New Smoke Hollow Pro Series 44" LP Gas Smoker

Sgt, evening.... Not a clue but I will bump the thread so others will see it....   Dave

i have one. to control air flow i keep mine about a 1/4 open works good for me .
 

Good question about the dampers.  I was wondering the same thing.

I am looking at getting one of the Smokehollow 44" at Sam's Club. Do you like yours and how is the door seal.

Before I even put mine together I put a bead of hight heat silicon caulk around the door.  I have also had a problem with smoke leaking around the window and a bead of caulk fixed that.  Other than that the smoker has performed well.  Love the seperate door for the wood pans and the large size you can smoke a lot of food!

Hey everyone... hello Srg....  I just purchased on of the SH 44! what a beast!  This smoker is built fairly well for the money. The doors do not seal, but that shouldn't be too hard to fix. My plan is to use fireplace door gasket material glued to the door. Also, if you are ahead of the game and read this prior to assembly, using some high temp sealer around the base between the fire box & smoke box, during assembly would help with the sealing. Although its not too bad here, every little bit helps. My smoker didn't come with the glass in the door so I can't speak too much about that.

 Now after seasoning this and smoking a little batch of ribs, I already got some "mods" in mind. It was rather cold, around 30deg, and I had a little trouble keeping the temp up. (partially related to door sealing)  but I believe that the tank was icing up.   I also believe this smoker would be easy to insulate, and that would make it much more efficient than it currently is. Between the seasoning, and the 6 hour rib smoke, I used about half a tank of propane. This smoker is about twice as big as my previous one, so I'm sure it will use a little more gas, but holy cow! I used to get 7-8 10+hour smoke in my other little smoker. I'm sure a little experimentation will prove beneficial.

 At this point plans are to put a damper in the chimney, I'm sure this will help with temp control as it's just a wide open stack at this point. I also plan to put internal walls with insulation sandwiched in between, this should help with temp control & gas consumption.

 This is my first new smoker in about 6 years, so it's hard not to be jacked about getting it all dialed in!

to add to what "Fireball" said, those vents are for air flow adjustment. Depending on weather, you may need to close one or the other to keep the wind from blowing out the flame. Also internal temp control may be adjusted with these.


To the left is my Cabella's 7-in-1... it's 6 years old... and puffed it's last smoke-ring1

Thank you GoodBeer and Anylizer, Door seals are always good mods, I did it to my other old smoker and will to this one too when purchased. I would like to know the name and where you got the hight heat silicon caulk. Got any photos of were you applied the caulk on the SMoke Hollow 44".

Damper suprised its not got one, if you do the mod show us your handy work please.

Gas Hog, wow yes, I could do alot of smoking on a 1/2 tank of gas, if the door seals, damper and wall mods help let us know.

Thanks

ShutterlyExposed

Your right about using propane, mine us up 3/4 tank on one smoke.  I'm not worried about smoke leakage as our old smokehouse on the farm leaked smoke from everywhere.  Still turned out good product though.  Other than that I have not had any problems out of mine.

John

I used a high temperature gasket made by Green Egg that they sell for their large or extra large cooker. It is about one inch wide and fits perfectly. One package is enough for the entire smoker. We have a dealer where I live but it is also available on line. I found it much easier than trying to use fireplace rope.

My 44 smoke hollow has been a gem.  Converted to natural gas.  After over 4 years of hundred or more briskets, butts, turkeys and ribs the elements are burnt out from rust and use.  Am buying the new one from Sam's this week.  Here's a couple of tips for the new users. 

   First, if you can convert to Nat Gas it's well worth it - so much less hassle.   

   Second (most important) purchase a real good thermometer that can replace the one mounted on the unit.  Get one that can be calibrated in boiling water on the stove.  Being able to accurately dial in your smoker temp is critical.  Also purchase an electronic thermo for the meat.

   Third, the way I have mounted my smoker on a concrete slab covered with slate tiles it looks good but I get rain water deflected back up underneath which will rust the burners.  I plan to modify the cover so that it somehow extends all the way down. 

   Fourth, be sure to use a large catch pan under the meats when you smoke because the released liquids will also lead to internal rust.  Plus, the liquids will vaporize and help moisturize the meats.

   Fifth, my briskets are heavenly, at least that's what I've been told.  My key is a good rub the night before on fresh tender trimmed briskets, then again before smoking.  Even more important is the wood - I use a dry, or aged hardwood (oak, hickory, mesquite, apple, cherry, etc.).  Sometimes I'll use a pre-cooked hardwood charcoal.  Fresh woods are too moist inside and can contain tar and other chemicals.  A dry wood will usually burn a bluish clear smoke.  White smoke is sometimes bitter.  This comment from years of smoking brisket....but I'm sure debatable.

