Calling all Smoke Hollow owners!

[smokinjoepa]

I have a Smoke Hollow #6 and have had it for 2 years now. This is my first smoker and I cant really say anything bad about it as I am still learning the ropes of smoking. But over the past two years there are some things I didnt like and modified. I blocked the vent on the backside of the unit, I added a nomex fabric gasket around the entire door, and added two stacks(off of a older grill I had). Anyways here are the pics.

http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j190/yellow90tsi/Food/IMG_3916_zps3712c1c2.jpg

http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j190/yellow90tsi/Food/IMG_3926_zpsd83e0de3.jpg

http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j190/yellow90tsi/Food/IMG_3923_zpse767ae87.jpg

 

[okhickoryinn]

Sounds like you get what you pay for, for the price one would be better to hold your pocket change a little while and get a quality unit

 

[kwiq4u]

ok so i have noticed that my smoker flame has not been right so i took the burner out and it was welded pre set air fuel mix so i call smoke hollow and i get chad not a prob i think ok great so i tell him and he says wow your the first one i know of with a pro series and we have not heard of it being welded i say really dude maybe you should get on smoking meat forums cause like everyone says something about them being welded so he is sending me all new burners and everything the only other issue is the glass around the door leaks smoke not a big deal i thought till i went to tighten the screws and they are all stripped so now im going to call and ask for a new door but so far i still love it i have smoked so much already and im on my 5th tank of propane go me lol

 

[jerryw38]

Nomex fabric gasket   Where do i find it

 

[aland]

Try High-Que.com. They sell replacement gasket rolls for BGE. Talk to Bryan. He sold me scrap strips the lengths I gave him for my 44" #8 at a discounted price($20 instead of $30-$40 for a roll and free shipping). Been too busy to apply to mine but have tried the fireplace gasket rope but it didn't hold. Fell off 2nd time I used the smoker.  Hope this helps. Aland

 

[woodscomp]

Any old wood stove gasket will do it.  

And Chad doesn't know his head from a hole in the ground.  You can prove this by getting technical with him.  If you measure with calipers the diameter of the openings I bet both will be different. He doesn;t know what there supposed to be, and if he goes and measures "his" they'll be different from yours as well.  That was one of the main causes of my initial issue with the smoker.  Uneven flame, no way to get a feel on the dial of where you need to be cause the gas grill tubing they use in a smoker is not what they should have gone with.  Chad is merely a pawn in the big picture, pushing and supporting Chinese made crap.  

Soon as I save the money I am jumping off the propane barrel and try my luck on a pellet unit.

 

[mike brez]

Just got my 44 #8 yesterday and put it together. Hope I made a decent choice.

 

[goodbeer]

ok so i have noticed that my smoker flame has not been right so i took the burner out and it was welded pre set air fuel mix so i call smoke hollow and i get chad not a prob i think ok great so i tell him and he says wow your the first one i know of with a pro series and we have not heard of it being welded i say really dude maybe you should get on smoking meat forums cause like everyone says something about them being welded so he is sending me all new burners and everything the only other issue is the glass around the door leaks smoke not a big deal i thought till i went to tighten the screws and they are all stripped so now im going to call and ask for a new door but so far i still love it i have smoked so much already and im on my 5th tank of propane go me lol

KWIQ4U can you explain in more detail what you meant by "your smoker flame was not right"?  I have the same smoker as you and am new to the smoking world so I am wondering if maybe I have an issue also but am not sure.

 

[dynodon]

That's how I feal about the Landmann smokerer. JUNK

 

[frank68]

hi all  i just got one a 44 from sam's club will try it later to day

b  

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• frank68
• Nov 22, 2012

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• frank68
• Nov 22, 2012

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• frank68
• Nov 22, 2012

 

[capt37105]

I have the #6 that I got for Christmas. I have used it several times and it works great. We did a pork loin last week and I had a quarter inch smoke ring around the loin and it was great. Just got done with dinner and did spare ribs they cooked for 6 hours and the meat fell off the bone. I am very happy with the product.

 

[kevinmps]

hi kevin here.. ive got the hollow #3 so far like it.. have done pork shoulder came out great... havent had problems yet... but notice wind does bother it.. im in oklahoma and always windy.. do mounted mine to small table with wheels so can move around according to the wind... as far as fuel goes.. a 5lb bottle will go about 12 hours on low .. i changed my chip pan out for small cast iron skillet.. seeems to work better with wood chips or pellets... going to do brisket this weekend and see how it turns out.. had a masterbuilt 30 electric.. it quit after second use... dont recomend that one. happy smoking

 

[johgre078]

I have the Smoke Hollow Pro 44" and so far no problems at all.  I smoked my first butt on the 31st which in Indiana was windy and in  the 20's.   I had no problem holding 225 once I blocked the wind at the bottom.  Assembly was the easiest I have ever done and everything lined up like it should.  Well built unit, maybe I'm just lucky seeing all the problems others have had.

 

[jetjockey12]

HEEEEELLLLLPPPPPP!!!!!!

I just started the seasoning process with my Smoke Hollow 44 Pro Series and no matter what I do I can not get it over 190!  ive blocked the wind around the bottom and all!  thing looks like a fortress around it on my deck!  Light breeze today and temps in the 50s! 

Ive read thru all the posts and googled it many times and cant figure it out!  is it going to come to canceling my Pulled Pork party tomorrow??

