Outdoor cooking is really enjoyable and quite exciting! Using the most amazing pellet grill can be the difference between good racks of ribs and great racks of ribs!
The fact is, the market is saturated with so many choices of pellet grill, and it can be quite difficult to ween through them all and know which one you should be spending your hard-earned dollars on.
We've been using many types of pellet grill, and we finally used The Bull – that's the nickname for this beast of a grill, the Rec Tec RT-700. If we're being honest – it was one of the best experiences of using an outdoor cooking space we've had in a long time.
With its smart grill technology, tough stainless steel components and a smartly included temperature control, we can safely say that this review is going to be highly in favor of The Bull.
But, nothing is without its flaws and nothing is exempt from scrutiny. So, in that spirit – read on for our review of the Rec Tec RT-700.
We're going to examine its design, its uses, how it holds up on the market, its pros and its cons – along with other handy information for the potential consumer!
Get comfortable and enjoy our take on this top grill!
Rec Tec is a relatively new company in the grand scheme of things. It began in 2009 and was founded by two friends Ray Carnes and Ron Cundy. They began strategically pushing the envelope and striving for more in their chosen business field.
Always trying to get the best product for their customers, they stayed ahead of the game and from a simple few products – they have evolved and now have a varied range of cooking products.
While they changed in 2021 to RecTeq for Trademark reasons, their attention to detail and good, strong and durable parts for their products has not.
They never use any cheap or flimsy materials or parts and as a result, if you were to purchase one of their grills, you can expect a long life with it, assuming you take care of it too.
For customer experience, RecTeq include Ron and Ray's cell phone number into the product box, allowing all of their customers to feel as if they are part of their RecTeq family!
So, what can you expect with RecTeq? Individuality with inclusion to the customer, unique designs and ideas and strong, reliable products.
Before we dive into much further detail, it's always good for the potential customer to see what they might be purchasing. Below is a basic overview of this particular grill, such as its features and what to expect it to come with. We will then go into much more detail!
We start by looking at the construction of the grill itself. This grill is made of the following:
The grill comes with these very helpful items:
Now that we've looked at the overview, it's now time we dived into the depths of the review. As we said earlier, this grill is one of the best we've ever used, and it will be difficult to find another quite like it on the market.
There is nothing that the guys at RecTeq have missed or overlooked, but of course – it's up to you to make that decision for yourself. So, here is a much more closely examined look at the Rec Tec RT-700 grill.
This tough and durable grill comes fitted with a cooking chamber of stainless steel, and it's this stainless steel that can be seen almost throughout the entirety of the shell.
It features stainless steel fire pots, cooking grates, drip pans, heat deflectors, a smoke cap and other typical stainless steel hardware.
The fire pots are incredibly strong – in fact, RecTeq have completed several durability tests and have yet to have had any of the fire pots crumble under extremely tough conditions.
The ceramic igniter rod is extremely resistant to rust and corrosion, and it's suggested that it can last for around 300 years of frequent grilling or smoking. It's quite a claim, and we can see where the thought process of this comes from.
Just at a very basic level, you can see the highest quality of components and materials that RecTeq have used to create this Bull and its nickname is definitely appropriate.
Not only atheistically speaking with its large and tough look to it, but the clear sturdiness and strength cannot be ignored, with or without use.
Even with the added features to this grill (which we will look at later), the construction of the Bull is simple with no unnecessary add-ons that can often detract from quality.
In simpler terms, the Bull is here to make a statement and to last for a very long time – and this is something that it certainly holds up to.
Okay, so this RT-700 is the big dog among RecTeq's line of grills and smokers. The general features of it can be seen in most of their other products, but the Bull's capacity is what makes this different from the rest of them.
There are two general racks for use, but that isn't all – there's room for an additional rack if you need that extra space for some serious grilling to happen!
The capacity is 1054 square inches of cooking space in total if you include the extra rack, but even without that, you still have a very spacious cooking machine with over 700 square inches of room. We found it difficult to fill it with so much room to use!
To put it into perspective, on the two standard racks alone, you can fit 6 racks of ribs laid down flat onto the grill grates. We love ribs, but that's a heck of a lot!
If you were looking for a large capacity for smoker pellets, the Bull can withstand a massive 40lbs worth at any one time, if you need it! That's nearly two days of consistent cooking. Do you really need more?
The hopper can be found at the rear of the main unit, and it's divided into two main sections which can allow the user to divide their hopper and mix up the pellets if they wanted to. We didn't do this, but the availability was there.
Also, due to its smart design, the hopper was also a handy place to keep food warm if it were set on the stainless steel lid. We wouldn't recommend keeping your food there for too long, but for a short time as an intermediary before chowing down – it's difficult to see a downside!
Something that we were amazed at was the Wi-Fi connectivity. This allows you to take smart-control over your machine from the HUB via the app.
