Rec Tec material

[ifican]

Im excellent at blather, just not well versed in the braggadocios kind.

 

[Theblackbox1215]

Using my calipers around the lid opening, my Stampede measures around 1.2 mm on the sides and top and about 2.4 mm on the bottom, which may be doubled over to form the lip for the grate but it's hard to tell in the dark right now. 18 gauge stainless steel is 1.2 mm.

I don't have a Bull to check. But you can always contact Rec Tec and ask.

View attachment 1476

I ordered my bull yesterday and I can check it when it arrives and post the results

 

[SlowmotionQue]

I ordered my bull yesterday and I can check it when it arrives and post the results

Great. Congrats on the new Bull.

 

[perfectmeat]

If you look on Grilla Grill site they list the RT 590 specs as 11 ga for the lid and 15 ga for the body. Is this correct?
https://grillagrills.com/traeger-rectec/

 

[JBB]

I’m in the manufacturing business and I would caution you not to get too distracted by the thickness of the sheet metal. It’s stainless and the entire structure of RecTec grills is solid. There’s no flex. The fit-up is perfect. The margins are all even and the lid fits the body so well you don’t feel the need for a gasket. They really did their homework. It’s a superb value for the money.

If you’re worried about having enough thermal mass to hold the heat, I think it’s there. The controller can throw the fire to it, and accurately, when it needs it. And air leakage is extremely low. I’ve noticed with my BFG and 700 it takes about 45 minutes at temp before you can open and close the lid and have the temp recover within a few minutes.

 

[pbison]

If you look on Grilla Grill site they list the RT 590 specs as 11 ga for the lid and 15 ga for the body. Is this correct?
https://grillagrills.com/traeger-rectec/

No, as measured in this thread the body is 18 gauge. I don't know what the lid is, other than thicker.

I looked long and hard at Grilla. Nice units, and appears to be a good company, but Rec-Tec's wi-fi and stainless body tipped the scales for me. Be sure to check out Grilla chef Shane Draper's recipes, they are excellent, particularly the jerky and how to reverse sear steak.

I’m in the manufacturing business and I would caution you not to get too distracted by the thickness of the sheet metal. It’s stainless and the entire structure of RecTec grills is solid. There’s no flex. The fit-up is perfect. The margins are all even and the lid fits the body so well you don’t feel the need for a gasket. They really did their homework. It’s a superb value for the money.

If you’re worried about having enough thermal mass to hold the heat, I think it’s there. The controller can throw the fire to it, and accurately, when it needs it. And air leakage is extremely low. I’ve noticed with my BFG and 700 it takes about 45 minutes at temp before you can open and close the lid and have the temp recover within a few minutes.

My 590 does flex some on the top when opening and closing the lid, and the lid itself does not fit anywhere close to tight. There are others that complain about lid fitment on the 590 as well. I ended up sealing mine. I'd recommend that to anyone, if for no other reason than it keeps the outside of the grill a lot cleaner.

As far as performance, I'd agree with what you've said. I've cooked down into mid 20s temps so far with no blanket and it's done fine. Took about 30 minutes to get up to 400 in low 30s last night. It takes another 15-20 minutes at that temp to recover reasonably well after opening the lid. I would guess the heat retention in the drip pan and heat deflector are almost as important as the grill body.

 

[perfectmeat]

If you look on Grilla Grill site they list the RT 590 specs as 11 ga for the lid and 15 ga for the body. Is this correct?
https://grillagrills.com/traeger-rectec/

The official response I got from Rec Tec is:
"The RT-700 does have a thicker gauge of steel than the RT-590. The RT-700 barrel has 14 gauge stainless steel and 8 gauge for the lid, while the RT-590 barrel has 18 gauge stainless steel and 10 gauge for the lid. Now don’t get me wrong both grills will hold temperature just as well and use the same amount of pellets and are both great grills."

 

[Uncle Bob]

Even though I think much of this is fairly pointless, I'm now somewhat disappointed with the folks at RT for supplying false information. I doubt it's done for malicious means, just sloppy. Here's a pic of the lid on my 590 using the go-no go measuring tool at 10 gage, as you can see there's a fair gap. The 12 gage opening is just a tick tight, so allowing for the thickness of the powder coat, real world on the 590 lid is more like 12 ga not 10. Yes, the body is 18 so they at least got that right. The rest of their numbers have no credibility based on this exercise. I sure wish someone with a 700 would give us actual measurement just for curiosity sake. Again, it is what it is and doesn't really much matter in the bigger picture.

 

[Buckeye smoker]

@Uncle Bob Maybe it's just me , but your pic appears to show that the lid tapers down.
Does your gauge fit from the side (outer edge) as well?

 

[Uncle Bob]

That actually is the side just above the lower right corner. What might appear like a taper to you is twofold. One, given the loose fit I may not have it perfectly square to the lid, second, the powder coating will tend to build an edge as it slumps so that can impact the measuring too. I went up the side a bit to get away from the comparative "blob" on the very corner.

 

[tpack]

Aluminum Gauge Chart*​
Gauge Number​	Inches​	MM​
7​	.1443​	3.665​
8​	.1285​	3.264​
9​	.1144​	2.906​
10​	.1019​	2.588​
11​	.09074​	2.305​
12​	.08081​	2.053​
14​	.06408​	1.628​
16​	.05082​	1.291​
18​	.04030​	1.024​
20​	.03196​	.812​
22​	.02535​	.644​
24​	.02010​	.511​
26​	.01594​	.405​
28​	.01264​	.321​
30​	.01003​	.255​

 

[blulegend]

That is the gauge chart for aluminum which is thinner for each gauge number than steel.

According to this chart, standard steel sheet metal is even slightly thinner than stainless at the same gauge number.

I used a very accurate digital caliper on my new Bull. It’s a little tricky to measure the lid and the powdercoated areas. But what I got includes the powder coat which means the metal is even thinner because in some areas where the finish was chipped out of the box, the finish is thick.

Lid: 2.7mm ≈ 12ga
Barrel and end caps: 1.5mm ≈ 16ga
Hopper lid: 1.125mm ≈ 18ga
Hopper body: 1.7mm ≈ 16ga (finish makes it thicker?)