Problems with Meadow Creek - Paint and rust

[bainbridgesmoke]

I recently upgraded to a serious smoker, deciding on the Meadow Creek box smoker, BX-50. Looked perfect, had great reviews, however, it has been so far unusable. The paint inside and out cannot stand up to temps more than 350 degrees, constantly flaking off. I scrub and scrub between fires but it keeps coming. Tried meat a couple times but paint flakes adhere to to the meat, fouling it and making it inedible. With all the paint flaking off and ambient moisture in air, the entire inside is rusting like crazy. Spent my weekend trying to scrub off rust... At the price point for these MC's smokers, this should not happen.

Any others out there with similar issues with this smoker? Do I just suck it up, continue to scour the inside and apply my own high heat fire place paint? If so, recommendations? 

 

[gr0uch0]

 
I recently upgraded to a serious smoker, deciding on the Meadow Creek box smoker, BX-50. Looked perfect, had great reviews, however, it has been so far unusable. The paint inside and out cannot stand up to temps more than 350 degrees, constantly flaking off. I scrub and scrub between fires but it keeps coming. Tried meat a couple times but paint flakes adhere to to the meat, fouling it and making it inedible. With all the paint flaking off and ambient moisture in air, the entire inside is rusting like crazy. Spent my weekend trying to scrub off rust... At the price point for these MC's smokers, this should not happen.

Any others out there with similar issues with this smoker? Do I just suck it up, continue to scour the inside and apply my own high heat fire place paint? If so, recommendations? 

No way--call them first thing tomorrow, tell them what's happening, it's not remotely acceptable, and how are they going to work with you on this.  They need to take care of you, especially since you upgraded to this "recently",  One thing if you'd bought some $100 rig on a closeout, knowing you get what you pay for, but at this price and supposed quality?  I'd be raising more hell than just a little bit.

 

[SmokinAl]

Did you  buy this smoker new?

It seems inconceivable to me that a company would send out a smoker with a painted inside that wouldn't withstand heat.

I thought maybe you bought it used & the guy who sold it to you just painted it up to hide the rust.

If that's the case I would think sandblasting would be the way to go.

Al

 

[kanealmond]

I agree, I don't have one of those cookers but have used them before with great results. This sounds to me like they may have changed the quality of their paint/finish. I would call them tomorrow and email them some pictures since it's so new. I bet they'll take care of you. Good luck!

 

[seriousbbqs]

Hi, I'm sorry you are having trouble with the BX50. I understand your frustration with this and want to assure you that we are here to help. My role is Meadow Creek online brand ambassador, so if you will pm me your phone number and some photos, I can have one of the owners call you to help you resolve the issue.

I realize this is a big disappoint and we regret that it happened to you. Rest assured, we are here to help and want to do everything we can to make it right.

Edit: I've removed part of this post because I realized the steps I was offering where not appropriate for this particular situation. I made a mistake in my recommendations earlier and I am sorry. As an online ambassador for Meadow Creek, my role does not include making decisions on things like this. I had tried to explain what can be done when there are minor problems with primer and paint because paint can only withstand a certain amount of heat. Obviously, it was not appropriate right then.

Addition: Someone mentioned that Meadow Creek should replace this smoker free of charge or give a full refund. I am proud to say that Meadow Creek has gone beyond that. Melvin the owner is having a brand new BX50 with stainless steel interior ($750 upgrade) built with top priority and shipped to the customer free of charge.

The BX models come standard with high heat primer, but we are discussing whether we should keep doing this or make the stainless steel interior standard. If we don't coat them, they will rust unless each user keeps them oiled and some of our customers only use them several times a year. If it's not maintained carefully, there will be awful rust problems. Out of the hundreds of BX smokers on the market, we've heard of several that had issues with the primer not sticking, so obviously the success rate with the primer is not 100%, even though Meadow Creek is not shabby with their paint efforts. Paint and fire can simply be a beast to work with. The nicest solution would be stainless steel interior, but it would add to the cost, however we also realize it would be in keeping with the brand culture Meadow Creek is aiming to maintain. We invite your comments and input on this.

 

[bainbridgesmoke]

Smoker was brand new. Was still in original crating from manufacturer when I received it shipped from the dealer. Came a little banged up, some issues due to shipping. That is understandable. However, these problems not being able to use smoker without inside paint coming off and tainting meat is total BS. Big part of the pitch that sold me on this smoker was the supposed "rust free worry" inside because of the paint...  Also, not so sure about their insulation. With some outside paint flaking off, too... Rubber tipped door latches disintegrating also. 

