RT-1250 RT1250

[Smokinbutts]

Went back and forth on the 700 vs 1250, went with the 1250, delivered a week before Christmas. Packaged perfectly and it took me an hour to assemble. Did the initial burn in and have used it 4 times since assembly.
1st cook we’re chicken thighs, came out excellent, 2nd cook was an 8lb prime rib roast for Christmas dinner, also excellent. The RT1250 is a beast in every way. 3rd cook we’re just some homemade burgers but had a slight smoke flavor and we’re very good. Here’s where I had issues with my most recent cook, an 8lb pork butt. My previous smoker was a master built vertical and it always produced great results with awesome smoke profile, butts were always juicy and had a great bark on them. Figured after 8 years I would upgrade to a nicer unit where I could reverse sear, smoke or just grill on one thing. The pork butt I pulled this morning had very little if any bark on it and barely had a smoke flavor at all. I get there is a learning curve and that pellet smokers are a different bread when it comes to smoke profiles but was disappointed in the outcome of the pork. Tendernesses was good but basically tasted like it came out of the oven. I did extreme smoke for 3 hrs and added wood chunks on the cast iron diffuser then cranked it up to 250 for remainder of cook.
Been doing some research and wondering if anyone has tried the Heavy D smoke diffuser in their RecTeq? I have a smoke tube that I’ll try next but a lot of folks out there say a tube doesn’t make much of a difference. We like a heavier smoke profile on larger cuts of meat and the RT1250 just didn’t do it justice. Any suggestions would be great.

 

[Waterboy]

Welcome to the forum.

Heavy smoke is the Achilles heel of pellet grills. Coming from a drum smoker I struggled for awhile but my taste and expectations have mostly adjusted to pellet cooking, especially when I get a good night’s sleep on an overnight cook. My wife prefers the lighter smoke so that helps. If you use a smoke tube add some real wood chips or tiny splits along with pellets for a slightly better smoke profile.

There is lots of discussion on smoke tubes and the Heavy D diffuser on this forum. Do a search and you’ll find lots of good info.

 

[Buckeye1]

I usually get good bark on my pork shoulders. Did you put the butt directly on the grates or in a pan? Also dumb question but did you put a water pan in the 1250?

 

[Smokinbutts]

I usually get good bark on my pork shoulders. Did you put the butt directly on the grates or in a pan? Also dumb question but did you put a water pan in the 1250?

Hey Buckeye
Put it right on the grate, did not use a water pan. Guessing when I did the low setting for 3 + hrs for more smoke (or so I thought) that it didn’t get enough heat on it to form a decent bark. I will keep playing around until I get the final tweak's worked out. Biggest problem I have is not getting the heavier smoke profile, I’ll get there eventually. Happy New Year

 

[ToeJam]

Here's a good read:

https://www.smokedbbqsource.com/how-to-get-a-good-bark/

 

[Smokinbutts]

Here's a good read:

https://www.smokedbbqsource.com/how-to-get-a-good-bark/

Thanks, did read that before. Just have to get used to the new cooking style on a pellet smoker. Like the article said, smoke is one of the keys to a good bark, just have to figure out how to amp up the smoke for a good 4 hrs. Thanks for the response, happy new year

 

[Smokinbutts]

Welcome to the forum.

Heavy smoke is the Achilles heel of pellet grills. Coming from a drum smoker I struggled for awhile but my taste and expectations have mostly adjusted to pellet cooking, especially when I get a good night’s sleep on an overnight cook. My wife prefers the lighter smoke so that helps. If you use a smoke tube add some real wood chips or tiny splits along with pellets for a slightly better smoke profile.

There is lots of discussion on smoke tubes and the Heavy D diffuser on this forum. Do a search and you’ll find lots of good info.

Thanks
Will try the smoke tube on the next one and see if that helps,

 

[DonD]

Thanks
Will try the smoke tube on the next one and see if that helps,

That should help a lot. I did my first cook on my new 1250 - pork butts using a smoke tube, having read that pellet smokers by themselves can be too efficient to create smoke. Bark and smoke was amazing! I'll link to my first cook thread once the mods approve it. I was impressed how well the smoke tube worked.

 

[Smokinbutts]

That should help a lot. I did my first cook on my new 1250 - pork butts using a smoke tube, having read that pellet smokers by themselves can be too efficient to create smoke. Bark was amazing! I'll link to my first cook thread once the mods approve it. I was impressed how well the smoke tube worked.

Thanks DonD, been doing a lot of reading about smoke tube placement for optimal results. Where did you place yours? Seems like putting it on the rack isn’t going to do much for absorption. Since RT has a continuous fan running, I’m going to try and put it under the diffuser near the fire pot in hopes that the fan will give it enough oxygen to keep the tube rolling smoke. Love the 1250 and if I can get the heavier smoke profile by playing around I’ll be a happy sob. Trial and error like anything else.

 

[Puck60]

I used the recipe for my 590. Used Honey BBQ not the hot. Excellent bark and very tender.

https://www.meatchurch.com/blogs/recipes/pulled-pork

 

[DonD]

Thanks DonD, been doing a lot of reading about smoke tube placement for optimal results. Where did you place yours? Seems like putting it on the rack isn’t going to do much for absorption. Since RT has a continuous fan running, I’m going to try and put it under the diffuser near the fire pot in hopes that the fan will give it enough oxygen to keep the tube rolling smoke. Love the 1250 and if I can get the heavier smoke profile by playing around I’ll be a happy sob. Trial and error like anything else.

