Member's Mark 38" Smoker

The other day (Wednesday) I decided to purchase a "Member's Mark 38" Smoker" from Sam's Club (item #296414). I had researched several different brands and models of smokers. Most of the reviews for smokers in this price range were not so good. I often saw complaints about assembly and such. But I could find nothing bad written about this smoker from someone who actually has used it (or even seen it). The closest thing I could find to something bad written about it was someone saying that you can get such and such smoker for half the price. But if you check the reviews on the smoker the person mentioned, you would see lots of complaints about assembly, like parts missing, holes not lining up and not being able to maintain temp. Also the model the guy mentioned was not insulated.

So I decided to purchased it.

Being winter, I was afraid that they would not have any left at my local Sam's club (I'm in the Chicago area where it gets cold and snows). But when I got there, they had 3 in stock. I was also afraid that the box would not fit in my Jeep, as I had not seen the dimensions of it. So I took a chance and bought it. Worse come to worse I would have to return it if it didn't fit in the jeep.

The thing weighs in at around 250 lbs, and I got two stock people to put it in my jeep for me. It JUST fit. with no room to spar length wise, but plenty on the sides.

When I got it home, I had my brother help me take it out of the truck and slide it into a spot in my garage, where it sat overnight.

The next day, after dinner, I opened the box. I was expecting to find two separate cubes with tons of peaces that I had to put together. This has been my experience in the past with BBQs (even the premium ones). To my surprise, this was not the case. It was 98% assembled. All I had to do is attach the handle bars, attach the smoke stack, slide the water tray in, and insert the included battery for the auto light. All of the hardware needed was put neatly in a peg board style blister pack complete with the battery and a tool to attach the handle bars with. The blister pack was smart, as this allowed for easy QA in the factory. No chance for anything to be missing.

I did have to remove a large sticker from the front, and cut a tagger tie holding the gas hose. There was also the thing about taking it out of the box. As I mentioned, it weights 250lbs. The smoker ships lying down, and is very well packaged. No chance for it to get dented if the box is accidentally nicked by a fork lift, as this box was. The packaging material alone most likely weighs like 50 lbs. I pulled all of the packaging off the front of the box and attempted to tilt it. With no success. I couldn't get my fingers under the box. I grabbed an extra peace of packaging and used it to prop up the thing enough so I could get my hands under it. I was then able to tilt it up. I rolled the thing out of the box and unwrapped the plastic wrap around it.

I Couldn't believe how well this thing was put together. Heck, this thing was made in Taiwan. Every weld was perfect. The only slight Fit-and-Finish problem I could find was with the smoke stack. The holes lined up perfectly, but someone miscalculated a bend on one of the flanges that attached it to the body of the smoker. This caused it to have a 18th of an inch gap on one of the edges.

Thats it. The things together. Now I have to try it out.

My only complaint about the smoker right now, is that it is LP only. No NG conversion. This is fine for now, but in the summer I will have to modify it to use NG. From the little bit of research I have done on it, it sounds like all you have to do is attach a hose, and drill out the orifices. And maybe modify the valve. I shall see.