Other Grilling/Smoking/Searing

[NU2SMOKE]

I was wondering if now that everybody has purchased their favorite Rec Tec Model. Does anybody use any other cooking devices or have they abandoned them all for their Rec's?

For instance...Right before I ordered my 700 Bull, I took my wife's fathers charbroil gas grill (he passed away 10 years ago) and rebuilt it with new cast iron burners, new ignition system, new hood thermometer, cover and a full set of grill grates from who else... Grill Grats of course. All of the parts cost me about 150 dollars (thank you amazon). It was a commercial series grill with stainless body and she cleaned up beautifully. (I'll post pics) My wife said it was ok to replace it which is how I just ordered my Bull but saw some sadness in her face. To her it had Sentimental value. When I finished the rebuild (without her knowing) and showed it off to her, she was over joyed. I plan on using it of the quickie hot dogs and burgers for the kids and as a searing station. This thing gets stupid hot. Over 600 deg hot measured with an infrared temp gun and with the grill grates I should be able to reverse sear pretty darn good. Start on the bull then finish on the Charbroil without having to wait for the Bull to come up in temp. At least this sounds good in my head. What I know for sure is my wife smiles when she looks at it and that was enough for me.

Would love to hear what you guys think and about your other devices you may or may not use anymore.

 

[dsandersus]

We curbed our gas grill of 10 years when we purchased the Stampede. However, we still have in our arsenal a Weber kettle, MES wood chip smoker, Pronto Pizzeria and Anova for sous vide.

Really depends on what we're cooking, but for the most part the RT will be primary for everything. The Weber is my go to for searing using lump charcoal to char meat. The Pronto is great for a quick fire pizza (about 5 minutes) at 700+ deg. We will continue to use our "old faithful" MES when the Stampede is full, great for side dishes. Our Anova is our favorite method of making steaks, and it's great to reheat any previously frozen smoked meat that we've vacuum packaged.

We're considering adding one more device to our arsenal, a Flat top grill - Blackstone, CampChef or the like, but that's more of a "black Friday" purchase this year.

 

[NU2SMOKE]

@dsandersus Wow that definitely has all of the bases covered.

I should have started this with my own llist as well.

I have of course the newly rebuilt Charbroil Gas grill mentioned above, I have a 40" MES and an Anova for sous vide and a new Bull 700 on the way as we speak.


The Bull is for the most part going to be the workhorse. Im looking forward to many great cooks with it!
Like yourself the MES will be used for dehydrating fruits and beef jerky mostly but also a warming box for the bull.
The Charbroil for quickie hot dogs and burgers for the kids and as a super hot Searing Station.
Anova Sous Vide...speaks for itself...LOL

I like your flat top idea but didnt think I necessarily wanted another whole setup just for that. I was either thinking of the "Griddle Hack" for the bull or the Grill Grats griddle setup for the gasser. If I go the griddle grate setup then I can be sauteing my mushrooms, peppers and onions while the Bull has the meat ? Choices choices!

 

[ifican]

Have a kamado and old charcoal grill. Upon receiving the bull i put the charcoal grill aside and will give it away. The kamado still gets lots of use, mainly searing and heavy smoke duty as someone in the household likes cooked meat to look a certain way and its impossible to do on the bull. Yes i have sear grates (long time grill grates user) its just no matter how one tries you cannot recreate flame kissed meat without flame. There is also the fact that I still find great enjoyment manually working a flame to create the perfect smoke profile.

 

[NU2SMOKE]

@ifican Thank you for your input. And welcome to the board.

I have always wanted a Kamado maybe at some point I will add it to the arsenal for cooking devices. My problem is I got away from charcoal and flame was the fact that every time the "flame kissed the meat" it usually ended up being burned to a crisp....never did get used to working that quite right... ?

 

[Uncle Bob]

Ya had to poke the bear didn't ya...…… Have I ever mentioned I'm a gizmo-holic? (Yes old man, more than once...….)

There are just some things, as the other guys have said, that are more efficiently done with the other tools. I enjoy the Stampede and it's versatility/ease of operation so use it probably second most often in the outdoor kitchen. Number one on the hit parade is a more recent purchase that I'll get to in a moment. The RT is great for smoking, both longer cooks like brisket and butts, as well as putting some good flavor in a steak while managing a controlled cooking of the interior (no sous vide here...…………..yet), but when it comes time to sear the IR sear burner is tough to beat, and there's no wait time as was said above. Chicken I'm still vacillating about, it's good on the RT but better on the other devices...…..so far. I'm still playing with that. Ribs also come out well doing a 3-2-1 style cook, but I've also been playing with higher temp/shorter time cooks on a Barrel House Cooker I've got. The BHC is also supposed to do a fantastic job on hung half chickens, but I haven't tried that yet.

