I can't believe you didn't get at least some grilled taste from at least the grease vaporizing off of the drip tray...Kinda like a gasser with lava rocks does.

Yeah, you'd think so.  The burger cook produced a slight grease smoke but none from the chops.

Bar, as you know, there's no science in grilling just experience.  I didn't want to step on any pros toes and is why I put IMHO.

Bar, as you know, there's no science in grilling just experience.  I didn't want to step on any pros toes and is why I put IMHO.

But there is science in cooking meat.  There are some good studies out there that you could read.  They have helped me.

I'm not aware of any pros on this site, but there may be a few on here running a BBQ catering business as a side job.

Meathead's book is good as far as science and cooking meat is concerned.  Smoke doesn't penetrate very far into meat, it's mostly on the surface.  And a moist surface attracts more smoke particles. 

Even when I cook at high temps I get a little extra flavor.  Not heavy smoke by any means but more so than a gas grill.   That's why I was surprised to hear the Bullseye apparently doesn't impart any flavor.

That makes sense Ross.  As the surface of the meat seals up from the heat, the outside moisture is much reduced thus less smoke is absorbed.  When low and slow is used more smoke is absorbed and you have a more prevalent "smoke ring" that is more clearly visible.

The REC TEC Bullseye doesn't produce the flavor I expected.  Here's what I was hoping for–

On overnight float trips or when hunting in the North Dakota badlands we would dig a small pit in the pebbles or sand, burn found wood or charcoal, lay a grate on the ground above the coals and cook.  We rarely cooked the entrée over flame.  Those fires coals produced a flavor that’s significantly different from charcoal, or smoke from a reverse sear cook, or my pellet pit’s blowtorch-like fire in the direct zone.  REC TEC advertises that the Bullseye produces wood-fired flavor.  I was hoping that it would be similar.

It wasn’t.  Perhaps no grill can match my memory of those flavors.  The camping ambiance and the tendency to embellish memories may have created an unrealistic goal.

But…cooking over coals from wood splits in the Santa Maria or Argentinian grills may be the answer.  I may be close to starting another search.

This is good to know. You’re looking for a very specific taste which is probably impossible with pellets.  You need a fire with split wood.

Build a fire pit...

It certainly is a small unique grill but with no flavor, just a cooker.  At our hunting cabin we cook offset and direct on a kettle grill and always add wood chunks to the lump charcoal for more smoke flavor. Maybe that would get you closer to your memories.

It certainly is a small unique grill but with no flavor, just a cooker.  At our hunting cabin we cook offset and direct on a kettle grill and always add wood chunks to the lump charcoal for more smoke flavor. Maybe that would get you closer to your memories.

Ya' know, that's a good idea.  Thanks.  I rarely add wood when grilling with my Weber kettles or Komado Joe.  I always add it when smoking on the KJ.