Question for Rec Tec owners

I thought somebody woulda answered this. I've only owned mine for 3 days, haven't even cooked on it yet. So I don't have a clue. I'm cooking tomorrow, I'll check back.

I have an older 680 so different hopper design. Mine has about a half inch gap between the barrel and hopper so not much chance for heat transfer. That said, I’ve never actually touched the bottom to know for sure if there is any heat through the auger area.

I would think it will be fine on the 590 too. They definitely wouldn’t want the bottom of the hopper getting really hot.

I've never really checked, so I can't really answer that question.

Give them a call and ask them. They are very helpful.

Having a Bull and a Bullseye, and previously having a 590, the hopper bottom doesn't get hot. Bottom of the hopper is actually housing the auger and the only part of that that gets hot is inside the cook chamber. It may get a little warm where the auger goes in to the chamber but very little. People have put them on tables before. If you are worried about it, place a thin pc of ceramic tile underneath it.