Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I ding it 3/4 of a star for UPS Freight's (their choice of a shipping partner) customer service and 1/4 star for 4 missing fasteners (easily replaced at Lowes). Yes it is still worth 5 stars. This is a review written from the perspective of a Weber Kettle BBQer. Ive used the Kettle exclusively for the last three years or so and decided change things up a bit. I bought the REC TEC for Christmas. 1st - REC TEC's customer service was refreshingly personal, prompt and first rate. The order was processed the same day I made it on Amazon after REC TEC called to make sure they had the correct address. Assembly was easy and pretty straight forward and took about an hour. The fasteners weren't ID'd by the location they get installed on the drawing, but if you have even a hint of mechanical inclination, its pretty easy to figure out. (steps say assemble ______ with provided hardware - pictures show major pieces only). Honestly, It could have taken me the better part of a day and Id have still given it a solid review. Grill lights itself and gets to temp quickly. Burn-in at 400F and it took about 20 min in 40F ambient temp with a bit of wind. Once on temperature, there was very little variance even in the wind (I only saw 8F low once and the rest of the time it was within 3F if not on target) First cook was a couple 2" thick pork chops. They turned out just as good as my Kettle version but with significantly less work on my part. Ditto for the second cook which included a 5 pound beef rib roast and three ~ 4.5 pound chickens. Even with all that meat on the grill there was plenty of room for more. Deciding on the REC TEC was a long process. There are similar grills out there at similar prices - I've read hundreds of reviews on numerous websites (smoke ring, pelletheads, etc...) and despite being the new kid on the block, the REC TEC reviews stood above all the others. I now understand why. They are the best looking and best warranted pellet grills on the market and nobody can touch their current level of customer service. I would buy this grill all over again and would recommend it to anyone in the market. ** 6 month update is included in the comments ** *** 1.5 Year update below *** 5/20/2014: So here it is almost 18 months later and bottom line - Everything works like the day I bought it and it is still cooking at premium quality level. I would certainly still recommend it (and have). I would probably give it 7 or 8 stars today if it were possible. In addition to being a great grill and smoker, pretty much anything you can cook in the oven you can cook with the same ease on the REC TEC. For more specifics, see below - I'll cover everything that comes to mind after about a year and a half of use. The great wall of text below is a lot to take in, but offered in an effort to help you make an informed buying decision. In addition to the grill, I recommend the following purchases to make your grilling experience as rewarding as possible. None are deal breakers, so they certainly don't need to be purchased right away (or even at all). They are listed in the order I would recommend to most folks and assume you already have at least one quality instant read digital thermometer ($25 - $90 ea) and a decent set of knives - if not, start there. 1. Insulated food gloves (about $20). Handle whole chickens with ease and allows for pulling pork roasts by hand without the burns. 2. Want to get creative? Pick up a cast iron loaf pan and/or a pizza stone and start baking ... 3. If you find yourself smoking more meats (or wanting a stronger smoke flavoring) a 12 inch smoke tube ($30-$35 online). You can simply burn additional loads of the same cooking pellets in it, or buy small wood chips. 4. If you find you want the ability to sear meats, grab the searing kit (about $80). ======================== Full review wall of text located below ============================ 1. Have I had any problems with the grill? - Yes, but only one and it only affected those of us who bought the grill early. It was at about the 6-7 month point and it was a fan issue in which the fan blade hub would slip on the shaft while spinning causing air flow to become extremely reduced. I noticed this as a distinct decrease in flow noise from the fan and a fire with large flames in the fire pot. I contacted REC TEC right away (I believe it was text via Facebook since I was outside at the time and on my mobile phone) and explained the symptoms. They returned my message with a phone call almost immediately, (under 10 minutes) with a diagnosis of the problem. They told me how to fix it for immediate grill use, and sent me a new complete blower fan assembly to replace the broken one (it was here in two days). It was as easy to repair and replace as they had indicated and the temporary fix worked like a champ - no cooking time lost beyond the couple minutes it took to get and make the repairs. 