Customer Reviews

Meco 5031 Charcoal Combo Water Smoker

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If I had been able to see one of these smokers in the store I would not have bought it. It seems poorly made and doesn't fit together very well. But since I bought it and went to the trouble of putting it together, we gave it a try. It works! We've used it every weekend since we got it - ham, chicken, sausage - everything is great. I don't know how long this thing is going to last, but I'm going to use it until it falls apart - then buy something else.

Bought this smoker for my son for Christmas. First of all, it arrived about a week before I expected it, which was great. My son has already used it 3 times since Christmas and is just delighted with the results. He says it cooks faster than he expected, but the flavor and juiciness of the meat is terrific. The size is fine too - he has cooked ribs and sausage for 6, and also a whole large chicken. He has already recommended this smoker to a couple of his friends!

Great lil smoker. Only downside is temp gauge. It would be better if it was numeric.

After several hours of searching and reading reviews of many different budget smokers I bought the Meco 5031. Easy enough to assemble. Kinda cheaply made, but it is a budget unit. I did check out the competition (under a $100) at the Big Box stores and they were cheaply made also. You get what you pay for! I have used this smoker once and it did a fairly good job. The Pulled Pork tasted great,was tender and moist. I did find it difficult to regulate the heat with the vents in the lid of the unit. Could best control in side heat by adding small chunks of lump coal at a time and leaving the top vents wide open. Hopefully with more practice I'll get this part down better. So, if your on a very tight budget this will get the job done with a little bit of babysitting. If your budget will allow, and you like quality built items,maybe spend the $200 to $300 for a better unit.

I chose this smoker as an option for an anniversary gift from my company. The reviews here seemed favorable, so I decided to give it a shot. Putting it together was not very difficult, but I noticed the parts don't fit well together - i.e. the smoking chamber, base, and lid do not line up. This creates a problem when you're trying to control air flow, but I didn't get to that part...

I started the charcoal per the instructions. Everything was working fine, until I went out to check it after about five minutes. Some of the charcoal had gotten through the grate and landed in the base of the unit. The hot coals then proceeded to melt the high-temperature paint off the bottom of the base - causing a caustic smoke. It got so bad I had to hose it out. I probably could have used it with the paint gone, but the unit is outside all the time, and would have rusted away in a matter of a few months.

Fortunately I'm only out about $20 for charcoal, lighter fluid, and mequite chunks. I'd recommend you save up for the higher-end smokers with dimensional steel construction as opposed to the light gauge units.

The Meco smoker has really won our family, this is the second one we have purchased. We have tried other smokers but none other is as consistent with preparing food quality, it is always cooked evenly and throughly. The price is pretty amazing also, we got a extra 30 dollars off for registering with Amazon Visa, so we got it for 46 instead of 76. I do highly recommend this product...if you, enjoy great food!

I have not yet used this smoker, so I can only comment on the aesthetics of this product. It was easy enough to put together, but extremely poorly made. First of all, it arrived damaged. I'm not sure whose fault that was, although I saw no evidence of damage on the box and I read at least one other review that stated it arrived damaged. There was a huge dent on one side of the smoker. My husband had to knock the dent out with a hammer, since I intended to use it for Thanksgiving and wouldn't have had time to send it back. Although as it turned out, I didn't use it. The material it's made of is very flimsy and the seams didn't match up on one side, making insertion of the screws difficult. As another reviewer stated, if I had seen this smoker in a store first, I definitely would not have purchased it.