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Smoking, Grilling and Wood Fired Ovens


Pete H

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48 minutes ago, rplace said:

Not double walled, at least not BGE, just thick ceramic and guaranteed for life against breakage.

That's one thing I was worried about breakage, I like that table stand you have, perfect for that kind of setup. 

 

Well if wood can be added that would help alot, once adjusted it should hold a pretty steady temp and looking at the thickness of the walls should be pretty well insulated from cold air temps. I bet they are used much more in the North for people who want something to use year round, those who use the type closer to what I use have insulating blankets to help, we don't have that problem down here. 

 

Never tried fruit wood on chicken, the only wood I didn't care much for was mesquite, hickory and oak are my favorite.

 

Cool looking property, love the space.

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I have been a Weber guy forever; steaks over direct and ribs indirect. Had a side burner stick smoker until the movers “lost” it between Atlanta and Corpus. I now use a RecTec 700 Bull pellet grill. Great item and will do grilling steaks using their accessories but I prefer the Weber for steaks. I have not done pizza but have done smoked deviled eggs and jalapeño poppers in the side “cold” smoker on the Bull.

 

I really like the RecTec ($$$) and their customer support is second to none.

 

 

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Just now, USNRET said:

I really like the RecTec ($$$) and their customer support is second to none.

I have read good reviews about them, a friend has a Trager, it's very inconsistent with temps which seems to be about right with them it seems. There are some parts you can change out like the feeder and controls but that's crazy to need to do it after you buy a new one.

 

After seeing how his pellet smoker did I was completely against them, but it turned out to be more of that brand or model than the design, but they are very convenient when working well. 

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17 minutes ago, USNRET said:

 I have been a Weber guy forever; steaks over direct and ribs indirect. Had a side burner stick smoker until the movers “lost” it between Atlanta and Corpus. I now use a RecTec 700 Bull pellet grill. Great item and will do grilling steaks using their accessories but I prefer the Weber for steaks. I have not done pizza but have done smoked deviled eggs and jalapeño poppers in the side “cold” smoker on the Bull.

 

I really like the RecTec ($$$) and their customer support is second to none.

 

 

Me, too!  I like their steamer/smokers!  The first one I ever bought (mod-70's) was red and had lid clamps on either side!  you just set it up and once it was rocking and  rolling you just clamped the lid and could move it anywhere outside you wanted to!  Great for camping purposes!...so no matter how the breeze shifted you could move it so that you weren't breathing its smoke!  Haven't seen one in well over a decade!  A model they should STILL offer!  Later I got the two-stacker version with temp monitor in lid...was great for holiday meal smoking:  Get the ham into it very early on...keep checking it and moving it around inside...once it was starting to look good, remove, remove it, adjust coals, add a few more briquets and some soaked hickory chunks thru side door...put turkey on lower section, insert upper section, put ham back in and let ham drippings baste the turkey below it, while both continued to smoke!  Too Easy!

 

For grilling it works well too...just isn't able to handle family reunion sized amounts...but the viable options for things are there...in ONE package!

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22 minutes ago, dtel said:

I have read good reviews about them, a friend has a Trager, it's very inconsistent with temps which seems to be about right with them it seems. There are some parts you can change out like the feeder and controls but that's crazy to need to do it after you buy a new one.

 

After seeing how his pellet smoker did I was completely against them, but it turned out to be more of that brand or model than the design, but they are very convenient when working well. 

Mine will hold +/- 3-5 degrees with 225 set and a 30 degree outside air temp change and rain over 18 hours. Proven in use by me.

This is one case that you get what you pay for.

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31 minutes ago, dtel said:

That's one thing I was worried about breakage, I like that table stand you have, perfect for that kind of setup. 

 

Thanks, made it myself. Marine plywood and boat epoxy. Note the marbles in cement counter top.

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47 minutes ago, rplace said:

 

Thanks, made it myself. Marine plywood and boat epoxy. Note the marbles in cement counter top.

. I thought that was some granite or something similar, very nice.

 

1 hour ago, HDBRbuilder said:

Me, too!  I like their steamer/smokers! 

Many people do like them, mostly because they work well, have you seen the prices of the new ones, they were cheap at one time.

 

People look for them put out by the trash and take just the dome tops. They fit perfect on the top of an ugly drum smoker to give more height on the top rack, I think it might be like 22.5" across.

If you order one from Weber it cost more than half the price of the whole unit.

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1 hour ago, dtel said:

. I thought that was some granite or something similar, very nice.

 

Many people do like them, mostly because they work well, have you seen the prices of the new ones, they were cheap at one time.