2. How much can you cook at once? Enough to feed your family (reunion). I had 13 adults and five children at Thanksgiving last year. All the meat (24 pound turkey over a roasting pan and a 12 pound ham) and some of the veggies (potatoes on the grill gates) were cooked on the REC TEC. Everyone was stuffed and there were left overs. I have cooked eight racks of ribs at once (Baby Backs lying flat) and seven racks of St Louis Cut Ribs (could probably fit more if I used racks to stand them up). Eight 5-6 pound whole chickens will fit and so will three full briskets (about 12 pounders). 3. Pellet use - far less than I expected. Due to the sturdy materials used in grill construction and the craftsmanship of the fit up, I don't go through pellets very fast. I've quit keeping track of how much I go through. Suffice it to say that one 20 pound bag of pellets in the REC TEC lasts longer, cooks more, and costs less than two 9 pound bags of charcoal in my 22.5 Kettle. 4. One general complaint I see about pellet grills is that they do not impart a stronger smoke flavoring. If you want to impart more smoke flavor to your meats, my experience with the grill is: a. Put the (COLD) meat on the COLD grill as it produces much more smoke while coming up to temperature than it does while it is at temperature. Also it produces more smoke at lower (200F or lower) temps than at higher temps. b. Smoke the meat at 180F for a couple hours and then raise temperature to desired slow cooking temp. c. A fairly simple remedy I recommend is a 12" smoke tube (about $30-35 online) to provide supplemental smoke - it works for charcoal and gas grilling as well. It will provide ample smoke for a couple hours during the cook for a robust, but not too strong flavor. 5. Another general complaint I see about pellet grills is that they are not a "real" grill. The primary driver for this comment is (not) being able to sear items. While I agree with the `searing' statement, it is fairly easy to remedy with the purchase of the searing kit from REC TEC (for about $80). It performs as advertised - the kit inserts on the right half of the grill, providing plenty of searing space. 6. Cooks like an oven and just as easy to use. From the beginning, we found ourselves looking for excuses to grill. That led to finding new things to grill. I now own a variety of cast iron pans used for cooking things ranging from bread, to meatloaf, pizza (we have a stone for this and the bread), chili, cookies, fries, etc...on the REC TEC. Cooking is a snap - Plug it in then turn on the grill with the touch of a button, set the temperature (touch of a button), and then set the display actual temperature (touch of a button). I have the original controller so my controllable temperature band is 200F to 500F in 5F increments. I have been informed that I can set up the controller for the newer 180F minimum - All I need to do is call Ray and he will walk me through (re)setting the controller. I have cooked at literally every temperature setting between 200F and 500F and the grill works like a champ at each setting. It controls temperature right where you set it. I've only seen it off by a few degrees a few times over the last year and a half and that includes cooking in just about all weather conditions and outside temperatures ranging from the low teens to the 90s. It comes quickly back to temperature when its lid has been opened and re-closed. 7. Care and keeping it clean: Grill is well seasoned on the inside but not dirty or greasy. The grill is simple to keep clean using the following routine - a. Cover the drip pan in aluminum foil and replace it after every cook. Empty and rinse grease bucket as required. b. Remove the drip pan and vacuum out the bottom of the grill and the fire pot (after about 8 hours of cooking time - not if you're in the middle of a cook though). c. Remove the light cover and clean with warm soapy water after about 8 hours of cooking (again not if you're in the middle of cooking). Cover pops right off d. Clean the grill grates with a Stainless Steel Scrubber Pad (about $1.50 each) (also called stainless steel gun cleaning pad - not the same as steel wool or a Brillo pad). Cleaning the grates is a breeze as they are real ¼" stainless steel rod - you won't need an expensive grill brush (or worse - a cheap one). e. I wipe down the exterior just about weekly with warm, damp, (lightly) soapy rag. Exterior finish is as good as new. I keep it covered when not in use.