Review: Member’s Mark 36″ Pellet Smoker with Induction Burner and Smoke Tray

Hey everyone, wanted to share my experience with my first ever pellet grill.

After reading some initial reviews here and on YouTube, I opted for the Member's Mark 36" Pellet Smoker with Induction Burner and Smoke Tray (https://www.samsclub.com/p/members-mark-36-inch-pellet-smoker-with-induction-burner-and-smoke-tray/P03030174)

Packaging/Delivery

The grill ships free if you are a Sams Club plus member, which costs $110 normally but was on sale for $70. This may be a turn off if you do not use Sams club, but it was worth it for us since we also wanted to order other things on the site and have a club nearby.

My grill arrived via scheduled freight without any issues. The outer box had a bit of cosmetic damage, but inside the grill was well packed and had no damage. I thought there was enough packaging to reasonably protect the grill, but I’m sure in theory it could be damaged if dropped.

Assembly

I’m not a handy person at all and have never built a grill, but I was able to complete it in under 2 hours alone. The written manual leaves something to be desired, but they give you a QR code for an app that provides a better step by step guide. The instructions also recommend 2 people for assembly, but you really only may need help flipping the grill up to standing (I was able to do it solo, but it is heavy. If you are handy and have better tools, I’m sure you could complete it in an hour.

Build Quality

This grill is a tank. It’s almost 200lbs and double-walled, making it feel much sturdier than other grills that are the same or even double the price. All the parts and pieces feel well built, with everything fitting together nicely and appearing high quality at least to me. Comparing to the local Traeger/Pitboss/etc. in the sub-$1000 range at my brick and mortar stores, the Members Mark is a clear winner here.

The only thing I’d ding the MM grill on is parts like the grill grates and barrel aren’t stainless steel, so I suspect it will be more susceptible to rusting down the line.

Features

The biggest reason I chose this grill is it has several features that you would typically have to spend an extra $1000 or more to get. Namely, the smoker box, doubled walled construction, and induction side burner. Another plus is the size of the grill, it can easily fit enough burgers, ribs, etc for a big party.

One big factor for me was the only other grill I’m aware of with a smoker box is the WW Pro, but it costs $1500 compared to $500, and you have to pay extra for a side burner. For such a stark difference in price it was a no brainer for me.

The one downside is the grill has no WiFi or app. For some that might be a dealbreaker however that wasn’t for me and didn’t justify the extra cost for competitors.

First Test/Burn In

My first test run was a bit of a nightmare, which has thankfully been remedied. When I booted up the grill to 200 per the instructions, it was working fine. However, when I turned it up to 400 to follow the burn-in process recommended, my grill powered off.

I realized that it had tripped my outdoor outlet. I tested it on 2 more outlets, and with different extension chords but it was still happening leading me to believe the grill was a dud. After doing some searches I thought maybe it was a faulty igniter.

However, I eventually found one post of a user who said this issue can be caused by a clogged auger due to pellets/sawdust making the auger try to spin and pull too much power. (Funny enough, they mentioned the same brand of pellets I was using, Traeger).

After emptying the hopper and running the grills cool down mode (25 minutes of auger only), I was able to boot the grill back up and run it at 400 for several hours. I was also able to do a follow-up cook a few hours later, leading me to believe that was the issue.

I’ll chalk this up to either user error or pellet quality?

Food quality/First cook

While I’m no expert in smoking or pellet grills, my wife and I were very impressed with my first attempt. I made burgers with hickory pellets and hickory wood chunks, and they had a pleasant but not overwhelming smokey flavor and smell. While I don’t think this will ever match an offset or charcoal, this is easy enough for me to set and forget while still getting that BBQ experience.

Burgers were cooked for only 1 hour at 275 and I think the “smokiness” is pretty apparent. Time will tell if the smoke box makes a differences, but based on experiments I’ve seen with the WW Pro, it does seem to have a notable impact.

Temperature Accuracy/Stability

Across my tests, the grill held temp within 5 degrees whether at 200 or 400. I also tested the two supplied meat probes to see if the grill had hotspots, and you will see the temp was identical on the far left and right side.

The only thing I will note is that the main temperature probe is located at the top of the grill, away from the grates. Therefore, as you see, while the grill was running at 275 internal, the meat probes recorded 235 on the grates. I’m not sure if this is normal, but I’ll need to do more testing to see if there is a consistent difference.

TLDR:

Overall I strongly recommend anyone looking for a budget pellet grill consider this. For $500, it punches way above its weight against even grills double the price.

Pros:

• $500 price tag

• Features that usually cost way more (smoke box, double walled construction, induction side burner)

• Great return policy from Sam’s Club

• Food has been great so far

• Temps are stable and consistent on both sides of the grill.

Cons:

• No WiFi/app

• Potential auger jam on my first run, but likely a pellet quality or user error issue.

• no stainless steel grates/barrel