New Traeger Owner Here

[Seed]

Hello!

Never thought I’d go to the dark side but with this new Ironwood checking all the boxes I thought it was time to upgrade from my rectec trailblazer. Good smoker but too small.

Long time barbecue enthusiast with humphreys and Kamado Joe as well as a lone star stick burner but really enjoying the versatile pellet cookers. Puts out some great barbecue!

Look forward to my first cook. Home made jalepeno cheddar hot links!

Seed

 

[KirkP]

Hello!

Never thought I’d go to the dark side but with this new Ironwood checking all the boxes I thought it was time to upgrade from my rectec trailblazer. Good smoker but too small.

Long time barbecue enthusiast with humphreys and Kamado Joe as well as a lone star stick burner but really enjoying the versatile pellet cookers. Puts out some great barbecue!

Look forward to my first cook. Home made jalepeno cheddar hot links!

Seed

Welcome! Since you had the Trailblazer I'm curious why you didn't stick with RecTec and move to the Bull or BFG grills from them.

 

[Seed]

Welcome! Since you had the Trailblazer I'm curious why you didn't stick with RecTec and move to the Bull or BFG grills from them.

Hey Kirk,

Few reasons.

I don't like the back hopper and the side pipe style mostly due to where I put this thing. It's kind of hard to explain but my space is limited so design was important.

I can't stand the bull handles. For me it's tacky and this thing sits just outside my kitchen slider door. Personally the overall design of the rectec is fugly. It was ok for the smaller trailblazer but the big one I just couldn't do it.

I do like rectecs app that it has graphing and charting, shows trends and you can remote turn on. Those are nice features over the Traeger. The Traeger needs those features and should have had that by now. Would also prefer 2 meat probes over the one. Another plus for rectec there.

I like the shape and the size of the 885. I was able to do about 60 sausages laid down. I also created a hanging rack setup for about 30 bucks to where I can hang about 40 sausages for a smoke. This worked much better IMO. Wish Traeger had a kit for sausage hanging.

Space left to right with the rectec is about 54". I can only fit between 48. If I don't install the side table the Traeger fits in about 42" of space. The Traeger is also more shallow front to back.

I needed the exhaust to blow out the back not from a side pipe.

So had to weigh a lot of things when looking for the next grill and this fit better considering pros and cons.

Seed

 

[KirkP]

Hey Kirk,

Few reasons.

I don't like the back hopper and the side pipe style mostly due to where I put this thing. It's kind of hard to explain but my space is limited so design was important.

I can't stand the bull handles. For me it's tacky and this thing sits just outside my kitchen slider door. Personally the overall design of the rectec is fugly. It was ok for the smaller trailblazer but the big one I just couldn't do it.

I do like rectecs app that it has graphing and charting, shows trends and you can remote turn on. Those are nice features over the Traeger. The Traeger needs those features and should have had that by now. Would also prefer 2 meat probes over the one. Another plus for rectec there.

I like the shape and the size of the 885. I was able to do about 60 sausages laid down. I also created a hanging rack setup for about 30 bucks to where I can hang about 40 sausages for a smoke. This worked much better IMO. Wish Traeger had a kit for sausage hanging.

Space left to right with the rectec is about 54". I can only fit between 48. If I don't install the side table the Traeger fits in about 42" of space. The Traeger is also more shallow front to back.

I needed the exhaust to blow out the back not from a side pipe.

So had to weigh a lot of things when looking for the next grill and this fit better considering pros and cons.

Seed

Cool, thanks for the details. I'm a longtime Traeger owner and I just moved from the Traeger 575 to the RecTec Stampede, which has been great for me. Like you note in your post, there are a lot of considerations to figure out what is best for you and not every choice has everything you'd like. Compared to the 575, I think people have been really happy with the Ironwood.