Hello Spence,
I am new to the site and to smoking meat also. I have the Smoke Hollow 38". I have used it twice in the past 2 weeks for smoking spare ribs.
The first smoke I had trouble with high heat, I had to leave the door open to stay any where under 250F. So on Monday I called Smoke Hollow and they told me to turn the valve to high and light the burner. Once the burner is lit, instead of turning the valve ccw to the low setting, turn it cw towards the off position and I should get a real low flame. I tried it and it works. The 2nd smoke was 3 slabs of ribs and I was able to maintain 220F to 230F with the door shut tight.
The other problem I had with the smoker is that the meat drippings leak out of the floor of the smoker and run down the leg of it and onto my deck, making one h#ll of a mess. I took pics of the leaked grease and emailed them to Smoke Holoow asking them for a solution, but I have not heard back from them.
Does anyone here know of a fix for this other than putting a can under each leg?
Also I am going to try NOT soaking my wood chips next time as it takes for ever to get a smoke going with wet chips at 220F to 230F.
Anyway enjoy your smoker and I hope my tips help you out.
Russ