The Green Mountain Grill Ledge and the Recteq RT-590, the ultimate showdown since it’s a comparison that I get asked for quite a lot and both of these pellet grills offer a lot of functionality.
The price point is probably the biggest difference between these two but when you look at actually the functionality it’s quite similar, but I wanted to go into a little bit more detail about the more subtle differences in the experiences we’ve had as well with both these pellet grills.
Green Mountain Grill I am very familiar with, RecTteq pellet grills some of my friends have so I had to get several opinions to form a really good impression of the RTD–590.
When you look at a similar size and some of the main features are quite similar, in short, I think you’d be incredibly happy with either.
ScoreCard comparison Tool than a breakdown of why each pellet grill got that score.
Pellet Grill Brand Comparison Tool
| Category | Recteq RT-590 | Green Mountain Grill Ledge Stainless Prime |
| History & Reputation | B | B |
| Warranty & Service | A | B |
| Unique Selling Propositions | A | A |
| Thermostat Controller Design | A | A |
| Build Quality / Materials Used | A | B |
| Efficiency of Pellet Use | B | B |
| Technology / Wifi | A | A |
| Useful Brand Accessories | B | C |
| Temperature Range & Searing | A | B |
Scorecard Breakdown
Okay, so this is a full disclaimer that it’s based on my opinion what I know and what I’ve experienced. Having been lucky enough to experience many different types of smokers and have a passion for barbecue smoked food hopefully, I can give you better insight into these two pellet grills.
And of course what’s best for you might not be best for someone else and I definitely try and think about this when I write these types of posts. So just keep that in mind as you’re reading this, please.
History & Reputation
Winner = recteq
recteq
recteq started in 2009 so it has quite a bit of history now around their product range. 2018 sort a new range come out included the RT-590.
From the start, they have looked at the higher-end types of controllers and there is a bit more attention to detail and definitely some of the cheaper brands on the market. And that is probably why you of coming to the comparison between the RT-590 and the Ledge is that they both offer the enhanced features that make a pellet grill that extra little bit more convenient.
Green Mountain Grill
Since the patent of pellet grills came off Traeger, green mountain grills have been one of the first the rank like recteq. I think it was about 2008 when green mountain grill kicked off things. They have been focused on training dealers and retail environments it seems so they haven’t built up as much online presence and marketing as brands like Traeger.
But I really same green mountain grill spread across the world and the new distribution channels are popping up all over the place. Compared to recteq which is more focused on the national market.
Warranty & Service
Winner = recteq
recteq
recteq offers a 30 day no-questions guarantee money back which is always a good thing to have on technological products.
The standard warranty is for four years for RT-590.
Reputation really strong and it doesn’t take much asking around that you’ll find people are always really happy with recteq service and performance.
It’s also interesting how recteq has an online purchasing model, instead of having sales reps on the road and educating dealers like Green Mountain Grills. They use themselves as the first port of call for all customer service issues so there is no middleman. I kinda like this model as well.
Green Mountain Grill
3-year warranty for GMG.
When you do need to use customer service the feedback is always very prompt in my experience, but again I didn’t want to be talking to customer service either.
Unique Selling Propositions (USPs)
Winner = recteq
recteq RT-590
Probably one of the biggest points I think that’s unique in this price point is the amount of stainless steel that recteq has put in which provides a very sturdy and corrosion resistance build, I’ll talk more about this down below.
Green Mountain Grill Ledge
Considering both these pellet grills are PID controllers which means that there smart and react to what conditions are happening, like if the hood is opened or the weather is hot or cold.
If the temperature is around freezing the Ledge will do a heating boost at the start to get the grill up to temperature. This is not to say the recteq RT-590 doesn’t heat up pretty quick (10-15 minutes for most cooks). It’s more about a big boost or as they like to call it “Turbo Mode“.
Thermostat Controller Design
Results = recteq
recteq RT-590
Both these brands are using PID controllers as mentioned so that basically anticipating correcting temperatures based on the environment and how well the pellets are burning, it ‘learns’ and is predictive around temperature control.
The most basic kind of temperature control (duty cycle timer controllers), basically hit the target temperature then turn off, so they will always overshoot what temperature you’re aiming for.
When I have watched a recteq controller, it seems to have fewer fluctuations. It also seems to be the same PID controller that is used on the recteq competition and higher-end models. Which does give me a bit more confidence that they are going for a decent standard.
Green Mountain Grill Ledge
So this is the same controller that’s used on the three main products of Green Mountain Grills the Trek, Ledge, and Peak.
Build Quality / Materials Used
Winner = recteq
recteq RT-590
The overall stainless steel and sturdiness seem to be on a higher level when it comes to the recteq design.
304 Stainless Steel
As many know, this has a good level of corrosion resistance and is used widely in fabrication across commercial machinery and tools (and toys).
With the recteq RT-590, you get a ceramic igniter, these are rated to start 100,000 times.
Cooking Space – recteq RT-590
The recteq RT-590 has 110 in.² more cooking space and then the Green Mountain Grill Ledge.
Green Mountain Grill Ledge
The Ledge has a shorter auger that feeds the pellets through and the motor seems to be less powered than the recteq RT-590 in terms of the overall design and longer agility, recteq wins on this I feel.
In terms of the grease bucket on the Ledge both the angles are a little bit shallow so it doesn’t run quite as well, but any pellet grill I’ve used, having to clean it out is part of the job.
