Flagship 1100 Soon to be a new Owner.

[brianprisk]

Any tips for a new owner and first time pellet grill owner? Just placed my order today (Sept 25), Just looking for tips from putting it together to cooking to cleaning.

Thanks in advance!
Brian

 

[Jim6820]

Welcome to the forum, @brianprisk; glad to have you join us here. The hardest thing you’ll have to do is wait for the new grill to arrive. Unfortunately, we can’t help you with that.

Assembly is pretty straightforward and there are plenty of experienced Recteq users on this forum to answer specific assembly questions if you have them. Lots of good cooks here too and they are always willing to share their knowledge and experience. Just ask and you’ll get good answers.

 

[SweaT-rex]

Welcome to the Forum! Assembly is straightforward. Do the burn-in and cook some chicken thighs at the end of the burn-in. I highly recommend the Teflon drip pan liner for low & slow cooks & GrillGrates for searing. Also, use high quality pellets…I’ve had good success with Recteq Ultimate blend & Lumberjack (hickory, pecan, mesquite). Knottywood Almond & plum wood pellets also get good reviews but I haven’t tried them yet.

The tinkering & experimentation with pellet grills can be an endless quest for perfection! Your RT-1100 Flagship is a very finely tuned iteration of the RT-700/1250 thanks to lots of tinkerers and experimenters on this Forum!

 

[KSM]

Any tips for a new owner and first time pellet grill owner? Just placed my order today (Sept 25), Just looking for tips from putting it together to cooking to cleaning.

Thanks in advance!
Brian

Go online to Recteq and you will find assembly videos but instructions are pretty clear. I assembled mine by myself using the box it came in and layered a few moving blankets…though an extra pair of hands wont hurt. Also, do the initial burn off then do the biscuit or toast test and make note of or a chart of your hot spots to use until it becomes intuitive. Be patient and don't worry if your first cooks are not what you had hoped for - it takes a bit of practice and you will be an expert in no time. If you plan on moving it around a lot, measure your rear swivel casters then go online on Amazon and you will find exact replicas (or maybe the same that recteq uses) and put pair of swivel casters instead of the two fixed ones. Moving it will be a breeze. Enjoy the learning experience.

 

[TheRicker]

Welcome @brianprisk! I think you’re going to love that Flagship 1100. I stopped by RecTeq in Evans GA about a month ago and I took a close look at the 1100 . It appears to have a lot of the improvements that us RT-700 owners have either wanted or actually modified our grills with. Plus, the cooking chamber is a bit more oval than round like the 700 is. That allows for an inch or more, than the 700 has, between the bottom shelf and second shelf as well as between the second shelf and the top of the grill opening. You’ll be glad for that if you do any big cooks of large hunks of meat. You can take the top shelf out for beer can chicken or roasting a turkey. But I digress.

My standard advice for new pellet grill owners is TAKE CARE OF YOUR PELLETS!!!
Take care of how you store your cooking pellets. I recommend never storing the bags directly on cement floors (potential condensation). I also recommend putting opened bags of pellets in plastic storage containers with lids. I use 5 gallon paint buckets with lids…be sure to mark the buckets with whatever the contents are or put the folded up pellet bag on top of the pellets in the bucket to easily identify the pellets in that bucket or bin.

Store them in a dry area like a garage.

I’m in CHS and thinking we probably get as much humidity as anyone in CONUS (other than maybe NOLA). I’ve always taken good care of storing my pellets. I’ve had a wood pellet grill for close to 15 years. I do not empty the hopper on my RT-700 except twice a year when I give it a thorough cleaning. I do keep my uncovered Bull on my screened porch so it’s not sitting out in the rain. But no humidity issues with what’s already in the hopper. Never had an auger jam. So my money is on your pellets….the ones you’re putting into your hopper. Basement storage could be a contributing factor to condensation issues. So make sure the bags of pellets are not lying on a cement floor there.

