Calling all Smoke Hollow owners!

[desertdog]

I run mine through one of the vents.

 

[mhchops]

Hello all Smoke Hollow owners i just bought a new 38202g gasser it seems to be a really good size smoker with a large water bowl and chip pan i have done the burn in and everything seems good but it was missing a piece for one of the racks and the door thermometer is way off it showed 150* right out of the box so i called today and they were very nice and said they were shipping me the parts today.

There is one problem i am having with th chip pan it burns the chips or chunks super fast is ther an easy fix for this that anyone knows about.

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[gil-b-q]

Not sure how yours is configured, but can you replace the pan with a cast iron box or frypan? 

 

[mhchops]

Yes i believe i could replace it with one or the other just have to build a stand for it. What smoker do you have?

Mhchops

 

[gil-b-q]

I have the 44241g2. I seem to go through chips/chunks pretty quickly and will be replacing the 2 chip trays with cast iron.

 

[mhchops]

I wonder if the cast iron pan will slow down the burn as with the 38202g it'll burn through chunks real quick i did a couple things that seemed to help a bit and that is i covered the top of the chip pan in tin foil the large holes in give the chunks alot of air so this helped a bit also i have alot of chips so i soaked them about 30minsit and i got smoke for about an hour on a handful of chips

Mhchops

 

[kwiq4u]

Yes I switched to cast iron. Also I soak the chips in water and this really seems to help. I have the 44 pro with glass door

 

[mhchops]

Im building a stand to put in my #6 and then ill put a cast pan on top to see how this works anythings got to be beter than the way it is now

Mhchoo

 

[mhchops]

Wow what a difference i built a 1/4"ss plate to put my chip pan on in my smoker and its like a whole different animal i just fired it up and run it on high for about 30 mins and got the wood going then backed it down to low where it runs in the 225ass range and the wood just sat there and smoldered along with just a touch of light smoke coming out it had a real good smell i cant wait till the weekend and try it out with something in it

Mhchops

 

[woodscomp]

It is amazing the differences that can be had with these Smoke Hollow smokers once you modify them past the point of being original. A few mods will make a world of difference in how these things work. 

If anyone is in the East TN area and would like mine I am willing to depart with it. My next venture will be in pellets. 

 

[gil-b-q]

Wow what a difference i built a 1/4"ss plate to put my chip pan on in my smoker and its like a whole different animal i just fired it up and run it on high for about 30 mins and got the wood going then backed it down to low where it runs in the 225ass range and the wood just sat there and smoldered along with just a touch of light smoke coming out it had a real good smell i cant wait till the weekend and try it out with something in it

Mhchops

So did you just put a plate between the burner and chip tray? Sounds like a nice, simple solution...

 

[mhchops]

Gil, i actually meant to post a pic but it didn't get there somehow but what i did was build a stand of sorts and set the original chip tray directly on it. I put a chunk of hickory and a

2013-02-28_16-10-23_357.jpg

• mhchops
• Mar 1, 2013

chunk of lump coal in for a trial run and i think its going to work great the plate is 10" by 12" with 4" legs

 

[gil-b-q]

Gil, i actually meant to post a pic but it didn't get there somehow but what i did was build a stand of sorts and set the original chip tray directly on it. I put a chunk of hickory and a

2013-02-28_16-10-23_357.jpg

• mhchops
• Mar 1, 2013

chunk of lump coal in for a trial run and i think its going to work great the plate is 10" by 12" with 4" legs

Nice job! Thanks for the pic; very helpful.

 

[twocubdad]

Rookie question -- why is this an issue?  I've read where Thin Blue Smoke is ideal, but why?  Wood chips are cheap enough/free and billowing columns of smoke from my cooker is a rather satisfying sight.  Besides it makes the Good Ol' Boys in the neighborhood jealous and annoys the idiots.

 

[woodscomp]

Thick smoke is bitter.  Get it too thick and your adding creosote, plus the carcinogens that come with it.  The idea behind smoking is to cook, preserve, and add a flavor to your meat. Not to add meat to your smoke.

 

[marc bodi]

Hi, If you turn the Knob to High and light and push the knob in and to the Left you can turn the burner down to any heat you want.High to zero.

 

[christo0pher]

Keep this thread alive and dedicated to Smoke Hollow! 

 

[demosthenes9]

Just received the Smoke Hollow PS4400 44" Sams Club model (the one with the glass window)  as an early bday present.  

Went a bit overboard on her maiden smoke session as detailed here  in the roll call forum.  Can't really comment yet on how she performed as it wasn't really a fair test given the volume of meat that I loaded up (probably over 70 lbs.)

Looking forward to finding out just how well she handles as well as learning about some little tweaks/mods here and there to make her run well. 

 

[bigsky109]

I bought my Smoke Hollow #8 44inch model a few days ago.  Started modifying it right away.  Converted to Natural Gas, then stuck Lava Rocks in the water pan, drilled a small hole in the side for the meat thermometer wire so far.  I smoked chicken breasts in it the other day and had a hard time keeping the temp at 300F.....Had a full pan of water in it and reading around here on this forum most do not use water at all and fill the pan with sand or lava rock.  So I am going to try that this weekend when I smoke a turkey in it.  So far so good though and I really like how big this thing is.  I almost bought a the 30 inch MES electric smoker and I am glad I went with Gas.  BTW......I splurged for a cheap on sale wired meat themometer from Wal*Mart.....I figured $11.00 it was cheap enought to try out.  It is an Acurite and I have had good luck with my Weather Station from them. 

Ialso stuck a pan of beans in the top of the smoker.....man those really turned out tasty....

I am starting to look for Smoker Covers now.  I see one at Cabelas for the Landman of the same size that would fit perfectly.  It even has a zipper down the side for easy on and off.

Still reading and learning a lot from this forum....

 

[smokin d]

Big Sky, thanks for the info on your NG conversion. I just bought my 44" this last Saturday, fired it up and had my first ever attempt at smoking meat (a boneless pork butt and a whole chicken). It was just an experimental run and things turned out pretty well - moist and great flavor. Anyway, I'm also planning to covert mine to NG as my patio is plumbed for NG and I have my NG weber grill already set up and its nice to not deal with tanks. I'm looking at setting a T connection so they can both run independently.  I've been researching the conversion options and will also give OLP customer service a call for their insight or if they have recommendation on conversion kits.  I see that Smoke Vault sells a NG conversion kits for their propane smokers, so may also see if that could somehow work in this case.  At any rate, if I'm unable to obtain a simple conversion kit, I'm planning to drill out the orifice. I may have to do a little more research, but I'm using this video as an example: 



Plus the conversion table for bit size vs. BTU:

http://www.joppaglass.com/burner/lowp_chrt.html

My understanding is that the 44" puts out 10,000 BTU, so I'm currently planning on using a ~ size 53 bit or there a bouts.

For other mods, I'm also looking at insulating the smoker as I noticed the temp fluctuated ~20-30 deg depending on the breeze on that 50 deg day.

I also appreciated reading the previous recommendations on the SS plate under the wood trays to help control the smoke rate.

Looks like OLP makes a cover for the 44", but its currently out of stock.

I also need to invest in some reliable remote read thermometers.

At any rate, I'm glad I came across this site and this thread. There is lots of good info to learn from you guys. Keep it coming.