Likely RecTec Ultimate Blend or Cookin’ Pellets Perfect Mix. The RecTec pellets are also made by Cookin’ Pellets I think.

Thanks!  I have five bags of something coming with the RT-700.  I haven't received anything since the order except a thank you for the order e-mail.  Maybe I should check the site and see if there is any updates on my order.

I'll be cooking ribs on the Kamado Joe this holiday weekend.  With the RT-700 on the way, I'm thinking this will be the last rib cook on the egg.  I'll be cooking two racks cut in half to fit the egg and using the extended rack on the egg too.  Sure wish I had the real estate and control of the RT for them, but do have more ribs and a brisket on standby when it arrives.  I ordered it on the 21st and spoke to RT yesterday who said the grill would probably ship out tomorrow, Oh yeah!


I love the egg and have used it for a number years.  I do plan to rebuild it (new seals, shelves and handle), but am undetermined about its future.  I believe it will still cook the thick steaks better, but we'll see.  I did order the searing kit for the RT.

^^ Nice!.  I know waiting for the grill to arrive is excruciating but it's worth it!  But it sounds like you have a great weekend planned anyway.  Cook it up!

^^ Nice!.  I know waiting for the grill to arrive is excruciating but it's worth it!  But it sounds like you have a great weekend planned anyway.  Cook it up!

Even though the RT hasn't arrived yet, I am already looking at the Kamado Joe differently now.  Funny how that works.  The Joe has been and still is a great grill, especially with the Cyber Q Wi-Fi controller I added to it, but it's clearly a lot more trouble to work a 16 hour pork shoulder with it than the RT will be, plus any other cook.

I cooked on primo oval xl for 8 years before trying a pellet cooker....i had many, many fantastic meals off it, but I honestly do not miss it all. In fact, I was using an akorn jr kamado last year in the camper and since I had gotten used to the cleaner taste of the pellet cooker, I didn’t like the food coming off the kamado nearly as much...it is sitting in my shed and I have a Davy Crockett pellet inn the camper now:)


Memphis Elite
Yoder YS640 - sold

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I think I can understand what you are saying about the difference in smoke quality.  When I first add wood chunks to the egg they smell really good coming out of the cooker.  I really like the Fig wood as it smells so sweet.  After awhile though that smell goes away even though the chunks of wood are still large and plentiful, but now chard and doesn't smell so sweet.  If the pellet grill retains that initial smell throughout the cook I will be a really happy camper.

It’s certainly a lighter/cleaner smoke. You can barely see it after it gets up to temp.
IMO it’s the smoke you want. Thin, blue smoke.

For some it’s not enough and they use a smoker tube. I tried it and thought it was too bitter. The tube gave off white smoke the handful of times I used it. It reminded me of the Masterbuilt electric smoker I had.

It’s certainly a lighter/cleaner smoke. You can barely see it after it gets up to temp.
IMO it’s the smoke you want. Thin, blue smoke.

For some it’s not enough and they use a smoker tube. I tried it and thought it was too bitter. The tube gave off white smoke the handful of times I used it. It reminded me of the Masterbuilt electric smoker I had.

Sound really good for sure.  I do like Mesquite smoke on my beef and Apple and sometimes Cherry, and especially Pecan on my chicken.  Pork usually gets Hickory.  This 200lbs of mixed woods coming is going to be new for me and something to get use to.  I am fairly open minded and don't like to get stuck in a rut so this is exciting and new for me and I can adapt easily if for the better, which I am thinking it will be.


P.S.  I just received my shipping notification Whew hew !!! I am so glad to see RT is using a freight carrier, which with the size and weight probably not much choice here.

I am new here and new to pellet smoking but I have been smoking for a while now. I have an offset stick smoker, a gas smoker and I got ride of the electric smoker. I have smoked everything from brisket to trout and love the taste. I just received my RT Stampede on Wednesday, came around 4:00 pm. I Put it together and seasoned it that night, no time to cook on it yet. I am going to try a porterhouse on it tonight and see how the sear racks do. I want to season the sear racks with bacon before cooking the steak so nothing sticks to it. Has anyone else done that? On Monday I want to smoke a pork shoulder to see how the smoke turns out. I did order the stainless steel vents but they are on back order as well as the cover.

I'm waiting on the vents as well for the Stampede.  But I didn't get any other accessories.  Be sure to let us know how the sear grates perform.
I cooked last weekend (tri tip, bacon, wings) and the smoke output was fantastic, particularly at 225 degrees for more smoke.  And as mentioned earlier, the type of smoke is a little different.  Coming from the world of offset stick burning (which I loved) and kamado cooking (which I did not love), I couldn't be happier with the conversation to pellet cooking.  But not just for the relative ease of it, primarily for the taste and quality of the food.

I see the RT-700's chamber is made with 14 gauge SS and would like to know if you pros think that it will hold heat and perform noticeably better than the RT-590 would.  I asked REC TEC why only a 2-year warranty and was told it was because people will be hauling the RT-590 around in their vehicles.  I didn't like that answer, but it is what they said via the phone conversation.  I now believe I know the truth and it is due to the thin steel chamber.


