Bull RT 700 Questions

[parrot037]

Hi All!

I've been lurking here for some time and I think I'm going to order a Bull this weekend. (I got an email about some holiday specials!) I have a couple questions for the knowledgeable people on this forum. Many thanks to those who take the time to read and respond!

1: Do these grills really hold up outside? Mine will be outside year round in Ohio. Weather goes from 90's - 0F, wind, rain, ice, snow, even hail every once in awhile. It will be on an uncovered deck.

2: I'm not new to smoking, but somewhat new to pellet cookers. I understand the flavor can be lighter than charcaol/wood, but is there some smoke flavor? I don't want or need overpowering smoke, but I do want to taste it. (Honestly, I'm tired of tending the fire. I really want to try "set it and forget it" even if I sacrifice a little flavor). There is an actual fire in the fire pot, correct?

3: Lastly, I've read that using foil pans can upset air flow. Sometimes I will put pork shoulders, or turkeys on a small rack in an aluminum pan to catch drippings. Is this a problem? Just curious...

Thanks again to those who respond!

I hope everyone has a happy and safe Thanksgiving!

Parrot

 

[Waterboy]

Welcome @parrot037. I went from a drum smoker to a RT700 this past spring (my first pellet experience also). Here’s my take on your questions:

1. I Keep mine on a covered patio so I’m not sure how it will do on an uncovered patio other than to say I would invest in a good grill cover. I bought the Rec Teq cover but haven’t opened it yet as I’m covered on the patio. There are threads about covers on this forum where people recommend custom covers that may hold up better or are easier to put on/take off.

2. I have found the smoke flavor to be extremely light but much cleaner flavor than my drum produced. I’ve had no complaints about the flavor coming off the pellet grill from anyone but I find the smoke flavor a bit light for my taste. I haven’t spent a lot of time trying to enhance it though so it must not bother me that much. The ease and consistency of cooking on the Rec Teq outweighs any concern I have over the lack of smoke flavor.

3. I’ve used foil pans, wire racks, GrillGrates, pizza stones and have never had problems with airflow. You just have to make sure you stay over the drip tray and not get too close to the temp probe.

My switch to the Rec Teq has been awesome and has made smoking and grilling a lot more fun and my cooks have been a lot more successful. Hope this helps.

 

[DenStinett]

Hi All!

I've been lurking here for some time and I think I'm going to order a Bull this weekend. (I got an email about some holiday specials!) I have a couple questions for the knowledgeable people on this forum. Many thanks to those who take the time to read and respond!

1: Do these grills really hold up outside? Mine will be outside year round in Ohio. Weather goes from 90's - 0F, wind, rain, ice, snow, even hail every once in awhile. It will be on an uncovered deck.

2: I'm not new to smoking, but somewhat new to pellet cookers. I understand the flavor can be lighter than charcaol/wood, but is there some smoke flavor? I don't want or need overpowering smoke, but I do want to taste it. (Honestly, I'm tired of tending the fire. I really want to try "set it and forget it" even if I sacrifice a little flavor). There is an actual fire in the fire pot, correct?

3: Lastly, I've read that using foil pans can upset air flow. Sometimes I will put pork shoulders, or turkeys on a small rack in an aluminum pan to catch drippings. Is this a problem? Just curious...

Thanks again to those who respond!

I hope everyone has a happy and safe Thanksgiving!

Parrot

Welcome Parrot
1. Only had ours for a couple months, but the Cover looks pretty durable
2. We came here from an Offset / Stick Burner, and we get roughly the same taste, or maybe better,
because of the Fan / Convection Action of the Bull
3. Can't say about being "IN" the Pan, but you COULD put the Aluminum Pan on the Drip Pan, just below the Turkey and catch the Dripping that way !

Hope that helped
Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving

 

[motsco]

had my 680 since 2014. i barely covered it. has had 3 or 4 clogs, some ez to fix. most of them my fault. have only had 2 actual warranty problems due to things that where not my doing.
every time rec tec has been great in dealing with, and took care of all the problems under warranty.

still works great! probably better then most brand new pellets. rained on snowed on it’s seen it all.

they are the best out there for the money. i know i have looked and talked to many pellet grills and people.

 

[motsco]

not sure if this is allowed but here is a post i made on another forum when i purchased my old 680.
https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/i-baught-a-rectec-here-is-my-first-weekend-with-it.174103/

2. what most people said, the smoke flavor is light, i prefer it over my stick burner, less bark tasting.

3. you can use what u desire just make sure not to block the air flow that flows around the drip pan. you can kind of block it is fine.

 

[cookingjnj]

Hi Parrot.....

I will try to answer best I can.

1.) I have had my 680 (previous version of the Bull) for 5 years. It sits outside on a mostly uncovered deck. I do have a retractable awning. I live in NJ so have very similar weather patters as you have. The 680 had run like a charm through rain, snow, heat and worse of all wind without a problem.
2.) I am not a "strong" smoke flavor fan myself. I like to have a good smoke flavor but still get to taste the actual meat and rubs on the meat. On long cooks, there are many times I leave the house for errands etc. without worrying the pit is not doing it's thing. The RT fits that bill for me.
3.) I have used foil pans in the past to finish off large cuts of meat butts, brisket, chuck roast etc. and never have had a problem with air circulation, that I can tell. I no longer wrap ribs and have started to not wrap brisket or pork butts lately.

My thoughts on RT and the Bull. I love the pit and the grub that comes off of it. A great choice.

