Back yard pit legend (smoking/grilling etc)

MurderedCat · Jun 28, 2026

RADA said:
Unwrapped / All that's left.

Honest opinion:

It wasn’t overly dry, but it was very firm. The girls loved it, so, I'll call it a win.

Again, this was my first attempt at cooking a brisket, so it was a learning experience.

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Was it probe tender when you pulled it or did you aim for temp?

slimfl08 · Jun 29, 2026

FernNetty said:
Well, the old trusty Z Grill shit the bed this weekend,( not really, just the fan, but don’t tell my wife that), which gives me the perfect excuse to upgrade. Anyone have any experience with Reqtec? I’m looking at the Reqtec X -Fire Pro because I need to be able to sear , and it has open flame cooking as well as being a smoker. It’s on sale for the holiday, anyone have any experience or recommendations? Has to be capable of at least 700*or better otherwise , no bueno. Thanks in advance

If you got the pocket book and want a beast of a pellet that allows a direct fire under the pot checkout Lone Star Grillz. They are hand built in TX. I owned an OG Rectec when they first were up and coming and it was great. Their quality has kind of went down hill once they outsourced and expanded. I moved away from pellet and own a Chud Box now. Its probably the most versatile cooker I own. Built in TX, decent pricing (check for sales during the 4th). It allows you to do direct fire cooking, low and slow smoke, and also run it like a high temp charcoal grill with the additional basket that brings the coals further up. Another not so talked about option for super high temp is the Gozney dome (propane/wood) model. I have smoked pork belly in it, ran high tem cast iron cooking and is my pizza oven for a majority of its cooks.

RADA · Jun 29, 2026

MurderedCat said:
Was it probe tender when you pulled it or did you aim for temp?

I aimed strictly for temperature. It was already an 8+ hour cook, and it was dinner for the masses! LOL!

I'll cook another one soon and have it as a non-dinner test subject to increase my knowledge.
This way, if I kill it, the monsters won't chew off an arm...

FernNetty · Jun 29, 2026

slimfl08 said:
If you got the pocket book and want a beast of a pellet that allows a direct fire under the pot checkout Lone Star Grillz. They are hand built in TX. I owned an OG Rectec when they first were up and coming and it was great. Their quality has kind of went down hill once they outsourced and expanded. I moved away from pellet and own a Chud Box now. It’s probably the most versatile cooker I own. Built in TX, decent pricing (check for sales during the 4th). It allows you to do direct fire cooking, low and slow smoke, and also run it like a high temp charcoal grill with the additional basket that brings the coals further up. Another not so talked about option for super high temp is the Gozney dome (propane/wood) model. I have smoked pork belly in it, ran high tem cast iron cooking and is my pizza oven for a majority of its cooks.

I actually decided to go with the Weber Searwood 600 XL. The Recteq X-Fire has had a lot of issues from what I’ve been reading. My next thought was the Rectec Dualfire but for the price , there’s nothing it can do that the Searwood can’t and it’s substantially cheaper with better reviews. For about the same price as the Reqtec, I was able to get the smoker and some goodies like the cast iron griddle, cover and pizza stone. To be able to cook on an open flame when needed with a pellet smoker and having essentially a Blackstone like griddle all in one with excellent reviews is what sold me.

slimfl08 · Jun 29, 2026

FernNetty said:
I actually decided to go with the Weber Searwood 600 XL. The Recteq X-Fire has had a lot of issues from what I’ve been reading. My next thought was the Rectec Dualfire but for the price , there’s nothing it can do that the Searwood can’t and it’s substantially cheaper with better reviews. For about the same price as the Reqtec, I was able to get the smoker and some goodies like the cast iron griddle, cover and pizza stone. To be able to cook on an open flame when needed with a pellet smoker and having essentially a Blackstone like griddle all in one with excellent reviews is what sold me.

Nice! Having the extras make them way more versatile.

mneuman916 · Jun 29, 2026

FernNetty said:
I actually decided to go with the Weber Searwood 600 XL. The Recteq X-Fire has had a lot of issues from what I’ve been reading. My next thought was the Rectec Dualfire but for the price , there’s nothing it can do that the Searwood can’t and it’s substantially cheaper with better reviews. For about the same price as the Reqtec, I was able to get the smoker and some goodies like the cast iron griddle, cover and pizza stone. To be able to cook on an open flame when needed with a pellet smoker and having essentially a Blackstone like griddle all in one with excellent reviews is what sold me.

I have a Searwood 600XL. It's fantastic. It replaced my Smokefire that I had very little issue out of. You'll be very happy with the Searwood.

MurderedCat · Jun 29, 2026

Pork butts were on sale. Almost 10lb butt for $9.50. Froze a few quart sized bags of leftovers. Reheats really well!

rtfd333 · Jul 4, 2026

Lobster rolls have started to become a tradition on the 4th for our house. Grilled three 1.5 pounders for rolls tonight.

rpr · Jul 4, 2026

FernNetty said:
I actually decided to go with the Weber Searwood 600 XL. The Recteq X-Fire has had a lot of issues from what I’ve been reading. My next thought was the Rectec Dualfire but for the price , there’s nothing it can do that the Searwood can’t and it’s substantially cheaper with better reviews. For about the same price as the Reqtec, I was able to get the smoker and some goodies like the cast iron griddle, cover and pizza stone. To be able to cook on an open flame when needed with a pellet smoker and having essentially a Blackstone like griddle all in one with excellent reviews is what sold me.

I have the regular sized Searwood 600. I have a larger Traeger but I like the Searwood much better. After reading your post now I have to purchase some accessories.

MurderedCat · Jul 5, 2026

Freedom brisket to say happy birthday to the USA. Albertsons had them on sale $2.97/lb!!!

SPG and 250 at midnight on my little Traeger Pro 22. Foil boat at 165 around 6:30-7:00am.

Last time I pulled probe tender, let it cool on the counter to 150 and into the oven at 160 for 4ish hours. Flat was dry.

This time I tried sort of Goldees method. Pulled when the flat was 190 (point about 195) no cooling period straight to foil wrap and into the oven at 160 for 6 hours till dinner.

Way juicier! But the bark suffered a bit from the steam. Not much so I’ll probably keep doing this way. I’ll try butcher paper next time for the hold maybe.