I write a lot about the many different models of pellet grills/smokers now on the market. While I’m able to provide a thorough structured breakdown of product specifications and compare one brand/model to another, I often don’t get the chance to get hands-on with every model. As part of my research though, I watch a lot of real owners’ reviews on YouTube. Therefore, I thought I would produce a summary article on the best RECTEQ reviews I’ve come across from owners of the various models covering both pros and cons.
Disclaimer: Hey! By the way… any links on this page that lead to products on Amazon or other sites are affiliate links, and I earn a commission if you make a purchase.
Introduction To The Best RECTEQ Reviews
I have a RECTEQ product summary article where I go into the features/specifications of each of the pellet grills/smokers above, and you will notice that I reference RECTEC in that article.
The reason is, the company rebranded from RECTEC to RECTEQ. I do need to get around to updating that article with the new branding, but as some people are still searching for details on ‘RECTEC’ grills, I haven’t changed it just yet.
Also, please note I’ve included owner reviews of each of the RECTEQ pellet grills/smokers above, but I haven’t included a review of the Beast/Chuckwagon, which is their commercial pellet grill.
The reason is, I simply cannot find any owner’s reviews of those models. However, if that changes, I’ll update this article with those reviews, and I’ll also update this article with owner reviews of future RECTEQ pellet grill models.
Best RECTEQ Bullseye Review
The Bullseye (RT-B380) is currently the cheapest RECTEQ pellet grill coming in at just under $400.
Despite the Bullseye being the lowest cost RECTEQ, it has two features that you will find present on all RECTEQ residential pellets grills, a stainless steel cooking chamber and a PID temperature controller.
Therefore, the Bullseye, despite being the budget RECTEQ option, it actually has premium features.
Within these owners’ review summary articles, where possible, I want to reference owner reviews after several months of ownership/use.
Therefore, for the Bullseye, I’ve chosen to feature the review by Mike of Bowers Barbeque and his 9-month review.
As you will learn from Mike’s review, overall, he is now quite positive about his Bullseye purchase, but he did have a bit of trouble along the way.
Mike has previously done a 6-month review in which he details the temperature regulation problems he was experiencing.
In his 9-month review above after a control panel replacement, he details how the Bullseye can get up to 400-500 degree temperatures in around 15 minutes which is impressive.
Hence, as an actual grill, Mike is pretty happy with the performance of his Bullseye.
On lower-temperature smoking though, Mike does still find the Bullseye is around 40 degrees off from his measurements, though RECTEQ has stated the Bullseye control can be adjusted if desired.
Mike likes the Bullseye as an alternative to his gas grill but would be hesitant to personally recommend the Bullseye as someone’s only grill, and he makes some good points in the video above as to why he believes that to be the case.
- Total Cooking Area = 380 sq.in
- Weight = 70 lbs
- Pellet Hopper Capacity = 15 lbs
- Temperature Range = 225 to 749 degrees
- Typical Price = $399
- Availability = Amazon.com
Best RECTEQ RT-340 Review
While the Bullseye is the smaller grill, it is not actually designed as a portable pellet grill.
However, the larger RT-340 is designed and intended to be used as a portable pellet grill with its folding legs and clipped hopper pellet hopper lid.
Besides just being a larger grill than the Bullseye, as well as also featuring stainless steel construction and a PID control panel, the RT-340 is RECTEQ’s cheapest WiFi pellet grill.
I think the best review currently out there on the RT-340 is by Mike of the Delmarva Backyard channel for a couple of reasons.
First, Mike reviews the RT-340 in its natural habitat, in use on the back of his truck on trips to the beach.
Second, Mike, as you can find out by watching other videos on his channel, previously owned and had trouble with the RECTEQ Bullseye, so how has his experience been with the RT-340?
While Mike finds the size of the cooking area (340 sq.in) and pellet hopper (20 lbs) easily meet his needs.
As a portable pellet grill, he did find the weight (80 lbs) detracted a little bit from being an easy portable pellet grill to lift in and out of the truck.
That aside, when it came to the actual cooking performance of the RT-340 and its temperature accuracy Mike was happy with the results.
Mike does bring up an important point within his review about power. I’ve previously written an article on portable power supplies for pellet grills and discussed similar points.
Essentially, the RT-340 does need a source of AC power, and Mike states it pulls 550W during startup (hot rod igniter) and 350W during the cook.
Though I expect that was when the auger was running, which wouldn’t be constant. The point is though, its very important to find a suitably rated inverter that can handle such loads.
- Total Cooking Area = 340 sq.in
- Weight = 95 lbs
- Pellet Hopper Capacity = 20 lbs
- Temperature Range = 180 to 700 degrees
- Typical Price = $699
- Availability = Amazon.com
Best RECTEQ RT-590 Review
The RT-590 is commonly referred to as the ‘middle’ RECTEQ as its obviously large than the size of the RT-340 above but not as large as the RT-700 and RT-2500 discussed below.
I also actually think, in terms of most small to medium-sized families, the RT-590 is a perfect size.
The RT-590 essentially has the same general specs as the RT-340, its just a larger pellet grill providing more cooking area.