 

[Fhughes]

Hello and welcome. Mine is 2yrs old and only covered when it rains long periods. Sitting under a patio but still gets hit by some weather.
The flavor might be light for some but I have found it adequate and if more is needed just use a smoke tube.
I have used foil pans and large hotel pans 4” with a 2” steamer pan stacked to catch drippings.

 

[Mike]

Welcome and thanks for joining @parrot037!

While my recteq bull (rt-700) sits covered using a recteq cover under my covered deck, I can't really speak to how well it holds up since mine hardly even sees much of any weather. I would without a doubt, regardless of how well the recteq's are made, is to buy a grill cover. If for nothing else just a little bit of protection when not in use. Otherwise these things are very nicely built and come with an awesome warranty and customer service department.

As for smoke flavor, I would rate it about a medium. Certainly not over powering. One good thing is you can easily add more should you want to with the use of smoke tubes or something like the heavy d - should the smoke flavor be to light for your liking.

You shouldn't have any issues with foil pans. I know I haven't when I've used them.

Be sure to let us know when you've placed the order for your new recteq - I'm sure you're going to love it!

 

[parrot037]

Thanks for all the replies. I really appreciate everyone's input!

@Waterboy - I am a drum smoker myself and while I don't intend on abandoning it, sometimes it's a little labor intensive.

@motsco - thanks for the link. I do read on that forum a bit and enjoyed your post.

Just for clarification, I will buy a cover for the grill, but my deck is not covered (no roof). I was mainly concerned about the controller/electronics getting wet. I did email RecTeq and asked the same question. They assured me they are meant to be outside. They responded to my question within a couple hours!

Again, thanks to all who took the time to reply.

Parrot

 

[motsco]

my old 680 saw a ton of weather and abuse thats why i named it the “tank“. my neighbor owns it now, the ol tank is still rocking solid temps and great cooks.

as for my 700 well it’s going to be well tested by me. lol.

 

[TheRicker]

Parrot037,

I owned a Traeger BBQ075 for almost 15 years. I bought my RT-700 around April of this year. I always kept my wood pellet grills covered and in the garage when not in use...maybe not always covered but definitely in the garage. The main thing you need to be concerned with having the grill kept outdoors are the pellets absorbing any humidity or dampness and swelling. They will crumble and turn to sawdust. They won't feed properly either.

I gave my old Traeger to my brother recently and he keeps it outdoors. He covers it when not in use. But I recommended he dump the pellets from the hopper into a clean 5 gal paint bucket and store it in the garage with his bags of pellets...with the lid on. Any open bags of pellets should be kept in a (somewhat) tightly covered plastic bin. That's how I did it for all those years and did not had a problem with the pellets swelling or breaking down. So that's my biggest recommendation to you.

The old Traeger was starting to lose some of the powder coat about 3 or 4 years ago. So that's easily 10 years of use without ever doing any maintenance on the outside. The old Traeger I had did not have any stainless steel parts. My best guess is the RecTeq will last longer...at least the key components and the cooking chamber.

Don't know if this helps at all. I hope keeping it outdoors works out.

 

[parrot037]

Thanks for the info. I did not think about the pellets absorbing moisture. I'll have to keep an eye that.

I will be able to store the Bull in my shed if I'm not using it for a longer period of time. It just wouldn't be convenient to move it from the shed to the deck every time I want to smoke something. With the convenience of using pellets grills, I'm guessing I'll want to use it a lot!

Thanks and happy Thanksgiving!

 

[gwrace1]

I have a Napoleon stainless gas grill that lives on our covered back porch in south Texas. I don't cover it. We don't get the weather extremes that you do in Ohio. Grew up in Ohio so I know where your coming from. If you decide to go the cover route make sure you get one that allows plenty of airflow. Covers can do more harm than good if they hold in moisture and cause rusting. After two years our gas grill shows no signs of rust. I just wipe it down occasionally to keep the dust and dirt off it. We plan to order our Bull this weekend. Just waiting to see what shows up for the cyber discounts. Really like what I have read so far.

 

[DenStinett]

Our Bull sits on an uncovered Patio here in Northern Utah

As stated, we've only had ours a few months, but we've had two light Snows of approx. 1" accum each
One sat directly on the Bull, the other on it covered .... stayed good both times
We'll cover it when I know we won't be using it for the week(s) ahead
The wind gets strong here at times, and the Cover has healed-up thus far

 

[TheRicker]

I have a Napoleon stainless gas grill that lives on our covered back porch in south Texas. I don't cover it. We don't get the weather extremes that you do in Ohio. Grew up in Ohio so I know where your coming from. If you decide to go the cover route make sure you get one that allows plenty of airflow. Covers can do more harm than good if they hold in moisture and cause rusting. After two years our gas grill shows no signs of rust. I just wipe it down occasionally to keep the dust and dirt off it. We plan to order our Bull this weekend. Just waiting to see what shows up for the cyber discounts. Really like what I have read so far.

Agree about the covers. Here in Charleston, we're more likely to uncover it to spider webs and such. So the air flow is important...like you said.

 

[Sdyork]

Agree about the covers. Here in Charleston, we're more likely to uncover it to spider webs and such. So the air flow is important...like you said.

 

[GLF35]

We have had our Bull for 1 1/2 years now and it sets on our uncovered patio with the RECTEQ cover. This year between tropical storms and lots of rain it still runs like a champ with no issues!