 

People look for them put out by the trash and take just the dome tops. They fit perfect on the top of an ugly drum smoker to give more height on the top rack, I think it might be like 22.5" across.

  If you order one from Weber it cost more than half the price of the whole unit.

It is just cheaper to buy an entire new unit, than to buy replacement parts and they probably planed it that way for that reason!

I always wait til they have one of the huge sales on them to buy one...still the last one I bought in its box, unopened, though...may never have to buy another as long as I live!

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As I thought, everyone likes what they have and work with getting accustom to the nuances of that particular unit.  I told Denise that if I'm going to build a unit that takes a while to get completed, I will pick up a used Weber bullet or kettle and deal with it and the other units I have for a while.  In a perfect world, I would have a Kamado, traditional offset sized to my needs and the Weber gas with the smoker box for searing off steaks, doing burgers and having room for large volumes when roasting corn etc...  Some of the prices are just nuts on some of these units.  I know quite a few people with the BGE's and once they get it, they have no complaints.  The Smoke Ring is a fantastic site and I've been digging into it a little bit today between events.  Keep the info coming, it's great to hear about what you're using and why.

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45 minutes ago, Pete H said:

As I thought, everyone likes what they have and work with getting accustom to the nuances of that particular unit. 

 

That's probably as much to do with it as anything else, your right. 

 

Only thing I can remember was a real problem for some was when they bought a cheap unit from a box store and could never get it to stop leaking air and had no control of temperatures. 

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On ‎4‎/‎21‎/‎2019 at 1:31 PM, rplace said:

I could not be more happy with my BGE. If I had to do it over again I would probably get a primo. The oval shaped one my friend has with split grates and ceramic is better set up for high temp and indirect. I can do more than enough ribs and any combination of things my large BGE.

 

Its warming up right now for jerked chicken. 10+ year old gasser in the foreground rarely sees use now.

 

rps20190421_132939.jpg.0de809e5537509c81cbef01b38f59304.jpg

 

 

RPLACE, nice deck, looks like mine, Timbertech?

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2 minutes ago, RT FAN said:

 One of the best things i have done with the house, rip out all of the wood decking and put in the Timbertech. I have not been to the lumber yard since!

Agree, wood while pretty at first is a big maintenance commitment. House faces south and bakes all summer long. Zero issues beyond a power wash every spring.

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53 minutes ago, rplace said:

Agree, wood while pretty at first is a big maintenance commitment. House faces south and bakes all summer long. Zero issues beyond a power wash every spring.

I've built many custom redwood/cedar and cypress decks over the years and if you are willing to spend the money and especially time to pre-stain everything properly with the best materials and do multiple coats and then 2 finish coats with regular reapplication, the look can't be matched.  Most people aren't willing to do that or aren't sold correctly to begin with and end up regretting that decision.  As in cookers, there's no "ultimate best" but plastics, given the correct support can provide a much lower maintenance alternative for wood, but concrete or pavers, which can also be done elevated, are another alternative, but still there's trade offs no matter what.  I haven't really researched what to do with composite "plastic" decking to bring it back to life when it oxidises (everything does), but I would imagine with the increased popularity, there's got to be things on the market to be able to paint it.  There's no doubt, the composite decking, given the variety of color choices available, and a builder that understands the structural differences between that and wood, offer a much more ascetically pleasing product that will remain that way with a lot less work for a much longer period of time.

 

This year, I have to install a second and third level off the main deck and redo the pool deck (hopefully) and the vast majority of that will be stamped concrete, and the reinforced slab for the smoker/oven build that I've decided to do.   

 

rplace:  Your whole deck and cooking area with the egg look fantastic!  Nice Job, how long has it been in?

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12 hours ago, Pete H said:

 

rplace:  Your whole deck and cooking area with the egg look fantastic!  Nice Job, how long has it been in?

 

Thanks. Agree when cedar and others done right they look great. Basic treated lumber hard to ever look good after a couple of years, IMO. I personally hate yard work and house maintenance. Since the deck is kind of big at 40x14 I wanted easy. First ever composite deck for me and very happy.

 

Deck built 2003, gas grill 2005, BGE 2007. Multiple "things" for the egg till I made that table/storage around 2014 I think.

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I have used cedar, doug fir, redwood, and wolmanized in my deck since 1974 in Northeast Ohio and the best at holding up so far has been redwood in ground. The doug fir and cedar just get waterlogged and rot even with a tar coating. The wolmanized gets eaten up with bugs. The redwood looks like new after all the years while buried.

JJK

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