 

[bainbridgesmoke]

One of their brand reps has emailed me saying owner should be calling me soon... Can't find a number I can reach them on though. 

 

[gr0uch0]

Smoker was brand new. Was still in original crating from manufacturer when I received it shipped from the dealer. Came a little banged up, some issues due to shipping. That is understandable. However, these problems not being able to use smoker without inside paint coming off and tainting meat is total BS. Big part of the pitch that sold me on this smoker was the supposed "rust free worry" inside because of the paint...  Also, not so sure about their insulation. With some outside paint flaking off, too... Rubber tipped door latches disintegrating also. 

Swap me out with a brand new one, or come pick up the defective and refund my money so I can go buy one that won't do this--only two outcomes acceptable to me.

 

[bainbridgesmoke]

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[phatbac]

Swap me out with a brand new one, or come pick up the defective and refund my money so I can go buy one that won't do this--only two outcomes acceptable to me.

 

[gr0uch0]

 
One of their brand reps has emailed me saying owner should be calling me soon... Can't find a number I can reach them on though. 

Hear anything back from management, Bainbridge?  Please forgive my cynicism, but the answers you got from the "brand ambassador" weren't very "ambassador-like."  Insinuating that it was the owner's fault for not burning it in properly, telling a customer to go get some sandpaper and a can of spray paint as a fix, and to pressure wash the peeling paint off and coat the bare metal with cooking oil aren't remedies that remotely pass as taking care of a customer--especially on a new piece of equipment.  Those pictures speak very loudly that these failures aren't indicative of misuse, but instead, show missteps at the factory.  Hopefully you got some better answers farther up the food chain.

 

[seriousbbqs]

 
Hear anything back from management, Bainbridge?  Please forgive my cynicism, but the answers you got from the "brand ambassador" weren't very "ambassador-like."  Insinuating that it was the owner's fault for not burning it in properly, telling a customer to go get some sandpaper and a can of spray paint as a fix, and to pressure wash the peeling paint off and coat the bare metal with cooking oil aren't remedies that remotely pass as taking care of a customer--especially on a new piece of equipment.  Those pictures speak very loudly that these failures aren't indicative of misuse, but instead, show missteps at the factory.  Hopefully you got some better answers farther up the food chain.

You are absolutely right. I've edited my earlier post in this thread. There are times when those steps I provided are appropriate, but I should not have suggested it in this case. I did not mean to suggest that the customer is on his own in any way. We were absolutely going to follow up by phone and work out a good solution and we were also communicating via email. I'm happy to say that in this particular case, Meadow Creek has offered to recall the smoker and replace it with a brand new one with a stainless steel interior upgrade free of charge.

 

[gr0uch0]

 
You are absolutely right. I've edited my earlier post in this thread. There are times when those steps I provided are appropriate, but I should not have suggested it in this case. I did not mean to suggest that the customer is on his own in any way. We were absolutely going to follow up by phone and work out a good solution and we were also communicating via email. I'm happy to say that in this particular case, Meadow Creek has offered to recall the smoker and replace it with a brand new one with a stainless steel interior upgrade free of charge.

Now that's what I call service--nice work, Mr. Gingerich and Meadow Creek.  That's taking care of the customer--just wish countless others would take note and follow your lead.  Can't speak for Bainbridge Smoke, but I'd be good with this outcome--well done, gentlemen.

 

[bainbridgesmoke]

Need to provide update here. I worked with the MC owner and the distributor on this issue. They were unsure how/why these problems occurred, assured me it was a one-off issue and sent me a replacement BX50 with a sweet upgrade (stainless steel inside). I got the new one last week and fired it up 3 out of 4 days, each time it worked beautifully. First did some ribs, delicious, then home made sausage, delicious, and then a pork sholder and beer-can chicken, also delicious. Great machine - thank you Meadow Creek for making this right. 

 

[gr8day]

Good to see they made things right and you stuck with them, the BX50 is a heck of a cooker. 

 

[JaxNative]

Glad to see Meadow Creek is doing something for you. I bought a new Meadow Creek BX50 2 years ago and tried speaking to customer service and was treated horribly. I kept getting water in the bottom or putting out my charcoal/wood. They danced around the issue and basically ignored me.
So to this day there are days where it boils over "when running low and slow" and puts out most of my fuel. Running it without water it spikes in temp but usually stays around 250-260.
Love the grill and the product 75% of the time.