Stampede Upper grill rack

[pungo]

Here's my upper grill rack from Gene Gauger. All parts are made from heavy duty stainless steel. Includes wooden spacer blocks to easily locate the slide brackets for installation as well as rivets. I opted to use some stainless steel fasteners I had on hand instead of the rivets. Installation was quick and easy by drilling 4 small holes for each bracket using a little cutting oil on the drill bit. I was a concern that the drip pan would be difficult to remove, but it's easy to take out. Now I can load much more food in the grill, I did (5) ~8-9 lb pork butts.

 

[Jim6820]

That's a nice looking setup. I'm considering adding a second rack to my RT-340 Trailblazer but am wondering if there's really enough room in the smaller barrel to make it really useable.

I actually contacted Gene yesterday about availability and pricing. My primary use for a second shelf would be raising a brisket up a bit, but not sure it would be doable in the small chamber. Still thinking about it.

 

[mofarmer]

Here's my upper grill rack from Gene Gauger. All parts are made from heavy duty stainless steel. Includes wooden spacer blocks to easily locate the slide brackets for installation as well as rivets. I opted to use some stainless steel fasteners I had on hand instead of the rivets. Installation was quick and easy by drilling 4 small holes for each bracket using a little cutting oil on the drill bit. I was a concern that the drip pan would be difficult to remove, but it's easy to take out. Now I can load much more food in the grill, I did (5) ~8-9 lb pork butts.

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I have the same rack ordered from Gene, have you noticed the extra stainless around the interior probe effecting the grill temps any?

 

[pungo]

That's a nice looking setup. I'm considering adding a second rack to my RT-340 Trailblazer but am wondering if there's really enough room in the smaller barrel to make it really useable.

I actually contacted Gene yesterday about availability and pricing. My primary use for a second shelf would be raising a brisket up a bit, but not sure it would be doable in the small chamber. Still thinking about it.

Thanks, even though I usually don't cook for a crowd, I like to make extra and vacuum seal/freeze it into meal size pouches so I have easy meals when needed, just drop in the Sous Vide bath from frozen.

Not sure what's your intention to raise the brisket, but is Genes grate the correct height for your use case?
Since you primarily want to raise a brisket a bit, have you considered buying just a grill grate that kinda fits your 340 and raise it using eye-bolts/washer/nuts, that way you could experiment with different heights by adjusting the nuts

 

[Jim6820]

Not sure what's your intention to raise the brisket, but is Genes grate the correct height for your use case?
Since you primarily want to raise a brisket a bit, have you considered buying just a grill grate that kinda fits your 340 and raise it using eye-bolts/washer/nuts, that way you could experiment with different heights buy adjusting the nuts

That’s precisely my concern; whether Gene’s nice-looking grill would leave enough room above it for a 10-12-pound brisket. I’d like to raise my briskets 3-4” above the main grill to cut down on the direct heat from the drip tray. Gene indicated in a response to me that while he provides wood spacer/locator blocks to assist in installation, the grill could be installed an any height I wanted. Certainly, that requires working around some existing features (top of pellet hopper, handle location, etc.

Your thought of using an unattached grill of the appropriate dimensions is something I’m also considering. Any suggestions for ones I might look at? Anyone?

 

[Waterboy]

That’s precisely my concern; whether Gene’s nice-looking grill would leave enough room above it for a 10-12-pound brisket. I’d like to raise my briskets 3-4” above the main grill to cut down on the direct heat from the drip tray. Gene indicated in a response to me that while he provides wood spacer/locator blocks to assist in installation, the grill could be installed an any height I wanted. Certainly, that requires working around some existing features (top of pellet hopper, handle location, etc.

Your thought of using an unattached grill of the appropriate dimensions is something I’m also considering. Any suggestions for ones I might look at? Anyone?

Here is a rack I use to raise meat above the factory grill grate. You can fit an aluminum pan under it but I typically put some foil under it to catch drippings. Makes clean up a breeze.

 

[BillsCamino]

https://www.recteq.com/products/small-interior-shelf#

 

[pungo]

I have the same rack ordered from Gene, have you noticed the extra stainless around the interior probe effecting the grill temps any?

I haven't noticed the grill temps were effected after the installation of the shelf slides and I used a separate temp probe to check. I did open up the hole for the probe in the shelf slide another 3/8" since I moved it rearward a little before attaching it.

