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The unit was delivered Wednesday, 6/11/14 via UPS Freight. Besides the main unit I ordered one of their packages which included 240lbs. of pellets, a remote dual thermometer w/ 2 probes, a Grill Grate pkg., two grill mats and a cover.
Some specs. include a 40 lb. pellet hopper, 680 sq./in cooking area, interior light, 10 ga. s/s fire pot, 12 ga. s/s heat deflector and 12 ga. s/s drip pan. The interior is quite tall for big birds etc.
Temp. range is from 180F to 500F.
What isn't heavy s/s is powder coated black or orange and the unit is nice looking.
Assembly: When delivered I noted the top bag of pellets had been torn/ripped open and taped with UPS colored brown tape. The freight driver of course said UPS would not have done it. Yeah...right. I spoke with one of the REC TEC owners and he said they don't use brown tape but he was going to send me a free bag of pellets. I told him to hold off until my next order of pellets and he could include the free bag then.
Assembly was a snap. It took me two days. It would have taken a healthy young guy probably 1-2 hours, but I'm old and my health is crappy. It helps to have a relatively younger person around when needed, which is where my son came in handy a couple of times. I had watched the REC TEC video on assembling the unit a couple of times which helped. I have to say I was very impressed with the heavy duty hardware, bolts, nuts etc., which is also all s/s. No parts missing and fit and finish is high quality.
About an hour ago I finished the "initial cure". Everything is pretty much automatic. Set the desired temp, give it 15-20 minutes to reach that temp., put the food on and come back when it is done.
So far I'm impressed to say the least.
Tomorrow morning I'm off to the meat shop to pick up some goodies to smoke and grill. I'll add to this post with my impressions of just how good this puppy does.
Well................ living in a rural area can, at times, be a pain in the rump roast with respect to being able to find cuts of meat that those in urban areas take for granted. I went to a meat shop of some repute about 15 miles from my home. They had nothing on hand but would be glad to order a bunch of frozen stuff if I wanted to buy a case at a time. Lesson learned.
Went to a another meat store that had some items on hand at least. Had to buy a frozen cryo-wrapped whole brisket. OK, I can deal with that. Picked up a couple of chickens while there, along with a variety of fresh sausages and a chuck roast.
The weather was cold and windy (weatherman lied again) so it was decided to put off the smoking until Saturday.
Saturday: Started up the REC TEC. I became concerned when I didn't see smoke after a half hour. I knew it was working as the temp. was climbing to the desired setting. When the temp was reached I put on a variety of the fresh sausages. Then I waited, thinking the occasional wisp of smoke was not enough. I considered a full on panic mode but decided at my age that could be dangerous. So I waited and eventually the unit began smoking.
The sausages turned out well. I then put on the chuckie that I had rubbed the night before and just before putting in the smoker it was pumped with beef broth. Temp set at 245. Well....................................... I double wrapped in foil after it came to temp after about 3 hours and let it rest in a combo of apple juice and whatsthisheresauce for an hour or so. I also smoked some taters and when we sat down to eat the chain saw was almost fought over. A good steak knife didn't cut it. I've had shoe leather before, but it wasn't as tasty as my precious chuckie. I told the son that chuckie reminded me of good beef jerky....tasty but not quite as chewy.
Oh well, I can see this will be a learning process. I don't mind messing up a chuckie to much, but I am fearful of doing the same to a brisket or a slab of ribs.
Sorry there are no pics. I'll have to find my old digital camera and learn how to post pics here.
Bottom line: The REC TEC performed very well.......the operator didn't do so well and I suspect/hope it is because of my noobiness/inexperience with smoking.
Constructive comments/suggestions are welcome.
Some specs. include a 40 lb. pellet hopper, 680 sq./in cooking area, interior light, 10 ga. s/s fire pot, 12 ga. s/s heat deflector and 12 ga. s/s drip pan. The interior is quite tall for big birds etc.
Temp. range is from 180F to 500F.
What isn't heavy s/s is powder coated black or orange and the unit is nice looking.
Assembly: When delivered I noted the top bag of pellets had been torn/ripped open and taped with UPS colored brown tape. The freight driver of course said UPS would not have done it. Yeah...right. I spoke with one of the REC TEC owners and he said they don't use brown tape but he was going to send me a free bag of pellets. I told him to hold off until my next order of pellets and he could include the free bag then.
Assembly was a snap. It took me two days. It would have taken a healthy young guy probably 1-2 hours, but I'm old and my health is crappy. It helps to have a relatively younger person around when needed, which is where my son came in handy a couple of times. I had watched the REC TEC video on assembling the unit a couple of times which helped. I have to say I was very impressed with the heavy duty hardware, bolts, nuts etc., which is also all s/s. No parts missing and fit and finish is high quality.
About an hour ago I finished the "initial cure". Everything is pretty much automatic. Set the desired temp, give it 15-20 minutes to reach that temp., put the food on and come back when it is done.
So far I'm impressed to say the least.
Tomorrow morning I'm off to the meat shop to pick up some goodies to smoke and grill. I'll add to this post with my impressions of just how good this puppy does.
Well................ living in a rural area can, at times, be a pain in the rump roast with respect to being able to find cuts of meat that those in urban areas take for granted. I went to a meat shop of some repute about 15 miles from my home. They had nothing on hand but would be glad to order a bunch of frozen stuff if I wanted to buy a case at a time. Lesson learned.
Went to a another meat store that had some items on hand at least. Had to buy a frozen cryo-wrapped whole brisket. OK, I can deal with that. Picked up a couple of chickens while there, along with a variety of fresh sausages and a chuck roast.
The weather was cold and windy (weatherman lied again) so it was decided to put off the smoking until Saturday.
Saturday: Started up the REC TEC. I became concerned when I didn't see smoke after a half hour. I knew it was working as the temp. was climbing to the desired setting. When the temp was reached I put on a variety of the fresh sausages. Then I waited, thinking the occasional wisp of smoke was not enough. I considered a full on panic mode but decided at my age that could be dangerous. So I waited and eventually the unit began smoking.
The sausages turned out well. I then put on the chuckie that I had rubbed the night before and just before putting in the smoker it was pumped with beef broth. Temp set at 245. Well....................................... I double wrapped in foil after it came to temp after about 3 hours and let it rest in a combo of apple juice and whatsthisheresauce for an hour or so. I also smoked some taters and when we sat down to eat the chain saw was almost fought over. A good steak knife didn't cut it. I've had shoe leather before, but it wasn't as tasty as my precious chuckie. I told the son that chuckie reminded me of good beef jerky....tasty but not quite as chewy.
Oh well, I can see this will be a learning process. I don't mind messing up a chuckie to much, but I am fearful of doing the same to a brisket or a slab of ribs.
Sorry there are no pics. I'll have to find my old digital camera and learn how to post pics here.
Bottom line: The REC TEC performed very well.......the operator didn't do so well and I suspect/hope it is because of my noobiness/inexperience with smoking.
Constructive comments/suggestions are welcome.
Looking forward to your cooks and pics!
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