OT: Pellet Smokers

[Tin Cup Cowboy]

Anyone here have any experience with a Yoder YS640 or a Rec Tec? I know a buddy that has the Rec Tec and it seems pretty nice, but he has only had briefly so I don't know about the longevity of it.

I'm leaning to the Yoder, just wanted to check and see if any of you have hands on experience with either or both.

 

[seshomoru]

I've had my eye on the larger Rec Tec for a while now. It has a bunch of good reviews, and not just from people on Amazon. I've had one of the first generation Traegers for about 8 years now and it is still going strong. It's one of those that came out pre temp dial. Just a smoke, med, and high setting. Done ribs, shoulders, the thanksgiving turkey, steaks, chicken (whole and pieces), corn, you name it. If you make sure to vacuum it out every now and then and don't get it wet, I think just about any pellet smoker will last. Not many of them have bad reviews.

 

[holydawg]

Anyone here have any experience with a Yoder YS640 or a Rec Tec? I know a buddy that has the Rec Tec and it seems pretty nice, but he has only had briefly so I don't know about the longevity of it.

I'm leaning to the Yoder, just wanted to check and see if any of you have hands on experience with either or both.

I have a Traeger and love it. I would check those out before you buy another brand.

 

[aTotal360]

Green Mountain Grills are the best bang for your buck. Neighbor has the Jim Bowie w/wifi model and it's pretty awesome. They got a sale going on now as well.

http://greenmountaingrills.com/product-category/grills/

 

[DerHntr]

PM sent

 

[Tin Cup Cowboy]

The Rec Tec that my buddy has is the smaller one. I've actually cooked on it and it's nice, just not very big so the one I've looked at is also the large one.

I've read lots about them and you rarely find any negative comments or reviews. The ones you do find are pretty easily deduced as idiots. You can get the large one currently with a lot of extras and upgrades for $1800ish.

 

[Dawgbite]

Friend of mine had a Yoder for a while but eventually ended up with an egg. I'm in the wood furniture manufacturing business and we sell all our sawdust to a pellet manufacturer. Those pellets may only go for heating fuel but I'm not eating food cooked over sawdust from Russian, Chinese, and south american plywood. Not only is the glue toxic but the wood is treated with pesticides to prevent the transfer of insects from country to country. I guess ignorance is bliss but I use only lump charcoal.

 

[PubDawg]

I think they are super easy to get consistent results, but I haven't found a pellet that has the taste anywhere near the real charcoal and pecan, cherry or Apple smoke.

I know some say their pellets come from a plant in Ga, but something about the smoke just doesn't do it for me.

 

[The Peeper]

Curiosity got the best of me. How does S. American, Chinese and Russian plywood compare in price to plywood Made in 'Merica?

 

[aTotal360]

Alternatively, if you already have a BGE (or a poor person knockoff), look into DigiQ temp controller. It automates the process much like a pellet smoker.

https://www.amazon.com/BBQ-Temperat...srs=9471739011&ie=UTF8&qid=1472649918&sr=8-10

#CostaOrDie #YetiButts #TeamDales #ColumbiaPFG4Life

 

[Rog.sixpack]

Cool story bro

You can get pellets made in the USA, chief. 20lbs for $24.95 on Amazon.

 

[PubDawg]

You can get pellets made in the USA, chief. 20lbs for $24.95 on Amazon.

Made to pellets in USA or made from USA trees?

 

[Dawgbite]

Curiosity got the best of me. How does S. American, Chinese and Russian plywood compare in price to plywood Made in 'Merica?

Depends, 3/4 pine plywood made in the US is still cheaper than Eucalyptus out of South America or Birch out of Russia or ???? out of China. There are no Hardwood plywood mills left in the US so anything specified HWD plywood has to be imported. When you get to 7/8 plywood, imported is generally cheaper as long as you can avoid quality issues. The weather, gas prices, and demand in the housing market really effects the price of domestic ply. US mills want to run 3/4 and 7/16 because it is the most efficient for them and in the most demand. As long as the demand for those two is sufficient to keep the mills busy, they will charge out the *** to run another thickness so you are cheaper to import.When things are slow in the domestic mills they are more agreeable on the odd sizes. Hurricanes will increase the price as much as 50%. Even though we buy a dozen truck loads at a time or rail car loads, sometime it is cheaper at Lowes because they are slow to react to increases or likely have a contract price from the mills. Plywood is a commodity and price varies as such. If you have a warehouse and a good banker, you can make a good living playing the market. I know a lot of people who do just this.

 

[Dawgbite]

Made to pellets in USA or made from USA trees?

Could be US trees shipped to China and made into plywood shipped to the US which is then made into furniture shipped to Europe whose sawdust is pressed into pellets in the US. Just sayin. There is an industrial zone in China named USA just so they can say " Made in the USA".

 

[Augustus McCrae]

I've had a Rec-Tec for a little over a year now and I love it. It's the smaller one but I've never run out of space for anything I wanted to cook. I have the added advantage of living near their factory so I just go down there to buy pellets, accessories, etc. The guys that work down there are great and the customer service is awesome. When you buy one, they hand you a business card that has the personal cell phone numbers of the two owners. I thought that was pretty cool.

 

[mstateglfr]

Could be US trees shipped to China and made into plywood shipped to the US which is then made into furniture shipped to Europe whose sawdust is pressed into pellets in the US. Just sayin. There is an industrial zone in China named USA just so they can say " Made in the USA".

Incorrect.

1st- the myth was that there is a place in Japan named that as Japan was the major up and coming manufacturing center after WW2. Usa, Japan though has been named that for over 1000 years, or something absurdly historical like that.
2nd- the myth is dumb as hell because no goods are labeled with the town/city of origin, they are labeled with the COUNTRY of origin. And had products been labeled Made in Usa, Japan or something like that, our customs would have stopped the import of such goods.

Nothing comes from China saying 'MADE IN SHENZEN'. They dont even say 'MADE IN GUANGDONG'. <---the province where Shenzen is. It says 'MADE IN CHINA'.

 

[Joe Schmedlap]

Just get a Green Egg and be done with it. Get a Yeti also to hold your PBR.

I have a Traeger and love it. I would check those out before you buy another brand.

 

[Dawgpoundrock21]

I got a stumps gravity fed best smoker I ever used, I sold my Lang reverse flow. I'm doing competitions this year, and didn't feel like watching a fire all night

 

[Crazy Cotton]

Yoder for the win.
USA made
Great electronics
Thicker where it needs to be - better heat retention (less fuel use), also leads to less variation in temp based on ambient temperature = better bbq
have the ability to grill with the firebox insert.
strong company, leader in the field, so you will be able to get parts and pieces for years to come. That one is bigger than most people realize, until the one-man company they bought the cooker from goes belly up and they need some weird size auger. Yoder is one of the few that is both a well established manufacturer and a ASA build.
Huge on the pro/semipro circuit. I did a context a few months back and the Yoders were everywhere, including the winners circle.
Very reasonable price for the quality level. This will be your last smoker unless you end up moving up in size.
Great resale value. People know what these are and what they're worth.