Can this smoker be saved?

OK, I've read through GWiv's 5-step program using the Weber Smokey Mountain, and I've read this thread but I have a one of these Meco smokers -- not bought from there, but that's the only matching model I've found. It was a company xmas gift, so there's no giving it back for credit.

There's no vent in the top (not that the lid seals well anyway
There's no vent in the bottom, it's completely open around the charcoal pan which sits on a ledge on the legs
There's thermometer labeled Warm, Good and Hot (duh, use an over thermometer).

Is it worth trying to smoke with this thing, or am I just going to be frustrated? Is having a poor-sealing lid a substitute for top vents?
I'm considering taking a Sawz-All to an old Smokey Joe tiny Weber kettle I have lying around somewhere to adapt it to this puppy.

Any suggestions? Beside junk it and buy a WSM?

I can't speak to this particular smoker (although the text about flavor channels directing smoke to your food is truly bizarre-- I thought, you know, the natural tendency of smoke to move upward was plenty good enough for that if you designed it logically), but here's a little cost of ownership thinking.

I have used my WSM a little over a dozen times since buying it and starting the 5-step last summer. By my calculation, I am now past the point where the value of the meat I've smoked is greater than the purchase price of the cooker itself. And since it will surely last at least ten years if not twenty or more, I expect that to eventually far outstrip the purchase price.

Now, even the least successful meal I've cooked has been pretty okay and a good learning experience, several have been quite wonderful. What would it have cost me to screw around with an inferior or weird piece of equipment? How many meals might I have ruined along the way, compared to the total satisfaction I've had? My point is, if the value of this thing is $75, you could easily wreck that much meat learning its strange kinks, or you could start with a new WSM and the 5-step and be making great meals out of the box.

Maybe this Meco cooker is okay, it's the right shape on the outside, apart from its lack of venting, but if it isn't, I'd say set it aside and don't begrudge the cost of a new WSM.

JoelF wrote:Any suggestions? Beside junk it and buy a WSM?

Not really.

That type of smoker does have a learning curve as most ECB* bullet type smokers do. Mike G.'s thoughts are pretty much on target.*

*El Cheapo Brinkman