RecTec vs GMG vs Pit Boss

[Hot Spot]

Grilla Grills does not offer wifi

 

[SlowmotionQue]

Do they offer wifi control? While that isn't a major deal breaker, it would be a nice added feature so I can run a cook while at work so dinner is ready during the week (butts/brisket).

Nope, they don't offer WiFi control like the Rec Tecs do.

The WiFi can also keep you from having to go downstairs or outside in the morning to check the temp of that brisket and/or Pork butt that has been on overnight.

You can simply look at your phone from your nightstand and get the readings from your two food temp probes.

You want to jack your temps up to get either through the stall? No need to go downstairs or outside to do that either. You can do it right from your phone.

If you want to light the Rec Tec on your way home from the supermarket to pre heat it, you can do that from your phone as well.

If you need to leave and go to Home Depot or Lowes or take a quick shopping trip away from the grill while your cook is going, or run an errand, the app allows you to check on your cook remotely and from miles away while you are shopping or away for other reasons as well.

I own a Stampede. I would choose either it or a Bull over the others that you have mentioned.

 

[SmoothBoarBBQ]

Do they offer wifi control? While that isn't a major deal breaker, it would be a nice added feature so I can run a cook while at work so dinner is ready during the week (butts/brisket).

No, no wi-fi controls, but that's not really a bad thing. I had a Rec Tec BFG for a few months and I only used the wi-fi feature 1 time, simply because it had so little utility to me. I do see where you're coming from though in wanting to run the cooker from work, so that makes sense.

Grilla Grills has addressed the reason for not having wi-fi and it's because so many people out there have no idea how to use a router. Thermoworks has run into some pretty tough issues with their Gateway and Signals units because they weren't prepared for the customer service issues related to wi-fi.

 

[Bdsankey]

Nope, they don't offer WiFi control like the Rec Tecs do.

The WiFi can also keep you from having to go downstairs or outside in the morning to check the temp of that brisket and/or Pork butt that has been on overnight.

You can simply look at your phone from your nightstand and get the readings from your two food temp probes.

You want to jack your temps up to get either through the stall? No need to go downstairs or outside to do that either. You can do it right from your phone.

If you want to light the Rec Tec on your way home from the supermarket to pre heat it, you can do that from your phone as well.

If you need to leave and go to Home Depot or Lowes or take a quick shopping trip away from the grill while your cook is going, or run an errand, the app allows you to check on your cook remotely and from miles away while you are shopping or away for other reasons as well.

I own a Stampede. I would choose either it or a Bull over the others that you have mentioned.

My only concern if I buy a Stampede is I will wish I had more cooker or the option of a side box. That said, a cold smoking box wouldn't be that hard to add to the Stampede, just place it where it needs to go and drill the corresponding holes where the chimney would be on a Bull and block the rear vents. I'm surprised RecTec hasn't done that yet but who knows, it may be coming. For all but the largest parties the Stampede is more than enough but if I get into comp cooking (nothing like traveling hours and hours but within a few of home) I am worried I may want the extra space/options for a cold smoke box. I also like how the Bull has a shorter auger.

No, no wi-fi controls, but that's not really a bad thing. I had a Rec Tec BFG for a few months and I only used the wi-fi feature 1 time, simply because it had so little utility to me. I do see where you're coming from though in wanting to run the cooker from work, so that makes sense.

Grilla Grills has addressed the reason for not having wi-fi and it's because so many people out there have no idea how to use a router. Thermoworks has run into some pretty tough issues with their Gateway and Signals units because they weren't prepared for the customer service issues related to wi-fi.

My plan is to hook the cooker up onto either my guest network through my main router or through the supplied router from my ISP. Either way, they aren't connected to my home network so I have no problem changing ports/protocals/gateways etc to make it work. The only thing I don't know is if 200f is too hot to hold something at since I don't believe the RecTec will go below 200f.