This gives you full allowances to keep an eye on temperatures of both the machine and the internal temperature of the meat. You might be wondering if this means you can switch it on and off – and the answer is yes!
If your meat has reached its desired temperature, you simply press the button on the app to switch the machine off and let it cool down and settle.
This was fantastic to see because for people who enjoy a very social event at a barbecue for example, can settle down while the meat is cooking and control the whole thing from the comfort of a nearby seat, whilst speaking to your best buddy!
The Bull stands on its own two feet with its ability to smoke. With a patented PID smart grill technology, you can keep an eye on the temperature and regulate the food to your specifications.
This technology is similar to what you will find it large set-ups in massive food preparation organizations like a bakery. In other words, you've got the gold standard right in your backyard!
This machine knows what it's doing for regulation. Let's say you've opened the lid and the smoke shoots past you – the Bull knows to add more fuel to the fire and get it back to capacity.
The same applies the other way around, so if you're getting up to the desired heat, it'll begin to slow down on the fuel and ensures it doesn't go overboard with the smoking process.
In simpler terms, the perfectly smoked food is going to be a guarantee with this machine! In fact, the precision of this machine within around 5 degrees is something we were highly impressed with. Precise cooking allows for the consistency to remain high.
There are two “extreme” settings, one is LO and the other is Full. LO is, as you might expect, the lowest possible setting the machine can smoke to. It keeps the temperature under 200 degrees and some people may argue that this seems high for a “LO” setting, but the Bull knows what it's doing.
On the flip side, the Full setting is the highest temperature setting and this will rise to 500 degrees, but you're only really going to use that if you're planning to do some super-searing.
It's probably important to mention at this point to that you do not need to adjust the temperature manually, but of course – you can. The temperature gauge will show you the current heat, and you will notice arrow switches.
These arrows are the simple buttons to turn up and down the internal temperatures inside the machine. Each increment is 5 degrees, so be mindful of this if you're planning to cook something to a very specific temperature.
Having said that though, if you chose to purchase the meat temperature probes, you will use those and keep aware of the temperature as your food cooks – luckily with its Wi-Fi connection, you can do this on your phone if you want to!
When we mentioned super-searing, this is where this machine gets even further positive marks from us. Many other products like this on the market don't have the capacity or functionality to cook to a high enough temperature and allow for quality grilling (if at all).
The Bull not only allows you to grill, but if you're looking for some professional-looking sear marks on your burgers and steaks, you're in the right place with this!
This is made even easier if you've chosen to purchase the extra searing kits with the RT-700. Although you don't necessarily need them, it does make searing much easier and much more professional in appearance, which is definitely something you could use to make your grilling friends jealous.
Speaking of extras, we mentioned you can get the meat temperature probes and an interior light. These are recommended and do enhance your grilling experience.
You can likely pick all of these extras up if you purchase the bundle pack, and this might save you a few bucks rather than picking them up separately.
One area that prospective customers often overlook when it comes to purchasing a machine like this is the cleaning process. You'd think that the larger the product, the more difficult it would be to clean right?
Well, that's not exactly the case here.
During shutdown mode, the Bull will self-clean which means that the fire pots only really need to be cleaned out after about 4 or 5 cooks.
The pellets can be easily scooped out and an area that some customers might be worried about is the fact that the Bull doesn't have a pellet dump.
This is actually an area that RecTeq have already thought about and have a clear rationale behind it.
The guys at RecTeq say that pellet dumps can be detrimental to your cooking process and unless you're living in an area with a huge amount of daily rain or an area with a very high humidity, you can leave the pellets for around 5 to 6 weeks.
But, as we said – when it comes time to scoop them out, you can do this easily and quickly due to its customer-focused design.
Due to the Bull having a large amount of stainless steel, the cleaning process is very easy. All you need to do is wipe down the areas after every use, and you'll see that it's very hard to leave lasting stains, which we have seen with many other grills in the past.
Other areas of the Bull are simple to clean too and be sure to scrape out any ash debris left over from the pellets after around 100.
We can clearly say that this was one of the best of its kind that we've ever used, but it's important for you to see everything we thought. So, we'll start with giving you the pros of the Bull, and we're sure you'd agree!
It's a real beast. Although we have seen others on the market that are larger, it's difficult to find a product like this that contains all the features, strength and abilities that this does.
For anybody, this is a product that has to be tried and tested to be believed, but for us – it was a dream to use and so simple, meaning any experienced fans of outdoor cooking will love it, but also newbies to the game!
No, it's around 10 minutes to get to a temperature of 300 degrees, so you won't be waiting long until you're hitting the heat!
So, does the Rec Tec RT-700 live up to the hype? You bet! It's one of the best of its kind on the market and offers one of the best user experiences you can hope for. If you're in the market for a pellet smoker, be sure to check this one out!
Happy cooking!
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