BFG Talking myself up from the RT-700 to the RT-2500*

[Whalercat]

I need a BFG!

I'll settle for the BFG auger for now.

 

[Whalercat]

My wife continues to tell me that the BFG is too big, but she loves it. I only wish I heard that more often!
;-)

When my wife says something is to big about me... It's always my belly.

 

[Bluepig]

Update from North Florida. We've been here now since June 2021 and use the BFG multiple times weekly. Prior to that we used it for about a month in Utah. It sits under a large patio cover and we cover it when not in use, using the provided BFG cover.

As of yet we have not seen any rust on the smoker, which is unlike every other item we have made of metal, and your tools go from pristine to looking 80 within a month. We had to modify the way we smoke after moving from the Green Mountain Grill Daniel Boone and then the Jim Bowie (both amazing smokers). The pellet burn rate is much higher than it was on either GMG's, but the surface area has more than doubled, so it is expected to take some larger percentage of pellets to generate enough smoke to fill the body.

We are noticing the rams on both doors are getting a little weaker, but with my wife being 5' tall, she is enjoying not having to fight the slam dunk to lower the door. I suspect this will become an issue as it ages. A feature that my wife (who has become the master smoker) loves, and initially did not care for is the fold down front prep shelf. Out of habit, when I cover it, I fold the shelf down. Now, every time I go to cover it the shelf has been raised back up. Filling the hopper is a bit of a struggle for my wife, but that is due to her stature, and not a hit on the grill. Being able to put two 40# bags into the hopper is fantastic, and again, much needed with it's burn rate.

I'm a retired EE, and often look at tech from the perspective of improvements and redesign. I've had several ideas about improvements/revisions, but when I argue them out, the current design wins out. We don't use the bottom shelf do to the inconvenience of accessing it being directly below the body of the BFG. One concept I had was if the shelf was retractable (a concept in progress). Another idea was to have the door be a split opening so as to limit the release of smoke during hard burns. To be a benefit a split door opening would still have to leave the access unfettered by a middle divider, so that when both doors are open, you have the same wife opening that exists today. So each door would have to be reinforced on the left and right center sides of both doors. Another benefit, as I view the grill, would be to have some form of sliding insert so you could reduce the internal capacity of the grill. During normal smoking, we are only prepping food for the two of us, so we are wasting both pellets and space.

What my final review of the smoker would come down to is how much smoke is introduced into the meat. While you can't talk about the quality of the meat, or the flavor of the finished product as a success or failing of the grill, as both are depending upon the quality of the meet selected, and the flavors added in prep, you can talk about smoke. The BFG is as good as any smoker we have owned to date.

 

[PAreefer08]

What my final review of the smoker would come down to is how much smoke is introduced into the meat. While you can't talk about the quality of the meat, or the flavor of the finished product as a success or failing of the grill, as both are depending upon the quality of the meet selected, and the flavors added in prep, you can talk about smoke. The BFG is as good as any smoker we have owned to date.

So you are not dissatisfied with the amount of smoke output that the BFG offers? I've read numerous reviews that people are not happy with the lack of smoke the BFG produces. I'm ok knowing that I may have to add a smoke generator to my BFG (if I actually get a BFG anyway).

 

[Roaniecowpony]

So you are not dissatisfied with the amount of smoke output that the BFG offers? I've read numerous reviews that people are not happy with the lack of smoke the BFG produces. I'm ok knowing that I may have to add a smoke generator to my BFG (if I actually get a BFG anyway).

Here's one perspective

 

[Bluepig]

We've owned the BFG for a year and it's going strong. Our Olde English Mastiff "Edna" is constantly helping clean the drip buckets (huge help). Since we've owned it I have cleaned the hotbox twice, and both times were somewhat a waste, as the hotbox burns so clean the small amount of ash is not worth the bother.

The grill has seen everything but snake. It's seen all kinds of fish, with Salmon and Grouper being the favorites so far. I've tried to score some flash-frozen salmon from Scotland, but the shipping is psycho. Turtle, gator, 5-6 kinds of pork/beef/and fish sausages, briskets galore, pork butt, burgers and steaks, as well as a whole bunch of vegetables.

We still have yet to use the 3rd rack as intended, but have used the third rack.

My only caution to folks is it blows through pellets, in turn it produces crazy smoke.

If you're on the fence, get off and get the grill. If there are only two of you and you don't entertain, our Jim Bowie Green Mountain Grill was likewise amazing.

 

[Bluepig]

Final update: no really. 19 months of ownership, and weekly if not more than weekly use. It continues to work as well as it did after a burn in, and a couple cooking sessions. The start up takes 4-6 times using it, but after those its been amazing.

A couple asides: it's always double covered, under a patio and it's own fabric cover. We clean it after every 4-5 smoking sessions. My wife leaves it plugged in and it has had no problem dealing with a few power outages, or our generator startups in response.

My only gripe is the dripping that occurs from the door onto what I call it's chin. A piece of angle welded near the bottom of the door that extends over the chin when closed would stop this from happening.

There is no imagined reality in my life where I could have foreseen paying $3,500 for a smoker. Now I can't imagine not having it.

 

[okie]

450# https://www.recteq.com/rt-2500-support

Listed at 560 lbs.

 

[SmokeOCD]

My only caution to folks is it blows through pellets, in turn it produces crazy smoke.

Can you convert that to lbs per hour?
How many lbs do you think you use on an overnight smoke? (say 12hrs for shoulders)?