I.E. I throw a brisket on at 7pm, cook it all night and into the next day at 200f. Once it reaches 203f (kick the cooker up to 250 at lunch time ish) I would like to drop the temp back down to 200f to hold it warm until I get home (say 1-3hrs depending whats on the cooker size wise).

 

[SlowmotionQue]

My only concern if I buy a Stampede is I will wish I had more cooker or the option of a side box. That said, a cold smoking box wouldn't be that hard to add to the Stampede, just place it where it needs to go and drill the corresponding holes where the chimney would be on a Bull and block the rear vents. I'm surprised RecTec hasn't done that yet but who knows, it may be coming. For all but the largest parties the Stampede is more than enough but if I get into comp cooking (nothing like traveling hours and hours but within a few of home) I am worried I may want the extra space/options for a cold smoke box. I also like how the Bull has a shorter auger.




My plan is to hook the cooker up onto either my guest network through my main router or through the supplied router from my ISP. Either way, they aren't connected to my home network so I have no problem changing ports/protocals/gateways etc to make it work. The only thing I don't know is if 200f is too hot to hold something at since I don't believe the RecTec will go below 200f.


I.E. I throw a brisket on at 7pm, cook it all night and into the next day at 200f. Once it reaches 203f (kick the cooker up to 250 at lunch time ish) I would like to drop the temp back down to 200f to hold it warm until I get home (say 1-3hrs depending whats on the cooker size wise).

Rec Tec’s can go below 200 degrees. The Xtreme smoke setting is in the 180-200 degree range.

Just me but I wouldn’t hold meats like that at 200 degrees for that length of time for fear of it becoming over cooked.

 

[Bdsankey]

Rec Tec’s can go below 200 degrees. The Xtreme smoke setting is in the 180-200 degree range.

Just me but I wouldn’t hold meats like that at 200 degrees for that length of time for fear of it becoming over cooked.

That is my concern as well. Whereas the GMG has the ability to go lower where I could use a ~165f setpoint. I'd bet I could sit on the app and cycle it myself from on to off and so forth. That said, I don't know how well the grill will hold temp in the "off" setting for long.

 

[pigville porkers]

RT 700 with the smoke box. Had a few years now and never looking back. No issues no complaints.

 

[Bdsankey]

RT 700 with the smoke box. Had a few years now and never looking back. No issues no complaints.

The only thing driving me to a Stampede is the form factor/no smoke stack on the side making it more garage friendly. It's going to be a difficult choice.

 

[jermoQ]

It sounds like you already have your mind made up bit I will chime in that I like my Pitboss820, have had it for going on 6 years in January and it is on the lower end $$. So if you are considering a Pitboss, it would be good too. But those other brands are great cookers!

 

[Bdsankey]

It sounds like you already have your mind made up bit I will chime in that I like my Pitboss820, have had it for going on 6 years in January and it is on the lower end $$. So if you are considering a Pitboss, it would be good too. But those other brands are great cookers!

The lack of WiFi control is a huge turnoff. Some may thing it is petty but being able to smoke a butt during the week and monitoring its progress from work is a pretty "must have" feature. Also the ability to turn the cooker on from work on the 30min drive home to have it ready to cook shortly after I get home is a big factor as both my wife and I don't get home until 5-6pm some days and the last thing we want to do is wait ~30-40min for a cooker to get 100% up to temp/ready to grill for something like steaks or burgers.

 

[SmoothBoarBBQ]

My plan is to hook the cooker up onto either my guest network through my main router or through the supplied router from my ISP. Either way, they aren't connected to my home network so I have no problem changing ports/protocals/gateways etc to make it work. The only thing I don't know is if 200f is too hot to hold something at since I don't believe the RecTec will go below 200f.


I.E. I throw a brisket on at 7pm, cook it all night and into the next day at 200f. Once it reaches 203f (kick the cooker up to 250 at lunch time ish) I would like to drop the temp back down to 200f to hold it warm until I get home (say 1-3hrs depending whats on the cooker size wise).