I placed mine along the left edge directly on the grate. Wish I had a picture of when I opened it up for a quick peek. Seemed to create plenty of smoke for a good 5 hours from a 12" tube filled close to the top with pure apple pellets. Make sure you have a small butane torch to light it off.

 

[Waterboy]

Here is where I place mine when I use it. It works well for me.Some folks have said it messed with their temps being close to the RTD probe but I haven’t had any issues with that.

Edit: Sorry I forgot the pic.

 

[Pacman]

From a relative novice's point of view, I have noticed that the pellet grills do not pump out the smoke that you would be used to in other smokers. That said, I've not had any issue with the amount of smoke on my 1250 as long as I'm cooking in the 225 - 250 range. I have used a smoke tube several times, but I put 1 inch diameter wood chunks in the tube and pack them in with pellets to keep them burning.

One thing I have casually observed here is that the folks that bought the Recteq pellet bundles often comment about the lack of much smoke. I have not used the Recteq brand, but I did try a bag of Cookingpellets.com pellets and I was similarly disappointed...they made decent heat, but no discernable smoke profile. I've been using Knotty Wood Almond and Smoke Ring Maple Hickory Cherry blend and have been very happy with the results. Not trying to restart a pellet debate, but in my limited experience, what's burning makes a difference in your smoke profile.

 

[Smokinbutts]

Thanks, might give them a try once I go through my camp chef pellets, I also opted out of the recteq brand because I like the fruitwood profile and didn’t see that option on the website. Going to do another butt this weekend with the smoke tube and see how it turns out. Going to try putting the tube next to the diffuser under the drip pan, played around with it today and it will lay across the barrel with a 4 inch gap underneath it for airflow. Got used to a much smaller vertical smoker and the heavier smoke profile on my cooks. Love the 1250, awesome in every way, once I tweak the smoke I want I’ll propose to it.

 

[Fortay]

Went back and forth on the 700 vs 1250, went with the 1250, delivered a week before Christmas. Packaged perfectly and it took me an hour to assemble. Did the initial burn in and have used it 4 times since assembly.
1st cook we’re chicken thighs, came out excellent, 2nd cook was an 8lb prime rib roast for Christmas dinner, also excellent. The RT1250 is a beast in every way. 3rd cook we’re just some homemade burgers but had a slight smoke flavor and we’re very good. Here’s where I had issues with my most recent cook, an 8lb pork butt. My previous smoker was a master built vertical and it always produced great results with awesome smoke profile, butts were always juicy and had a great bark on them. Figured after 8 years I would upgrade to a nicer unit where I could reverse sear, smoke or just grill on one thing. The pork butt I pulled this morning had very little if any bark on it and barely had a smoke flavor at all. I get there is a learning curve and that pellet smokers are a different bread when it comes to smoke profiles but was disappointed in the outcome of the pork. Tendernesses was good but basically tasted like it came out of the oven. I did extreme smoke for 3 hrs and added wood chunks on the cast iron diffuser then cranked it up to 250 for remainder of cook.
Been doing some research and wondering if anyone has tried the Heavy D smoke diffuser in their RecTeq? I have a smoke tube that I’ll try next but a lot of folks out there say a tube doesn’t make much of a difference. We like a heavier smoke profile on larger cuts of meat and the RT1250 just didn’t do it justice. Any suggestions would be great.

I use the Heavy D with great results. It puts a much better smoke on your food than pellet tubes. Also allows you to get smoke at higher Temps. They have some other products as well... but they require holes in grill.... and I don't think the quality of the smoke is as good. Definitely worth a try!

 

[Smokinbutts]

Thanks for the reply, how many hours does the heavy D smoke with both sides loaded? Hoping for 4 hrs or so. Going to try the smoke tubes packed with pecan chips on the next cook and see if that helps.Just about ready to pull the trigger on the heavy D.

 

[Smokinbutts]

Just purchased the Heavy D, will get it this Thur in time for a weekend cook. Been doing a lot of reading the last month on adding smoke and the heavy D seems to make the most sense for my needs. Really don’t feel like playing around with tubes and wasting $ on cuts of meat to experiment on. Do you soak the wood chunks to keep temps down or run dry wood? Thanks, have a good weekend.

 

[BNeal]

I use the Heavy D with great results. It puts a much better smoke on your food than pellet tubes. Also allows you to get smoke at higher Temps. They have some other products as well... but they require holes in grill.... and I don't think the quality of the smoke is as good. Definitely worth a try!

That looks pretty cool. Thanks for the tip.

 

[BNeal]

Has anyone tried placing wood chunks on top of the firebox cover for extra smoke? They claim that is one of the benefits of the cast iron cover.

 

[Smokinbutts]

I did. Placed 6 good size pieces of cherry on mine, works well but only lasted about 30 min. My temp was at 250 and I didn’t notice much smoke flavor difference. Probably work well with smaller cuts like chicken or ribs but for the pork shoulder I couldn’t real taste the extra smoke.