Here’s something I found on YouTube that I thought was pretty good…

Five (5) Most Important Tips for New Pellet Grill Owners

(Maybe) The Best YT Video for New Pellet Grill Owners

 

[TheRicker]

One more thing…

If you start your grill, with the lid open as many of us do (and prefer), I recommend you close your grill’s lid right after the fire in the firebox “catches” and the heavy smoke you’ll typically see during startup subsides. (You'll also know by the sound from the firebox…somewhat like a small jet engine.) After closing the lid, set your cooking temperature and allow around 15 minutes or so to get up to temp. Use that time to finish up your prep for whatever you’re cooking.

If you don’t do this, your fire in the fire pot will get very hot and when you close your lid you’re shocked that your grill is 400F or so.

If you should leave your grill’s lid open for a period of time after the fire catches, the chamber temp cannot achieve whatever temperature setting you set when you first powered on…even a low 180 or 200F. The heat is escaping past the open lid. The controller will do its job by attempting to make the fire hotter and hotter to achieve the set temperature. But the lid is open so it never achieves the set temperature but keeps trying. After some time, there’s a roaring fire in the fire pot by time you close the lid…hence the really high temperature reading you will see registered on the controller for the cooking chamber’s ambient temperature.

And if you had put the protein(s) on the grill, closed the lid, and walked away you’re going to wonder why your meat is overdone. Just sayin’.

Here’s a link to my video if anyone is interested in seeing and hearing what I’m trying to convey about the startup sequence.

 

[Beach Bum]

^^^^^^^^^ For new owners, some very good advice in the two posts above. Simple items like start up and pellet storage can save lots of headaches.

 

[brianprisk]

Thanks for all the information!
Are there certain procedures to follow when shutting down? Also do you prime the fire pot before you start?
Thanks again!

 

[Beach Bum]

Thanks for all the information!
Are there certain procedures to follow when shutting down? Also do you prime the fire pot before you start?
Thanks again!

For shut down, the smoker will go through the proper sequence when you turn it off. BUT, if you are cooking above about 250 degrees, step down the temperature before you power down. Let's say you are at 400. Turn down to 300. Once you are settled at 300, move to 225. When settled again, power off. Nothing magic about the exact way you do it. The pot will self prime for the next cook unless you vacuum out. You want to vacuum on a regular basis. If you vacuum, toss a small handful of pellets in the pot when you do your next cook.

 

[RattleR]

You might also want to look in the fire pot to ensure the igniter is flush to slightly proud before firing it up the first time. If it is recessed it will give you ignition issues. Enjoy your new cooker!

 

[v1per95]

For shut down, the smoker will go through the proper sequence when you turn it off. BUT, if you are cooking above about 250 degrees, step down the temperature before you power down. Let's say you are at 400. Turn down to 300. Once you are settled at 300, move to 225. When settled again, power off. Nothing magic about the exact way you do it. The pot will self prime for the next cook unless you vacuum out. You want to vacuum on a regular basis. If you vacuum, toss a small handful of pellets in the pot when you do your next cook.

I never do this, just shutdown from whatever temp its set at, and have had no problems so far. I have, however, had backburn into the hopper when I DID try slowly stepping the temps back down. YMMV.

 

[TheRicker]

Thanks for all the information!
Are there certain procedures to follow when shutting down? Also do you prime the fire pot before you start?
Thanks again!

@Beach Bum does what I do…incrementally decrease the chamber temp, with the lid closed. I take mine down to 200-220F before I press the button to initiate the power off sequence. The reason for doing this is to reduce the risk of fire burning back into the auger chamber. That back burn seems to be more prevalent after high-heat cooks.

You should only have to prime the fire pot for the initial burn and whenever you clean out / vacuum the cooking chamber, and specifically, the fire pot. You should not have to prime it otherwise…especially after a regular cook.

 

[brianprisk]

Well everything arrived yesterday, much quicker then I anticipated. Now I have to wait until Wednesday to assemble everything and do the burn off.