   Lastly, and I think so important.  I smoke a 15lb trimmed brisket at 225-235deg for roughly 12-13 hours, fat side down to hold in moisture and when my electronic insert-able thermometer (the kind with a long extension wire) reaches 190-195deg I pull it out, wrap airtight in triple HD foil, then wrap in a beach towels and place in a covered plastic beer cooler for two hours.  Why - it's takes 195deg plus ample time at that temp for the internal fat to render to liquid which in turn really tenderizes and seasons the otherwise tough brisket.  After the 2 hour settle period your brisket will be so tender and tasty your friends will want to know the recipe.

If you are a relatively newcomer at brisket and butt smoking search all the opinions (and there many).  I particularly like texasbbqrub.com.  The guy really knows is stuff and has great rubs.  He will also take your phone calls.

I've got one of the smaller Smoke Hollow smokers and i'm new to gas smokers in general. My wood chips never burn down to ash. they turn to charcoal and stop smoking. they don't go out though, they keep burning. when i dump the non-smoking charcoal into my firepit they flare right back up and start smoking again. Am i dealing with an airflow problem? Anyone with a Smoke Hollow ever run into this?

Dave

davefincher said:

I've got one of the smaller Smoke Hollow smokers and i'm new to gas smokers in general. My wood chips never burn down to ash. they turn to charcoal and stop smoking. they don't go out though, they keep burning. when i dump the non-smoking charcoal into my firepit they flare right back up and start smoking again. Am i dealing with an airflow problem? Anyone with a Smoke Hollow ever run into this?

Dave

Click to expand...

The gas flame is consuming all the oxygen inside the smoker.... drill holes for more air... The smoke should enter the smoker above the flame... flames consume smoke also...

I use a large heavy duty cookie sheet for my wood on a 44.  I have drilled several holes in the cookie sheet.  I place wood all over the sheet and cover with 2 layers of HD foil with numerous holes poked thru foil. Then place this just above the 2 burners.  I have a second loaded sheet ready to replace the first one.  It smokes up the neighborhood and the good smell brings the neighbors over.  Also try adjusting airflow dampers to obtain a decent flowrate of smoke out the top.

I just load up an AMNTS (from Todd at Amazenproducts) with whatever species of pellet that I want and I'm good to go.  

One of you "smokers" out there indicted you had converted a Smoke Hollow 44 from LP to Natural gas.  Can you tell me what parts you had to change and how difficult it was? Also, did it heat adequately after converting?  Thanks

I converted my Smoke Hollow 38 to NG a few months ago.

I didn't take the time to find out what my water column on the gas line was (Which is the right way to do this) instead I just took a stab at it, using a spare orifice.

Initially the flame was too yellow,  so I starting out drilling the orifice in one step increments, beginning with the first bit I had that was one size up from the hole already in the orifice. I finally found the sweet spot where I got a nice flame and still had decent heat.  

Since the 44 has 2 burners you would need to drill out both orifices. If you can grab an extra orifice or two online, it may be worth the investment, that way if you ever need to go back to LP you can keep the original.

There is a thread here http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/...-to-natural-gas-vancouver-canada#post_1292804 where DaveOmak posted a chart showing BTUs for different orifice sizes and water column levels.

You will loose a few BTUs as Dave's chart shows, just because LP has more BTUs per unit than NG.

Best of luck, let us know how it turns out if you go for it.

Assuming I swap the chip tray for a cast iron pan, can the SH44 hold a low temp by loading the cast iron with charcoal or wood.

Jon D

I'm a new SH 44 owner but did notice there isn't much room between the water tray and chip trays and not too sure a cast iron pan would fit. I guess there are many size pans, however.

I read somewhere before I purchased the 44 about the chip trays warping due to adding wet chips to the tray so I have just added dry chips with no problems. I just bought bigger chunks of wood and cut them down to smaller pieces but not 'chip size" and they burn perfectly with no warping of the pan.

I have owned this smoker for a few months and have done a bunch of smokes with it and have been pretty happy. Below are some observations and then a question:

I used gasket to seal my doors. I have yet to use something to seal around the glass to keep smoke in, but find not much smoke leaks out from there at all. I find it hard to keep the temp regulated in the 225 area on windy days. I have also found that you need to play around with the temp gauge to find a sweet spot especially when your wood starts burning because the temps go up.

I only use 1 burner. using both burners (for me anyhow) on the lowest settings makes it far too hot inside the smoker (285 degrees+).

The chip pans are small, and I get about 1-1.5 hours of smoke if I use a mixture of wood chips and wood chunks per chip tray. So for a long smoke, I need to change the wood in the chip tray far too often. Even with those few minor issues, I love this smoker! It is huge, well built and a steal for the money!

Now a question to the more experienced users out there:

1: Is it possible to use a mix of charcoal and wood to create the heat inside? Say I run out of propane and need to do a smoke, would this be a problem? Any safety hazards?