Smoker selection

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hangin1

Fire Starter
Original poster
Jun 5, 2013
65
11
Central Illinois
Hello all,

First off thanks for all the helpful replies and suggestions I recieved yesterday in regards to what smokers I should take a look at, it seems that alot of people use different types of gas smokers and they all seem to have there pluses and minuses that make them great. I have narrowed my search down to 2 possible smokers that I am gonna choose between to purchase they are as follows:

http://www.samsclub.com/sams/smoke-hollow-pro-series-44-lp-gas-smoker/prod7820290.ip?navAction=

and

http://www.samsclub.com/sams/34-two-drawer-heat-saving-vertical-gas-smoker/prod3690077.ip?navAction=

As you can see there is a pretty good size difference between the two but the price is also less, the landmann is 68 dollars cheaper so I guess my main question is the difference in these two smokers pretty much just the size of the unit and if you had to choose between the two which would you choose. I will say I do like the glass window on the smoke hollow but figured if the landmann is just as good of a smoking rig I could save some moeny and use the difference to buy other products but just wanted to get some more experienced opinions on the issue. Thanks in advance for any suggestions and hope all have a great weekend!
 
Good luck on whatever you decide.
I do want to point out something.
Sams Club and Walmart items may be of lesser build Quality than the same item(different Model#) as a store like Bass pro or Landmann.
 
Sams Club and Walmart items may be of lesser build Quality than the same item(different Model#) as a store like Bass pro or Landmann.
x2 Agreed on that. I don't know much about their electric but the rest of their grills and smokers are kinda junky.
 
Good luck on whatever you decide.
I do want to point out something.
Sams Club and Walmart items may be of lesser build Quality than the same item(different Model#) as a store like Bass pro or Landmann.
I have the SH 44 from Sams and I'd love for someone to point out what the build quality difference is between this smoker and the regular "retail" SH 44.
 
Last edited:
Hello all,

First off thanks for all the helpful replies and suggestions I recieved yesterday in regards to what smokers I should take a look at, it seems that alot of people use different types of gas smokers and they all seem to have there pluses and minuses that make them great. I have narrowed my search down to 2 possible smokers that I am gonna choose between to purchase they are as follows:

http://www.samsclub.com/sams/smoke-hollow-pro-series-44-lp-gas-smoker/prod7820290.ip?navAction=

and

http://www.samsclub.com/sams/34-two-drawer-heat-saving-vertical-gas-smoker/prod3690077.ip?navAction=

As you can see there is a pretty good size difference between the two but the price is also less, the landmann is 68 dollars cheaper so I guess my main question is the difference in these two smokers pretty much just the size of the unit and if you had to choose between the two which would you choose. I will say I do like the glass window on the smoke hollow but figured if the landmann is just as good of a smoking rig I could save some moeny and use the difference to buy other products but just wanted to get some more experienced opinions on the issue. Thanks in advance for any suggestions and hope all have a great weekend!
Hangin,

Between those two, it all depends on what you want to do with the smoker.   The Landmann is 3 inches narrower, but it's deeper.  The SH is 10 inches taller.  SH also comes with 5 racks where the Landmann looks to only have 3.   The SH also has adjustable rack levels (18 different positions) whereas the Landmann's appear to be fixed.  SH has 2 independent burners with dampers on each side and a stack on top (albeit a short one).  The Landmann has a single burner with no dampers on the sides and with a damper on top as opposed to a stack. (Sams has another version of the Landmann 34" that has a stack and dampers on each side.  Also comes with an addition rack, but the price is higher @ $288.) 

Can't speak to the build quality of the Landmann, but let's assume they are comparable.   Is the price difference worth the additional room, the 2 extra racks, the greater flexibility and the glass door ?    Or, is saving $69 the better way to go ? 

That's a question that only you can answer as those differences might not be important to you.
 
Wow thanks again for all the responses especially Demosthenes9, you really give me alot to think about and as far as the quality of the smokers being from sams and walmart being of lesser quality I never really thought about that but I am guessing as long as I make sure its the same model number as the ones I have seen elsewhere I should be ok correct? Well hopefully I will be making my decision soon and hope you all have a great weekend and thanks again for the responses I am super exciting about getting a smoker and beginning to learn to make some quality meats in the smoker.
 
Wow thanks again for all the responses especially Demosthenes9, you really give me alot to think about and as far as the quality of the smokers being from sams and walmart being of lesser quality I never really thought about that but I am guessing as long as I make sure its the same model number as the ones I have seen elsewhere I should be ok correct? Well hopefully I will be making my decision soon and hope you all have a great weekend and thanks again for the responses I am super exciting about getting a smoker and beginning to learn to make some quality meats in the smoker.
YW Hangin.   The point that SQWIB brought up is a valid concern.  Long story short, sometimes companies sacrifice quality in order to meet the price point of places like Sams, Walmart, Home Depot and/or Lowes.    Other times, they'll willingly take the lower profit per unit in exchange for the increased sales. That, plus there are other cost savings within the marketing channel, like the fact that all a company has to do is deliver X number of units to Sams/Walmart and they handle the warehousing/distribution.

