Swamp Thing
New member
- Messages
- 4
- Grill(s) owned
- Bull
Hi all,
I received the 700 Monday, and have done some chicken parts, bacon, sausage, burgers over the first 4 days, and yesterday got a longer cook going. This was purely a "baseline" test to see what I'm going to be working with, and I intentionally cooked slow and stupid. That is, I put the meat in - then I took it out when it was done. I'm strictly a cul de sac warrior, but I've been smoking for about 20 years with a Brinkman barrel-type, a Primo grill, and a Karubeque, and have also taken a shine to sous vide + liquid smoke. I've run this 225 test on all of these (with the sous-vide at much lower temps then finished in the oven) and here's my first thoughts.
There's no free lunch.
I live in South Florida, so typically smoking at this time of year on the Brinkman and Karubeque means sweat, smoke, and mosquitoes. The Primo demands those things initially, but then becomes hands-free for the duration, fire maintenance-wise. In this regard, the drawback to the 700 is I still have to walk outside 10 feet to put the meat on and take it off, still enough to break a sweat or get soaked by the torrential summers rains. ? (It goes sideways and falls upwards if you can picture it). But seriously, as regards comfort it's like going from a dirt bike to a Cadillac (in ancient days considered a nice car). I started out feeling like I was cheating! . . . but . . . there is no free lunch. By that I mean if I'm going to make good BBQ on this Rec Tec, I'm going to have to earn it, only instead of the sweat-equity I put into my other smokers, this one will involve some trickery if I can pull it off. Of my vast ? experience of 3 other smokers with the 225 on-and-off test (no frills - just put it on and take it off), the pork butt rating is about: Brinkman: 6, Primo: 8, Karubeque: 9. With practice I was able to get each of those up to 9s, and to a routine "10" on the Karubeque. I'm not comparing! I'm just telling you that my new mission in life is to bring my initial butt's "18 hour 225 degree on-off" cook on the RT700 up from the sad "3" I got today to a "10"! I threw a brisket flat on as well for 8 hours uncovered and unspritzed just for giggles at 225 (300 for the last 2 hours. I wasn't expecting anything here - just getting a baseline). All I learned today is that the RT700 is a more nuanced and complicated beauty than my other smokers.
Why a "3 out of 10."
This is a rating of the end result of my intentional idiotic "stress cook" on the 700. BTW, everyone tonight enjoyed and ate mass quantities of the pork, and many preferred the brisket(!) but my scale is "1" being acceptable and "10" being, well . . . you know. All this means to me is that my first pellet smoker is a different beast than my wood-chip flavored and stick burner smokers. I'm ready for the challenged to figure this out, as long as it means I can stay in my AC over the Florida summer! ?
What I will be changing, based on my first smoke:
1) The pork (and brisket, not surprisingly) was too dry. For my Brinkman and Primo first cooks, I had a water pan in the smoker and I would have put one in the 700, but I watched the Rec Tec officials telling me I didn't need water, so I didn't add it. My next cook will have a water pan. I'll see if that helps.
2) Did I cook this on a smoker? I used the Rec Tec Ultimate blend. Compared to what I usually enjoy, this might as well have been cooked in the oven. The smoke ring however, was spectacular, maybe the best I've ever had (!) see - picture. Needless to say, I've got bags of Lumber Jack Hickory and Mesquite due to arrive this week. I've got a wood-burning cylinder ready to go as well. If I can't boost the smoke flavor on this dramatically, I'll be using it merely as an outdoor oven. I have absolute confidence I can though. ?
What I liked:
1) Minimal hot spots. Excellent opportunities for quick cooks like the jalapeno fatties I cooked today.
2) Uhhh . ease of use? Sorry, I don't mean to be sarcastic at all! This is just such a different style of smoker than what I am used to. I am genuinely excited to begin the journey of mastering this equipment in the service of making BBQ my neighborhood friends will tell me is the "best blah blah ever." ?
3) See #2 above. I really do feel excited to be "starting from the bottom" on a system that is so easy to use and has produced great results for so many people. I can't wait to find out if the words "Rec Tec" and "competition" really belong together.
4) I can justify this purchase by merely pointing out that fact that this thing makes *perfect* bacon, with only as much effort as it takes to open a package of bacon and grind some pepper on top of it. I can't wait to find out and perfect all it's other strengths.