One thing I will say about pellet grills is that they are super easy to use. I bring this up because it sounds like you're really making this way too complicated. It would be easier to put the meat on in the morning and cook at 250-275 and have it done when you get home for dinner.... no need to run that smoker all night at 200°. Of course this is just my opinion.

Good luck with whatever pellet grill you choose. I found them to be super expensive to use as the cost of pellets versus wood/charcoal is pretty substantial. I got through about $2 a day in wood using my stick burner, and about $12 a day using my insulated cabinet smoker. My Rec Tec BFG was using between $30-40 a day in pellets....super expensive and I just didn't feel like I was getting any smoke flavor at all. This is why I moved on to my cabinet smoker and I absolutely love it (Spicewine Ironworks Large model). I use a Cyber-Q wi-fi to keep the temps steady and it works very well and I love the smoke flavor I get with it. It's not the same as my stick burner but very close and my customers are loving the food that comes off of it.

 

[Bdsankey]

One thing I will say about pellet grills is that they are super easy to use. I bring this up because it sounds like you're really making this way too complicated. It would be easier to put the meat on in the morning and cook at 250-275 and have it done when you get home for dinner.... no need to run that smoker all night at 200°. Of course this is just my opinion.

Good luck with whatever pellet grill you choose. I found them to be super expensive to use as the cost of pellets versus wood/charcoal is pretty substantial. I got through about $2 a day in wood using my stick burner, and about $12 a day using my insulated cabinet smoker. My Rec Tec BFG was using between $30-40 a day in pellets....super expensive and I just didn't feel like I was getting any smoke flavor at all. This is why I moved on to my cabinet smoker and I absolutely love it (Spicewine Ironworks Large model). I use a Cyber-Q wi-fi to keep the temps steady and it works very well and I love the smoke flavor I get with it. It's not the same as my stick burner but very close and my customers are loving the food that comes off of it.

You're not wrong on me over analyzing things, it's one of my downfalls. How long were you running the BFG for to burn through $30-$40 in pellets? I'm looking at ~1-1.5hrs for a normal grilling session with the the occasional pork butt or brisket taking longer obviously.

 

[SmoothBoarBBQ]

You're not wrong on me over analyzing things, it's one of my downfalls. How long were you running the BFG for to burn through $30-$40 in pellets? I'm looking at ~1-1.5hrs for a normal grilling session with the the occasional pork butt or brisket taking longer obviously.

The BFG is 2500 square inches of cooking space, and I cook for a BBQ food truck that I run. So I was doing quite a bit of meat each day...generally I would put the food on at about 10pm and cook through the night at about 250° to have everything finished by 10am so I can do a lunch service.

So obviously I was going through more pellets than the average user, but both my stick burner and cabinet smoker have way more cooking space than the pellet cooker and their operational costs are much lower. My Cyber-Q that I use on my cabinet smoker can be controlled via a web-app, and that's also how I monitor the temps in my house. So in effect it offers the same functionality of the Rec Tep App in terms of adjusting and monitoring temps.

Note : I had some serious issues with the BFG in terms of temperature control and the RTD probe giving feedback to the computer system. Rec Tec customer service was fantastic (for the most part) and after a few weeks of troubleshooting they took back the cooker and gave me a full refund. Mind you I had it for 2 months and it was well used when they took it back.

 

[Bdsankey]

The BFG is 2500 square inches of cooking space, and I cook for a BBQ food truck that I run. So I was doing quite a bit of meat each day...generally I would put the food on at about 10pm and cook through the night at about 250° to have everything finished by 10am so I can do a lunch service.

So obviously I was going through more pellets than the average user, but both my stick burner and cabinet smoker have way more cooking space than the pellet cooker and their operational costs are much lower. My Cyber-Q that I use on my cabinet smoker can be controlled via a web-app, and that's also how I monitor the temps in my house. So in effect it offers the same functionality of the Rec Tep App in terms of adjusting and monitoring temps.

Note : I had some serious issues with the BFG in terms of temperature control and the RTD probe giving feedback to the computer system. Rec Tec customer service was fantastic (for the most part) and after a few weeks of troubleshooting they took back the cooker and gave me a full refund. Mind you I had it for 2 months and it was well used when they took it back.