If you’re in a more harsh environment and the climate does get a bit of extreme weather with humidity or moisture. Or there’s a lot of dust blowing around and it’s a savannah desert, then Green Mountain Grill might not be ideal unless kept indoors when not in use.
The build quality seems more for urban environments and protected areas.
The Efficiency of Pellet Use
Winner = Draw
recteq RT-590
The claim from recteq is about a pound an hour and this is quite normal across most decent brands of pellet grills.
It does really depend as well on what your cooking, like at a low temperature or high. One pound an hour is mainly based on lower-temperature cooking/smoking.
The quality and type of wood pellet you use will also have quite a factor and at the same time how you look after your pellets.
Green Mountain Grill Ledge
Consumption seems to run about the same, on average about a pound per hour.
Technology / Wifi – if Applicable
Winner = Draw
recteq RT-590
This is one of the more important topics I think Jude to the uptake and interest and Wi-Fi enabled pellet grills. Both these pellet grills obviously have Wi-Fi and both have certain alarms and programming that can be done as well.
And I think you’ll get some great barbecue smoked goodness out of both these grills.
But for me, it’s about reliability and how user-friendly the interface is. Because of the end of the day, you don’t get frustrated with technology, trust me I’ve had my moments with this blog.
So to provide a bit more detail and a few videos to you can have a bit of a look and see what the interfaces are like and then you can make your own decision about what looks best.
You can see how it operates from about halfway through this vid,
Green Mountain Grill Ledge
Here is a look at the Green Mountain Grill interface, I have found both do the job, and can’t really see a clear winner win it comes to how this monitor and adjust temperatures.
Temperature Probes & Thermal Sensor Position
Winner = recteq
recteq RT-590
It actually comes with two temperature probes, it’s a nice addition to this price point. So when you end up having two different types of meat smoking then you can monitor each of them separately.
RTD / Thermal Sensor
Located on the left side, it has a 90-degree bend and sits about the mid hood height it gives good readings throughout the cooking area heights. (Remember, to keep this sensing accurately, I have learned to always give this a wipe after each cook).
Now I’m guessing, but the long rod on the RTD may be taking the temperature from the grill level up to mid-level under the hood *note I am presuming.
Green Mountain Grill Ledge
It comes with two temperature probes on the prime model which is basically what I’m comparing here.
On the choice range of Green Mountain Grills, there is one temperature probe.
RTD / Thermal Sensor
The Ledge actually has the RTD at the grill level, so this is quite different in terms of design. It’s actually just beneath the grill level and just pokes out from the chassis a bit.
Useful Brand Accessories
Winner = Green Mountain Grill
recteq RT-590
recteq provides a nice range of griddle and grill grates so these give you the searing ability that definitely can be had from a pellet grill.
The chrome polished vent covers are probably what most people should get too. Because on big difference is the Stampede doesn’t have a smokestack/chimney!
Green Mountain Grill Ledge
One of the best inventions that Green Mountain Grill has come out with is the pizza oven, you can find also find a bunch of third-party designs as well, or you can go DIY and just use some ceramic bricks to build a little pizza hut oven.
Just like a cast-iron frying pan or certain types of replacement grills you can get better heat retention so that pizzas cook fast, sometimes a bit too fast!
Check this video out a bit black – but still good! (also this was the old choice DB model).
It is a super easy modification with a bunch of ceramic bricks if you’re inclined to do it that way. So if you want to check out the easy modification I wrote a page on some hacks check it out here.
Temperature Range & Searing Ability
Winner = recteq
This is a biggy since a lot of misinformation is out there about searing on a pellet grill. In essence, I’ve seen so many pellet grills searing – but generally, you want to be capturing the heat with something heavy or metal that has heat retention properties like grill grates.
I wrote a whole page on grilling and searing kit that works incredibly well, check that out here.
recteq Stampede RT-590
You can actually push the temperature to a kind of max setting to get the most of over 500°F. To be honest, even the pellet grills that only get to 400°F you can cook a steak but reverse searing is something that might struggle with since it takes some time for the caramelization to occur on the outside of the protein meat to give that crusty sear.
BUT, the Stampede has a “Full” pellet feed when you click it past 500°F, this gives continuous fuel to max out the temperature! Very useful for that searing or pizza action!
You can adjust the minimum feed rate of the wood pellets to affect temperature.
Check this video to see more on this,
Grill grates are the way to go if you going to be using it for traditional grilling and put some good burn on the meat.
Green Mountain Grill Ledge
Ledge’s can get up to that 550°F maximum as well and the same thing applies as long as you put some type of heavy heat-absorbing metal on grates, you can get some really good grill action happening.
No max feed of pellet, however.
Conclusion & Summary
If you’re the type of person that likes to buy something and not play around with it too much I’ll probably go recteq stampede. One setup it’s pretty much good to go in any way you can imagine possible.
In terms of noise as well, you’ll find the recteq stampede runs quieter as well which for some people is a factor.
When it comes to the Green Mountain Grill Ledge, it’s got all sorts of aesthetics that for some can add a bit of value like the hanging bar for hooks, windows, and front shelf.
Then there’s the customer service on the recteq side of things goes without saying that you won’t find any better local style service, and I think this stems from the company still being family-owned even though it’s getting pretty big now.
A lot of people see the Green Mountain Grill pizza accessory as something that swings them towards that model. However, you can do modifications that give you a very similar result even though it’s a little bit DIY.
After all that hard work, go on you deserve it!