This thing will give me at least a year of fascination if I don't like it, a lifetime if I do!
I received the 700 Monday, and have done some chicken parts, bacon, sausage, burgers over the first 4 days, and yesterday got a longer cook going. This was purely a "baseline" test to see what I'm going to be working with, and I intentionally cooked slow and stupid. That is, I put the meat in - then I took it out when it was done. I'm strictly a cul de sac warrior, but I've been smoking for about 20 years with a Brinkman barrel-type, a Primo grill, and a Karubeque, and have also taken a shine to sous vide + liquid smoke. I've run this 225 test on all of these (with the sous-vide at much lower temps then finished in the oven) and here's my first thoughts.
There's no free lunch.
I live in South Florida, so typically smoking at this time of year on the Brinkman and Karubeque means sweat, smoke, and mosquitoes. The Primo demands those things initially, but then becomes hands-free for the duration, fire maintenance-wise. In this regard, the drawback to the 700 is I still have to walk outside 10 feet to put the meat on and take it off, still enough to break a sweat or get soaked by the torrential summers rains. ? (It goes sideways and falls upwards if you can picture it). But seriously, as regards comfort it's like going from a dirt bike to a Cadillac (in ancient days considered a nice car). I started out feeling like I was cheating! . . . but . . . there is no free lunch. By that I mean if I'm going to make good BBQ on this Rec Tec, I'm going to have to earn it, only instead of the sweat-equity I put into my other smokers, this one will involve some trickery if I can pull it off. Of my vast ? experience of 3 other smokers with the 225 on-and-off test (no frills - just put it on and take it off), the pork butt rating is about: Brinkman: 6, Primo: 8, Karubeque: 9. With practice I was able to get each of those up to 9s, and to a routine "10" on the Karubeque. I'm not comparing! I'm just telling you that my new mission in life is to bring my initial butt's "18 hour 225 degree on-off" cook on the RT700 up from the sad "3" I got today to a "10"! I threw a brisket flat on as well for 8 hours uncovered and unspritzed just for giggles at 225 (300 for the last 2 hours. I wasn't expecting anything here - just getting a baseline). All I learned today is that the RT700 is a more nuanced and complicated beauty than my other smokers.
Why a "3 out of 10."
This is a rating of the end result of my intentional idiotic "stress cook" on the 700. BTW, everyone tonight enjoyed and ate mass quantities of the pork, and many preferred the brisket(!) but my scale is "1" being acceptable and "10" being, well . . . you know. All this means to me is that my first pellet smoker is a different beast than my wood-chip flavored and stick burner smokers. I'm ready for the challenged to figure this out, as long as it means I can stay in my AC over the Florida summer! ?
What I will be changing, based on my first smoke:
1) The pork (and brisket, not surprisingly) was too dry. For my Brinkman and Primo first cooks, I had a water pan in the smoker and I would have put one in the 700, but I watched the Rec Tec officials telling me I didn't need water, so I didn't add it. My next cook will have a water pan. I'll see if that helps.
2) Did I cook this on a smoker? I used the Rec Tec Ultimate blend. Compared to what I usually enjoy, this might as well have been cooked in the oven. The smoke ring however, was spectacular, maybe the best I've ever had (!) see - picture. Needless to say, I've got bags of Lumber Jack Hickory and Mesquite due to arrive this week. I've got a wood-burning cylinder ready to go as well. If I can't boost the smoke flavor on this dramatically, I'll be using it merely as an outdoor oven. I have absolute confidence I can though. ?
What I liked:
1) Minimal hot spots. Excellent opportunities for quick cooks like the jalapeno fatties I cooked today.
2) Uhhh . ease of use? Sorry, I don't mean to be sarcastic at all! This is just such a different style of smoker than what I am used to. I am genuinely excited to begin the journey of mastering this equipment in the service of making BBQ my neighborhood friends will tell me is the "best blah blah ever." ?
3) See #2 above. I really do feel excited to be "starting from the bottom" on a system that is so easy to use and has produced great results for so many people. I can't wait to find out if the words "Rec Tec" and "competition" really belong together.
4) I can justify this purchase by merely pointing out that fact that this thing makes *perfect* bacon, with only as much effort as it takes to open a package of bacon and grind some pepper on top of it. I can't wait to find out and perfect all it's other strengths.
This thing will give me at least a year of fascination if I don't like it, a lifetime if I do!