 

[Gonefishin]

The one from RT being 18x9.5 vs Grren Mountian’s at 14x10 might work out better for a full packer, 14” might be a bit short. Don’t have one to measure.

I’d be concerned with headroom, if I remember correctly the opening is 7”, the GM being 3.5” and the RT at 2.5” high isn’t going to leave much room to work.

 

[Waterboy]

Yeah those dimensions on Amazon don’t match up to my rack. I don’t know if they changed the product or if they just don’t have the correctly on Amazon. Here are some pictures to help you with sizing (I didn’t get a picture of the grate height but it is 3”), though for the small price difference I agree the RT shelf is probably the better choice. The brisket in the picture is 11.5 lbs.

 

[Jim6820]

Yeah those dimensions on Amazon don’t match up to my rack. I don’t know if they changed the product or if they just don’t have the correctly on Amazon. Here are some pictures to help you with sizing (I didn’t get a picture of the grate height but it is 3”), though for the small price difference I agree the RT shelf is probably the better choice. The brisket in the picture is 11.5 lbs.

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Thanks for the detailed reply with actual measurements. That size would probably work for most of my brisket cooks, but is marginal.

I’m also looking at the RT small interior shelf (don’t know why I didn’t think of looking there for one in the first place). It might also work. Good suggestions, both.

 

[LarryCTN]

Thanks for the detailed reply with actual measurements. That size would probably work for most of my brisket cooks, but is marginal.

I’m also looking at the RT small interior shelf (don’t know why I didn’t think of looking there for one in the first place). It might also work. Good suggestions, both.

Noticed this morning that recteq has knocked off $4 on the shelf price. I ordered one for my 590 this morning.

 

[Greg Jones]

Best use of the small shelf IMO, invert it and add a cooking mat. Works great for large items as pictured, but works even better for small items that can fall through the grates.

 

[pungo]

The problem with the RT small interior shelf is it's really too small @18" for the 590 28" width since it drastically reduces the space of the bottom stock grates; therefore it's not an optimal choice for the 590. They should have made a 27" width shelf to match the 590 grill width. I believe the RT small shelf was really designed for the 700 where it could be used front to back with several in a row. There's a reason why there are more than one aftermarket option for upper shelf solutions since RT shelf offerings are not optimal for the 590.

 

[Greg Jones]

I believe the RT small shelf was really designed for the 700 where it could be used front to back with several in a row.

Actually you can only fit two of them front-to-back in a 700 because the light is in the way of adding a third shelf. Three would be possible in a 1250, but why as it has a top shelf. I have no way of confirming, but I recall someone posting here that three will fit in a 590, front-to-back.

 

[pungo]

Actually you can only fit two of them front-to-back in a 700 because the light is in the way of adding a third shelf. Three would be possible in a 1250, but why as it has a top shelf. I have no way of confirming, but I recall someone posting here that three will fit in a 590, front-to-back.

Unfortunately, even if 3 of the small shelves did fit the 590, the food under them would be in "jail" since there's little access to it until you removed the upper shelves so plan wisely

 

[Greg Jones]

Unfortunately, even if 3 of the small shelves did fit the 590, the food under them would be in "jail" since there's little access to it until you removed the upper shelves so plan wisely

I agree-I was responding more to the suggestion that the 700 could accommodate several of the small shelves. How would a 27” wide shelf in the 590 overcome the ‘in jail’ aspect of 3 small recteq shelves?

 

[pungo]

How would a 27” wide shelf in the 590 overcome the ‘in jail’ aspect of 3 small recteq shelves?

The 3 shelves have 3 set of legs along the entire front of the grill blocking access to the lower grates; whereas a 27" wide shelf would have legs to the far left and right of the grill therefore leaving the entire front under the shelf open to access the bottom grates, similar to the pic of the aftermarket shelf in my 1st post. Here, a picture is worth a thousand words...

Jail

Not jail

 

[Smokinmoose]

The 3 shelves have 3 set of legs along the entire front of the grill blocking access to the lower grates; whereas a 27" wide shelf would have legs to the far left and right of the grill therefore leaving the entire front under the shelf open to access the bottom grates, similar to the pic of the aftermarket shelf in my 1st post. Here, a picture is worth a thousand words...

Jail
View attachment 19680

Not jail View attachment 19681

Love that shelf Pungo! How did you make it? Where did you get the parts?

 

[Smokinmoose]

Never mind, I noticed above that you ordered from Gene Guager. Looks awesome!