Built into our outdoor kitchen is a 44 inch gasser with 20k burners, so that has some capabilities that outshine the RT as far as speed goes, though I have been using it less and less as I experiment with the other devices. One thing it has proven decent at is using a smallish cast iron griddle that came with our indoor cook top (roughly 20x10"). If I'm doing smash burgers or something else small for just me and the bride I'll use that because it's quick to clean up.

We've had a Kamado Joe for 7 or 8 years, and it is another versatile unit, but like any device that you have to build a fire manually, it's a tad fiddly, though experience and a DiGi Q controller help a lot for lower temp cooks. Lately I've been using it to make a close approximation of a wood fired pizza. Since I'm shooting for high temps there I don't use the Digi Q, just pile on the lump and let 'er rip. On my last pizza cook the fire ring cracked from then high temps, but good ol' KJ has a lifetime warrantee so they're sending me a new replacement that is designed not to crack at high temps (or should that be hopefully not crack?). I do like the way it roasts whole chickens, leaves them nice and moist, but the long process from fire building up is superseded by the quicker other devices.

And then there's the new champion of the patio; a Camp Chef Somerset IV stove. Unlike most camp stoves (which I also have a two burner, 70k btu per) this one has a higher grate at 34". There are 4, 30K btu burners spread over the 4' length. This thing is a power house of cooking options. So far I've used to deep fry calamari, wok up some Chinese dishes, and with one of two griddle options, do smash burgers, panini/Cuban sandwiches, and a few other dishes that would normally be done on the kitchen stove, but keeping the smells and heat out of the house is a big bonus. The two griddles are a Camp Chef cast iron 16 x 24" two sider (ribbed on the one for the panini/Cuban, smooth on the other) and a 32 x18" stainless griddle that I'd originally bought for the two burner camp stove, but on this Somerset it spans 3 burners so has better heat distribution than the two burner arrangement. Generally this is used for bigger cooks, though it was pretty handy a couple weeks ago when I did my Mexican street taco vendor impersonation and had the meat stuff on one side while warming tortillas on the other, less cramped than the 24x16. I haven't tried it yet, but this may make the propane turkey fryer obsolete, though the height might not work as well. We'll see. I like everything this baby does, most especially the deep frying.......so nice not to have that "burnt oil" smell in the house.

There's definitely overlap in what some of these do, and one or two could be eliminated if necessary, but it's not, so they persist. Did I mention I'm a gizmo-holic?...…...…………….

 

[Mike]

I've had several grills up to my RecTec Bull, since I've had the Bull everything else is gone.

 

[NU2SMOKE]

@Uncle Bob .....Bowing down.....I am not worthy.... I am not worthy!!!

You sir are my Idol...LOL

I love cooking that I am always trying new ways to do it and new ideas and especially new toys to make it all happen. We would get into a lot of trouble together I can see it now.

 

[NU2SMOKE]

I've had several grills up to my RecTec Bull, since I've had the Bull everything else is gone.

I am sure that with the style of cooking you do ...that is all that is needed and from all of your posts I have read...you make some great food worthy of Royalty!

I hope I can get as adept with my Bull as you and @Uncle Bob have gotten with your grills.

 

[ifican]

OOOOOO IR sear i need to look into that, pizza on kamado = love. And yes git yerself a sous vide if you enjoy gadgets. I dont use it often but its fun to play with. I want to do a sous vide brisket just cant find a big enough food grade sealed bag.

 

[Uncle Bob]

OOOOOO IR sear i need to look into that, pizza on kamado = love. And yes git yerself a sous vide if you enjoy gadgets. I dont use it often but its fun to play with. I want to do a sous vide brisket just cant find a big enough food grade sealed bag.

You HAD to say the magic words, "...fun to play with." didn't you? My bride will be hunting you down, watch for a 6' tall blond with fire in her eyes.

As for the food grade bag, get a vacuum sealer that has a lid above the heat bar (forget about Foodsaver brand) so you can buy bag material by the roll and make what you need.

 

[ifican]

So having played with both i recommend the Joule, much smaller foot print and all completely app driven (some hate that fact) and the bottom has a magnet so it stands nicely all on its own in metal pots. Just make the mrs some braised short ribs for your first go and she will soon forget. Then if you like soft boiled eggs go to costco and get a 5 dozen pack, you then will have the ammo you need to perfect the perfect soft boiled pleasure pill for the next time you venture into making your own ramen ;-P.

 

[NU2SMOKE]

I want to do a sous vide brisket

Sous vide a brisket....i would love to hear how that turns out. I can say that i have done porterhouse steaks sous vide and they came out like butter!