810-5502-W Food Smoker

The metal on this is extremely thin. Mine arrived dented, but I didn't bother to wait for an exchange as I could just push the folded over corner dents out with the back of a screwdriver. Pretty flimsy stuff. Built in China at the lowest possible price point. It'll do for now. If I had it to do again I would make one from an old steel drum.

Besides leaking alot of smoke. the temp fluctuates greatly and guage is off by 15 to 20 degrees I bought another clip on guage and like from another post I drilled about 24 1/2 inch holes in bottom of charcoal pan so ashes could fall to bottom. just place heavy duty foil in bottom to make it easy to dump ashes when done smoking . I will get a cooking sheet to put on bottom and try to find some heat resistent magnetic strios to seal up the leaky spots on mainly the upper door. My fist came out nice but I haven't tried anything larger yet. I will try a brisket but the attention to the temp will be a vigil so I will have to plan on time to watch that temp about every 15 to 20 minutes. My son has a propane vertical smoker that costs more (like 180 to 200 bucks but he smokes about everything turkeys, butt brisket and all come out very nice. I was just trying to save money as I don't smoke as much as he does . ALso this model has been discontinued and you can't even buy a cover for it. only the parts like nuts and bolts and grates etc so there ya go.

You said it weighed 33 lbs. Not so. It is not the quality we were looking for. Very thin gauge metal. Thermostat not accurate. No deal for the money spent.

I ordered this site to store,and after picking it up happily took it home to start smoking in time for Labor Day.(Yea!) Unfortunately, after removing it from the box,I discovered that there was a huge dent caving in the top,which opened a seam which all rendered the product useless. Upon examining the box,there appeared a tiny dent in the cardboard,but nothing to hint at the scope of the damage within. I think Walmart was not to blame.I think Brinkman needs to improve the packaging(a rare case where I feel more packaging is required) After schlepping this back to the store to return it,I decided not to go through the hassle and time required to order another(with no certainty of an undamaged second smoker),and purchased a smoker from another manufacturer,opting to pay a substantially higher price for an item available for immediate pick up. (as well as for immediate inspection). It is a waste of time,money and resources for items to be shipped in packaging that leaves goods vulnerable to such extreme damage,and I would hope that Brinkman addresses this flaw in the packaging in a timely manner. If you order this,I would recommend inspection before leaving the store.Also order well in advance of intended use to allow time for correction any problems!

For someone who doesn't have the experience manipulating a fire it's a pain. Better off spending a little more on an off aet smoker that requires less attention to the fire. But the online mod recommendations do help.