Making matters even more difficult, some companies will use a different model number for a unit "exclusive" to a particular retailer, while other companies will stick with the same model number, even though sacrifices might have been made.

In short, you can't just presume that since something has the same model # as what's in other stores, that it's exactly the same or that it has the same build quality.   If you have the time, I'd look at the specific model of Landmann at some other retailer as well as at Sams  and decide for yourself if they are of the same quality.  Then, if they are equivalent,  compare the Landmann at Sams to the Smoke Hollow and see which one you prefer. 
 
Hi hangin1.

The only thing I'll weigh in on here is the size of the smokers in question.  This is just my personal take, but its one shared by some...I know of many smoker owners who lived to regret buying a smaller rig when they could have gone bigger.  The extra capacity is worth a lot to me, so if I were in your shoes, I'd be leaning toward the larger Smoke Hollow.

Just my 2 cents...

Good luck!  Be sure to let us know which way you decide to go.

Red
 
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Hi hangin1.

The only thing I'll weigh in on here is the size of the smokers in question.  This is just my personal take, but its one shared by some...I know of many smoker owners who lived to regret buying a smaller rig when they could have gone bigger.  The extra capacity is worth a lot to me, so if I were in your shoes, I'd be leaning toward the larger Smoke Hollow.

Just my 2 cents...

Good luck!  Be sure to let us know which way you decide to go.

Red
yep


hated doing this to my ribs


this is much better.

 
Hi hangin1.

The only thing I'll weigh in on here is the size of the smokers in question.  This is just my personal take, but its one shared by some...I know of many smoker owners who lived to regret buying a smaller rig when they could have gone bigger.  The extra capacity is worth a lot to me, so if I were in your shoes, I'd be leaning toward the larger Smoke Hollow.

Just my 2 cents...

Good luck!  Be sure to let us know which way you decide to go.

Red
yep


hated doing this to my ribs


this is much better.

Yep yep yep.   That's me exactly.  Years of frustration with the limited capacity of my smokers.  I mean, I had 2 smokers running, but I still had to cut rib racks in half and sometimes, on bigger smokes, had to break it up and do 2 smoke sessions on each smoker.

 
Yep yep yep.   That's me exactly.  Years of frustration with the limited capacity of my smokers.  I mean, I had 2 smokers running, but I still had to cut rib racks in half and sometimes, on bigger smokes, had to break it up and do 2 smoke sessions on each smoker.

And this even makes me happier



So as a wise man once said, "Buy your 2nd smoker first"
 
And this even makes me happier



So as a wise man once said, "Buy your 2nd smoker first"
Dayum, lucky #$#$#$@.   You best not leave your garage door open !!

BTW, where do you live ?   
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biggrin.gif
 
LOL thanks for the replies by all, I actually went to my local sam's tonight and the only thing they had available for me to bring home tonight was a Masterbuilt 40 inch electric and I really want gas so I guess I am gonna have to order it which I kinda hate to do because I always fear that stuff will get messed up in shipping. I do agree with the comments about being sorry about buying a smaller rig so I will probably just have to convince the wife that bigger is better since we dont wanna have to cut our ribs in half to smoke them and I am pretty sure with the other one that I am looking at I will have to do that so the smoke hollow 44 is probably the way to go just wish I could find one in the store so I could bring it home and not have to have it shipped to me. Well thanks again for all the replies and hope everyone has a great weekend. I am currently drinking some Redd's Apple Ale for the first time since there is alot of buzz about it and wishing I had a smoker to smoke up some nice pork butt to go with it lol.
 
I do know that Wal-Mart is pretty well known for getting their own inferior model of a popular brand, however, I have found that Sam's items are typically pretty solid.  Could be, but I haven't experienced it.

I own a SH 44" and really enjoy it.  Lots of space, five racks, and they can be moved around to accommodate different sized meats in the same smoke.  I'm not much on cold smoking so I can't speak for how well it holds really low temps but it will hold 270 with only one burner.  Two burners will get it up to 325-350 depending on weather.  12" AMZNTS fits nicely and lasts me more than 4 hours.  It is quite leaky around the doors but that's an easy fix.  Some reported that the temp guage was off by quite a bit but mine was pretty close - I think most of those complaints are from a few years ago.  It's not insulated well at all and does use some gas, but I still like it.
 
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