Tailgating with a bullseye

[lowcountrygamecock]

My boys will be in college soon so I’m sure we’ll be visiting and tailgating for football games. Would the bullseye make a good tailgating grill? I currently have a Bull that gets used 2-3 times a week and a matador that I’ve never used. Looking for something that heats up quick but would cool down fairly fast. Charcoal takes too long to cool down. Also anybody know the wattage on a bullseye? Wondering if we can power it from the inverter outlet in the back of the truck.

 

[Greg Jones]

My opinion, and I will admit that I’m not an expert on this, but we bought a RT-340 for a traveling/tailgate grill. All the recteq grills require a certain amount of voltage to ignite the grill, but running the auger and fan during normal operation is not that many watts. recteq tech support can give you the exact numbers.

 

[Pops]

I have a Bullseye and I think it would fit the bill, maybe look at the new 380x just released, more features, but I do like my Bullseye. Honestly if you can get a current model on a deal I would.

Thankfully, my son is in his senior year and I will be done with tuition!
He goes to school in the Upstate...... See you in November!

 

[Pacman]

Wondering if we can power it from the inverter outlet in the back of the truck.

Curious myself. The "built-in" inverters on newer trucks are good for about 150 - 400W depending upon make and year which is probably enough, but you may end up running your truck for a bit so that it still gets you home.

 

[Pops]

I am curious too, on how much power it would take, I might buy a small quiet generator, they are very inexpensive now. I probably would not run off of my truck.

 

[Greg Jones]

During Academy December 2020, one of the guest chefs also competes in the SCA (steak cook off association) and my wife later asked that chef what they used to power their Bullseye at SCA events. Here is what they said:

What a sweet email Thank you so much for reaching out to me and I sincerely hope this reply finds you BOTH staying strong, keeping each other healthy, and happy. I am overjoyed that you two, or at least your husband, became so inspired by my steak presentation that he would consider tackling a contest. How exciting! Inspiring others is PRECISELY why I love to teach. As far as establishing a power supply - remotely, on site - I rely on my Lion Energy portable power bank. This is a monster of a portable power box, built in Salt Lake City, UT that will supply enough juice to run your Bullseye on RIOT mode for at least 7 hours, or your 340 on full blast for 8 hours..or BOTH cookers, on full blast, for about 6 hours. My Lion Energy will charge to 100% from zero in about an hour from a wall socket. The company does sell solar panels to help charge on site but I've found that unless you have 6 panels, you'll be charging for 2 days. Check the link below and see what you think. These things aren't cheap but they are well built, and will last a while on a full charge. In lieu of that portable battery bank, you might piecemeal a deep cell, marine grade battery, and inverter, OR a small, quiet gas powered generator. Harbor Freight has one that is fairly reasonable.

I own BOTH the Lion Energy Safari ME and the Safari LT. My thought is that if he REALLY wants to pursue cooking steak, or just having a great on-the-go power supply at the ready, I'd go for the ME. You're looking at about $2400...but you'll have all the power you need and no gas to worry about. OR for about $550 he can get a quiet, gas powered generator that will do the same thing. Both links below. Investigate and let me know what you decide.

https://www.recteqforum.com/x-msg://4/goog_1044874193
https://lionenergy.com/collections/portable-power
https://www.recteqforum.com/x-msg://4/goog_1044874192
https://www.harborfreight.com/search?q=generator

Thank you again and keep in touch

 

[Pacman]

Interesting @Greg Jones . I got to play with a similar Jackery portable 400W power supply a few weeks ago. It has the silly solar panels that seem to take forever to recharge the power pack, but they are all definitely alternatives to the venerable Honda generators (although those have always been great too).

 

[Greg Jones]

Interesting @Greg Jones . I got to play with a similar Jackery portable 400W power supply a few weeks ago. It has the silly solar panels that seem to take forever to recharge the power pack, but they are all definitely alternatives to the venerable Honda generators (although those have always been great too).

Yes on the Honda generators. I’ve never owned one, but I used one for 5 years as part of my son’s HS marching band experience and it was amazing, in performance and also for how quiet it was.

 

[oldschool]

I use a bluetti 500w and have no problem at all running 3 recteqs off it.

Power consumption on start up for the ceramic ignitor peaks at 263wattss and QUICKLY goes down, after about 20 seconds it's already down to 120watts and within a minute or two it drops to around 40watts or less when all it's running is the auger and fan.

Your outlet on the truck is fine and most small solar "generators" and battery pack inverters will run it no problem at all.

 

[lowcountrygamecock]

Thanks. Good info!!