to spend near $5000 for something like a Memphis to get a grill with similar control features.

I am very happy with my RT-700, and oh yes, it will cook a tasty, tasty brisket!!!