I remember reading your thread about this awhile back. The only thing that drives me away from a stick burner or WSM etc is having to mess with it. While nothing is "set and forget" a pellet grill comes pretty close as long as you have a full hopper which is the major selling point to me. While the wife doesn't like heavy smoke flavor, I know it can be done with a "high smoke" setting on many grills or the addition of a tube (if need be). I've only ever had meat once that was over smoked and that was because the operator couldn't keep his stick burner steady.

 

[Dweverett]

There are a lot more options now than when I bought the original Rectec -- which is essentially the Bull. At the time I think they were hands down the best bang for the buck and even now they have a pretty good argument to be.

I've been very happy with mine -- great performance and top notch customer service. They are more heavy duty than your other listed choices (though honestly, I'm not sure it impacts the quality of the food)

Based on what you've described I'd go with the Bull if you go the Rectec route. The extra space is nice for when you are entertaining.

 

[chrpai]

I've had GMG DB Wifi for 2 months now and I love it. No peeling paint or any other issues that I can think of yet. Have cooked brisket, boston butt, ribs, chicken and tri-tip multiple times and I can't believe I didn't get into this years ago.

 

[rwalters]

I've had GMG DB Wifi for 2 months now and I love it. No peeling paint or any other issues that I can think of yet. Have cooked brisket, boston butt, ribs, chicken and tri-tip multiple times and I can't believe I didn't get into this years ago.

Welcome to the wonderful world of pellet cooking! What were you cooking on prior to your GMG?

 

[chrpai]

Welcome to the wonderful world of pellet cooking! What were you cooking on prior to your GMG?

A couple months on a $99 home depot offset smoker special just to see if I enjoyed it. No prior experience other then eating brisket all over Austin.

I've actually got an 11lb prime brisket cooking right now. It's 45f and windy out and the grill is fluctuating temp more then normal but it should be ready to eat when I get home from work this afternoon.

 

[raycollazo]

Jim Bowie Owner

I have had a GMG Jim Bowie for a few years now and while I have to say I am very impressed with their Support and Customer Service, I would probably buy a RecTec today if I had to do it again. Here's why:

1. The GMG (Jim Bowie) has a long auger tube to get to the firebox. This has caused me issues in the past with jammed augers and ultimately had to have the entire assembly replaced. No charge of course as the GMG support team wasted no time in simply sending out the entire assembly, motor included and it was a fairly easy swap out. With the RecTec having the pellet box on the back, I don't see that being as much of an issue.
Most of this can be prevented if your grill is not exposed to any rain, but in my case as best I try, there are always times when I forget or cannot put the rain cover on. Rain seems to get in the hopper and ruin any pellets in there. I don't know how much better the RecTec is with this but just by looking at the lid it looks better. (I'd love to hear from RecTec owners on that)

2. Pellet Capacity on the RT-700 is nearly double which means even in the winter, I could go an entire all night cook without having to top off the hopper.

3. Wifi in GMG has been useless to me. Despite changing out the WiFi board, and having a big rubber antenna, the Wifi on the GMG has never worked consistently for me. I may be able to get it to work on one cook, and then the very next cook, nada. I have so far heard good things on the RecTec electronics.

4. Warranty - The RecTec warranty is 6 years vs. 3 years

5. Cool Looks definitely have to go to the RT-700 (vs Jim Bowie)

6. Price - all things said, the 200 dollar price difference in the Rectec are leveled off by their free shipping offer. (My GMG cost me a little over $200 to ship)

All in all, I do love my GMG, through all the issues (most of which could have been prevented if I had kept it dry) I would probably look to try the RecTec as it addresses the weaknesses that I have found in my Jim Bowie.

 

[Bdsankey]

I have decided to buy a RecTec RT-590 Stampede. It fits better for my usage and storage confines as well as my future plans to build into a bar/outdoor kitchen.

It should be here sometime next week and I can't wait!