 

[davidhef88]

What are you using to gage your temp? Has it been tested for accuracy? Try turning off the propane, wait a couple seconds then turn back on slowly.

 

[jetjockey12]

WOW!  Thanks Davidhef88!  i tried the propane trick and BLAMO!  things going like a fricking dream now!!

THANKS!   LOVIN this SITE!!

 

[woodscomp]

These things are cheaply built with very thin sheet metal. The manufacture used regular grill burners in it to compensate for the low quality.

Things I found to help smoking in sub 60 degree weather were to wrap the smoker.  I use a couple of old wool blankets that I cut to fit over the smoker and that helps.  Otherwise your going to have to look at the venturi's on yours.  The fuel air mixture is decided here and they are not all built the same and there is NO way to adjust this yourself.  The inlets can be of different sizes which will affect the heat output and the air mixture tab is spot welded to the venturi tube. 

I could easily tell with mine that one side cooked hotter than the other, and there was just no right adjustment to it.  Chad at Smokehollow ended up replacing my entire smoker which fixed my problem.  However they have not a clue as to how these things are built, how they work or the mechanical spec's of the unit's themselves.  They are merely distributing Chinese made crapware and the only thing they can do for you is replace parts.

Honestly I am ready to sell mine and move up to another form of smoker.  I am done with the propane smoker.

The only other suggestion I can make from my many hours of messing around with this smoker is do not overload it.  Both wind and sun will affect your cooking temps.  I have seen cloud coverage go over mine and watched the smoker drop 10 degrees.  Also do not overfill the water reservoir, about half full is good, and it is advisable to start with the hottest water you can so the smoker is not having to heat that to get started.  I do use both chip pans in mine even if I am not smoking from both.  And I replaced the standard square pans for two 8" round cast iron skillets.  Much better chip management than what you will get with the pans that come with the smoker.

Now for my rant.  An administrator should clear out these one and two posters who have come in here and said all the great things about this smoker that are obviously not using them.  I read at least two posts that would suggest they were written by people not even in the US though one of them specifically stated they were.  My guess would be either someone in or from Asia who is trying to skew the truth.  I know that not everyone has issues with this smoker, but to come in and say you use a 5 pound bottle of gas.  Really?  I would like to know where I might be able to purchase a 5 pound bottle of gas, that would be super convenient to be able to use a single 5lb container for a smoke.

 

[woodscomp]

Also these smokers with the glass door.  Good luck with that, I can only imagine the heat loss is even greater with these, just a big old hole cut right in the middle of the door.  If I had one of those I would go to my local hardware dealer and buy a tube of high heat gasket maker and take the glass out and gasket it back in.  Let it setup and season again before I cooked anything in it.  They used to make food grade gasket material for ovens back when I was chefing we used to seal our baking ovens with this.  Not sure if that is readily available though.

 

[aland]

I agree with Woodscomp. With SH, i'ts Las Vegas odds  if that. I haven't used mine much 'cept for cold smoking a big batch of cheese. I have started cold smoking my meat for awhile,then firing up the burners. Seems to increase the smoke flavor. I use a welding blanket to insulate if needed. And as Davidhef88 said, turn your tank valve slowly cos if opened fast, it triggers a safety mechanism to stop a propane surge. Also as I understand, as a welder, the valve should be all the way open or all the way closed or the valve will leak. I was taught to open my oxygen bottle all the way for the same reason. But the gas(acetylene) just enough to register on the gauge in case of fire, it can be shut  off immediatley. Doesn't  seem to make sense butt  if you have trouble bringing the temps down, lite on HI then turn back towards off and you can bring the flame down lower than low to a pilot size flame if needed. Good luck, let me know of any good mods to apply to my 44". Aland(Alan D Hawkins)

 

[twocubdad]

New to forum -- first post.

I got the 38" Smoke Hollow (model 41170B) from Gander Mountain back before Christmas  and have made about four runs with it.  I'm a rookie smoker so I'm learning the basics along with the fine tuning the smoker itself.   While I'm on a steep learning curve, all the issues I've experienced have been rookie cooking mistakes.   I've been very pleased with the smoker itself.

I read a lot of online reviews before buying (which caused me to go with this model instead one of a cheaper one) and have experienced none of the problems I read about.  Okay, the built in thermometer is junk -- consistently reads about 50d low -- but don't they all.  The doors seal well with a little minor smoking around the top.  One of the complaints was the function of the chip/water drawer was rough and cause the water to slosh onto the chips and burner, but this one operates smoothly and that's not been an issue.  Burner seems to be right-sized as I've had no problem getting he temp as high or low as needed.

One issue I've had has been keeping the temperature consistent.  It seems like the one time I had the cabinet loaded up, it was easier to maintain.  The last couple runs keeping the temp consistent was a real pain.  Today, smoking a butt, I loaded the bottom two shelves with 10 clean bricks, spaced to allow circulation around them.  The added mass really seemed to work.  Once the cabinet got up to temp, it took me a couple adjustments to dial it in, but for 8 hours it floated within a few degrees of 215 all afternoon.  

A couple questions for you guys -- I'm using one thermo for the meat and another for the cabinet.  Where should I locate the thermo in the cabinet?   I've been using a binder clip to hold it in the vents. Does it make a difference?  How much of the probe is actually measures the temperature?  Just the tip?  Does it matter if the probe is touching the racks or cabinet sides?

Related question, does the location within the cabinet affect the temperature?  Is it hotter at the top, down closer to the bottom or more or less consistent through out?