Smoke Hollow 44" (Sam's Club version) Heat issues

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rb3kenobi

Newbie
Original poster
Jun 3, 2014
5
10
As a new smoker, I'm not sure if this is a general propane smoker issue or specific to my Smoke Hollow.  While smoking (2) whole chickens, a tray for chicken strips and a pan of baked beans (yes this smoker can hold a lot and I had room to spare), I was have difficulty keeping temperature (215-225 goal).  The outside temp was in the 80s and there was little wind.  Once the wood chips burned off at about 3hrs in  I had to crank both burners to high just to try to keep temp. One thought is that the large water pan impedes the heat for rising in to the box.  Please advise o Yoda's of Smoking.
 
 
As a new smoker, I'm not sure if this is a general propane smoker issue or specific to my Smoke Hollow.  While smoking (2) whole chickens, a tray for chicken strips and a pan of baked beans (yes this smoker can hold a lot and I had room to spare), I was have difficulty keeping temperature (215-225 goal).  The outside temp was in the 80s and there was little wind.  Once the wood chips burned off at about 3hrs in  I had to crank both burners to high just to try to keep temp. One thought is that the large water pan impedes the heat for rising in to the box.  Please advise o Yoda's of Smoking.
Something definitely seems amiss RB3.  I've loaded my SH44 up with about 100lbs of meat and have no troubles maintaining 225-250 without turning the knobs to "high".  That said, I do have my water pan filled half way up with sand, but I don't think that would make the difference over the long term.

You might be running into an issue with the OPD safety valve.  Try this.   Make sure everything is shut down and all knobs/valves are turned off.  Disconnect the propane tank.  Reconnect it making sure that the regulator nipple is fully seated into the propane tank.  Then, open the valve on the propane tank.   Give it a minute then turn the right hand knob on the smoke hollow to the "light" position and push the igniter.  

If you still can't get good heat after doing the above, you might have a bad regulator.
 
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I've smoked when it was windy and 10* and use one burner on medium to maintain 225*. When you hook up your propane make sure you turn on slowly.
John


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Thank you for the reply!  I had some success this weekend smoking a 17lbs pork butt.  While it turned out great I had to monitor it constantly. The right burner blew out several times to the point I had to build a makeshift windbreak. It just wasn't all that breezy either.  I'll try your advise and give it another go.  Thanks again.
 
Thank you for the comparative!  I had greater success the weekend with a 17lbs pork butt where is was able to maintain a 325 degree temp.  However, I had to monitor it the whole time due the right burner blowing out.  It was not an uber wind day either.  I'll keep messing with it.  Thanks again!
 
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