I really don't see any other grill in this $900 price range that looks better to me, but I welcome all input here for sure.  My wife doesn't really want a 54" grill added to the deck TBH, but if the RT-700 is much better then I well have to consider it over the RT-590.  I do Briskets, Pork shoulders, and everything in-between for mainly just the two of us.

I got my Rec Tec RT-700 about 1-1/2 weeks ago. I am extremely happy with it. I've cooked on stick burners and gassers. When my oldest son told me about pellet grills, I was intrigued with not spending all day/night minding the fire. I paid the extra for the RT-700 because of what I read about the build quality. It's well deserved praise. All that thick stainless is well placed. In the past week I've done tri-tip, chicken thighs, chicken legs, sweet potatoes, and Friday night I smoked two boneless pork shoulders. I cooked them low and slow @ 225 and they came out FANTASTIC! No trouble holding temp. The right side appears to cook a little hotter, so half way through I swapped the meat. It evened out things nicely.

I've had a couple of minor problems. 1. The app puts out a wifi disconnected message every once in a while. I called them at 10 am PST on Saturday. They picked right up. I spoke with a gentleman that definitely knew what he was talking about. He said this was an app problem when it sleeps. He said they're working on changing the app to make it work correctly. No biggie. 2. Both probes read 10° high compared to my ThermaPen. Easy math to correct that in my head. I told the gentleman that I could find calibration for the temp sensor, but not the meat probes. Is there any way to calibrate those? He walked me though checking the board version in my grill. He determined that it wasn't the latest version of firmware. With no coaching, he offered to cross ship me the latest board with instructions for install and probe calibration. Included is return shipping. Two bolts to install. The latest version has meat probe calibration. Excellent, top-of-the-line customer service, excellent grill with superb customer service. I am extemely happy with my purchase.

Thanks for the insight.  Can you remember what the latest version number is?  I want to check my board version when my 700 arrives.

Others are getting indications that Rec Tec are working on a way to update firmware remotely and that future calibration of food probes might be a month or more out.   I haven't heard anyone else indicate they were sent any new boards...

Not happy to hear the Stampede vent covers (I ordered the three-pack) are on backorder... Any idea when they are supposed to ship? Can't sit in the rain without them. And since they don't have covers, I'm not waiting.

Anyone find a decent cover that will fit the Stampede? Guess I'll have to check the dimensions and hit Amazon...

I did buy some pellets, that arrive today, but I've clearly got some time since mine is not likely to ship until next week.

Thanks for the updates everyone - I'll keep you guys posted on what I learn (and find).  And for the record, I have gotten some amazing results out of my Masterbuilt (with the bigger smoker box on the side) and my Bradley, but I hear the comment above - I'm looking at them differently as well, now that I've ordered the Stampede.   

- Dan

It’s certainly a lighter/cleaner smoke. You can barely see it after it gets up to temp.
IMO it’s the smoke you want. Thin, blue smoke.

For some it’s not enough and they use a smoker tube. I tried it and thought it was too bitter. The tube gave off white smoke the handful of times I used it. It reminded me of the Masterbuilt electric smoker I had.

Sound really good for sure.  I do like Mesquite smoke on my beef and Apple and sometimes Cherry, and especially Pecan on my chicken.  Pork usually gets Hickory.  This 200lbs of mixed woods coming is going to be new for me and something to get use to.  I am fairly open minded and don't like to get stuck in a rut so this is exciting and new for me and I can adapt easily if for the better, which I am thinking it will be.


P.S.  I just received my shipping notification Whew hew !!! I am so glad to see RT is using a freight carrier, which with the size and weight probably not much choice here.

For the most part, you will not be able to taste the difference between apple, cherry, and pecan pellets so if that becomes the case don't be alarmed.  The pellets burn so clean it is hard to distinguish a particular pellet flavor of the wood for most people.  An exception is usually 100% hickory for most.

Thanks!  That's good to know.

I see you have a MAK 2.  I checked those out last night and was very impressed with the design of them.  Kinda more of what I would like but the price of them was out of the ballpark for me. Still, very impressive grill design.  Maybe not having a pellet clean out like the MAK won't be as big of a deal with the REC-TEC for changing wood flavors as I was thinking.  I still would like a cleanout for preventing humidity problems when not grilling for a spell.  REC TEC could have done something similar to the MAK and made a cleanout that prevented humidity from entering the hopper IMHO.  Many grills have the pellet cleanout on them and it just makes good sense to me to incorporate that option for any pellet grill.

I don't plan on filling the 40lb hopper full to begin with, but maybe for the summer I will.  I do have a cover ordered and will just have to see how much of an issue humidity problems will be with pellets.  I can always dig out the hopper contents with a couple of bowls or use a clean shop vac and do it that way.  I am just guessing at this point since I have no experience or the grill yet.

I’ve never had an issue with humid pellets in my 680. I leave it filled 24/7.