I think the best video out there reviewing the capabilities of the RECTEQ RT-590 is by Craig and Jack of Beers-Jack of BBQ.
They have a couple of videos on their channel cooking pizza and ribs on the RT-590. However, their most impressive video is the results they achieved when cooking a pair of Tomahawk ribeye steaks.
This is honestly one of the best videos I’ve seen for impressive results cooking these large steaks on a pellet grill.
When cooking large Tomahawk stakes, its a process of cooking with both indirect and direct heat. Now, RECTEQ pellet grills, unlike some other brands, don’t offer direct-flame access for various reasons.
However, with a set of GrillGrates, as shown by Craig in the video above, the RT-590 achieves perfectly cooked premium steaks.
The RECTEQ RT-590 on ‘FULL’ mode will essentially run the auger/fan longer to get to the highest possible temperature. At the main cooking grate, that works out to a temperature of around 550 degrees.
However, with a set of GrillGrates and an infrared heat gun, Craig is recording over 600 degrees. Hence, hot enough to get good searing performance from a pellet grill.
- Total Cooking Area = 590 sq.in
- Weight = 150 lbs
- Pellet Hopper Capacity = 30 lbs
- Temperature Range = 180 to 700 degrees
- Typical Price = $899
- Availability = Amazon.com
Best RECTEQ RT-700 Review
The RT-700 is the most popular pellet grill that RECTEQ currently sells and its a large backyard grill with, you guessed it, 700 sq.in of cooking area.
Again, the same feature set as the smaller RECTEQ models above, so we’re talking stainless steel cooking chamber and PID/WiFi control panel.
Besides the larger cooking chamber, what does set the RT-700 apart is the huge rear pellet hopper which holds 40 lbs which is a pro and a con.
I currently think the best review out there on the RT-700 is from Keegan of Seared and Smoked. This is a 6-month review of his RECTEQ grill, which you will notice in the video has been integrated into a DIY outdoor kitchen setup.
Keegan provides an excellent round-up of his final thoughts on the RT-700, covering both the pros and cons from his perspective.
So first, the 40 lb hopper, as Keegan discusses, has its pros and cons. Yes, with a full hopper, you could pretty much cook low and slow for a whole weekend if you wanted to.
The downside on the RT-700, though is there is no empty chute on the hopper to change pellet flavours or to empty the hopper for proper pellet storage.
I do agree with Keegan though, the look of the RT-700 with such a huge hopper is very discrete and smart.
Keegan is very positive about the tight temperature control and general overall convenience of the pellet grill, though the sound of the fan running constantly is a bit of an annoyance.
Keegan also discusses the general pros/cons in the pellet vs kamado charcoal smoker debate, which I’ve also discussed in the past.
Put simply, while pellet smokers are a more convenient means to smoke food, the smoke intensity in the flavour of the food is of a lighter profile on a pellet smoker.
Many people like myself prefer the more subtle smoke flavour, but its something to be aware of.
- Total Cooking Area = 700 sq.in
- Weight = 190 lbs
- Pellet Hopper Capacity = 40 lbs
- Temperature Range = 180 to 700 degrees
- Typical Price = $1,199
- Availability = Amazon.com
Best RECTEQ RT-2500 Review
The RT-2500 is also branded by RECTEQ as the BFG, and I’m sure you can guess what that stands for.
Now, really, while RECTEQ does sell the RT-2500 as a residential pellet grill/smoker, I think its a small commercial pellet grill due to its size and weight.
On the weight side of things, I’ve seen some people state the RT-2500 weighs 400lbs! I cannot find that specified weight on their website, but I can guarantee this is a very heavy pellet grill.
There are very few owner videos on the RT-2500, but probably the best is by Kutz Q BBQ. The video does a good job of giving you a full sense of the scale of this nearly $3K pellet grill.
If you frequently cook for a large group of friends and family, a pellet grill of this size may make sense.
But really, in most cases, I think even a large family would find that the RT-700 would more than meet their needs.
- Total Cooking Area = 2,535 sq.in
- Weight = 560 lbs
- Pellet Hopper Capacity = 53 lbs
- Temperature Range = 180 to 650 degrees
- Typical Price = $2,699
- Availability = Amazon.com
Conclusions On The Best RECTEQ Reviews
So what you should be able to get a good sense of from the owner reviews above of the various RECTEQ models is they are not competing to be the cheapest models on the market, and they are not priced as such.
RECTEQ, with its stainless steel construction and PID/WiFi control boards, has firmly positioned itself as a Premium Class pellet grill brand.
Despite that, you have RECTEQ models such as the Bullseye and RT-340, which are affordable to a wide range of people.
You then have their most popular model, the RT-700, which, if you compare it to its closest direct competition from Traeger and Weber, makes it a very compelling purchase.
That’s it! I hope you enjoyed this summary of what I think are currently the best RECTEQ owner reviews, I look forwards to updating this article in the future with upcoming RECTEQ models.
If you are interested in learning more, check out my Wood Pellet Grill and Smoker Guide, as it has lots of other helpful articles. 🙂
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