Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

So I purchased the Smoke Hollow 44 inch with the glass door for a Father’s Day present. I spent the better part of a year researching and wondering what will be my new smoker. I already have an offset and have had that since 2009 (which was also a Father’s Day present). While I enjoy the offset, the one thing I do not care for is constantly battling the temp regulation. When smoking for hours upon hours, it can become a little frustrating. Also, I wanted more space to smoke a lot at once. So, I finally settled on the Smoke Hollow 44 and let me tell you…I AM SO GLAD I DID! So let’s discuss a few things that have already been mentioned and I just want to throw in my 2 cents. 1. This thing is a BEAST! I love it. VERY LARGE! My wife is 5’5” and she stands about a head taller. LOL! 2. Yes, buy the gasket. While I seasoned this (I will get to that in a moment) I could see where all the smoke was coming out - basically the sides. So I bought the recommended gasket: The 1/2" x 1/8" Lavalock High Temp Nomex BBQ HT gasket smoker seal, self stick grey. This really did the trick and kept the smoke and heat inside. I was able to get this on in no time and let it stick for almost 24 hours before I started seasoning some more. Works like a charm and I highly recommend get this. 3. Ok, putting this together. I was reading where people were putting this together in like an hour or 2. Ummm, not me. It did take me the better part of 3 hours or so. Of course I was doing this by myself. It is NOT cumbersome or confusing. So that was great. I did have to use a dolly to get this into my house. It is heavy. REAL HEAVY! 4. Some people complained that when they opened the box their smoker had some dings. Yes, mine did as well. 2 of them, but they weren’t anything that ticked me off. Yes, you would hope for spending this kind of money that it wouldn’t have any dings, but it wasn’t anything that would prevent this from its intended use. Just be aware that the chances of yours coming with a couple of dings is high. The smoker came packaged and shipped very well. When I saw the box had no damage I was hopeful that the smoker would be fine. I was wrong. So keep that in mind. 5. When it came to seasoning the smoker, and yes you will need to do this as well, I filled both chip trays with some Jack Daniels Oak Barrel chips and let it smoke for 4 hours. I did the same thing on the second day. On the third day I didn’t season as my gasket came and so I sealed it up. Then on the fourth day I seasoned it one more time. Now, this may be overkill, but I wanted to make sure when I smoked my first feast that it already had a good smoked cure going on inside. I am GLAD I DID! 6. Yes, I bought the cover that goes with this. I recommend you do the same. It fits perfectly. While the quality doesn’t seem like this will be the only cover I ever buy, I can say for now it does what it needs to do. 7. I did buy some more wood chips. WESTERN 80485 Prime Wood BBQ Smoking Chips Variety Pack This pack is great! It comes with 4 regular sized bags that has Peach, Maple, Cherry, and Apple. I cannot find Peach or Maple at my local store so this was awesome. When I got the variety pack, I saw the price for like $15. So I bought 2. You cannot find these bags on their own for $3.75, so this was a steal! In writing this review I see the price has now jumped to $25. Glad I bought it when I did. By the way, I used the Peach on the shoulder we did and it was out of this world! OMG! Finally, the first smoke. My Smoke Hollow arrived on a Monday and after spending the week getting it ready I was able to smoke my first pork shoulder on that Saturday. This is what I loved about it. 1. Set it and FORGET IT! That’s right, when I was able to hit my smoker temp to about 250, I didn’t have to worry about it anymore, other than changing out the wood chips. When it came to the two different burners, I was able to use one at a time…maintain temp…and when it came to needing the other burner…clicked the igniter once and turn the other burner off and let it do its thing. While the new burner was going, I would replace the other chip tray with new chips and just kept rotating like that throughout. I love the two doors so I don’t lose all the heat when adding to the water pan or changing out the wood chips. 2. Glass door is a MUST as you can look while you cook! 3. Then the time came for the shoulder to come off and I put some homemade mac and cheese in the smoker along with some baked beans, turned the burners up a little bit, added some new wood chips, and let these babies cook. OMG!!! These were so smoky and delicious!!! Words don’t even begin to describe. 4. As for the shoulder…let me say this…you will NOT get the bark of an offset smoker on your bbq with this gas smoker. Or rather I should say, I did not. I DID get a bark, but not the kind I am used to getting from my offset. Again…you WILL get a bark, but not the type you get from an offset. But let me say this, the convenience of being able to set it and forget it…to me, it was worth the trade. 5. As for the taste, I had quite a gathering of family and EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM…who had eaten bbq at my house many times…said that this shoulder was the most tender and best tasting ever. I do think it was because I didn’t spend like 10 hours fighting heat regulating. It was able to maintain a consistent cook all the way through and that helped when it came to the quality of the shoulder. So if you are on the fence, let me tell you, it is time to get off and get this smoker. You are not going to get a better smoker of this type for the money anywhere else. Believe me. I have researched this for a long time and you just wont. If you think you are going to have a smoker like Myron Mixon, then you will need to spend a few grand, but for the money, you are definitely in the ballpark and your family, friends, and neighbors will thank you. I can assure you. I hope this review was helpful. Happy Smokin! September 6, 2016 – UPDATE So it has been about 3 months since I purchased and used the Smoke Hollow 44”. I am glad so many of you have found my review so helpful and I wanted to add a little more now that the end of summer has arrived. The biggest question might be, “Are you still happy with your purchase?” The answer to that question is, “100% Yes!” I finally did ribs for the first time over the Labor Day Holiday and followed the standard tried and true process of 3-2-1 (3 hours unwrapped, 2 hours wrapped, 1 hour unwrapped). When it came to the final hour I was glad I still had my offset as I made a bed of coals with lump charcoal and was able to get the char marks and taste I would want. Please note, I am not saying you couldn’t do the final hour in the Smoke Hollow. I just simply chose not to do that at this time, but I will in the future as I want to be able to compare one from the other. As for the 3 and the 2 method, this is why the Smoke Hollow is fantastic and a MUST HAVE: It comes with a rib rack….I was able to place my ribs in the rack and slide them onto one shelf….leaving the remaining space open for anything else. Also…getting to 225 degrees was easy (use one burner on the lowest setting) and the temp held the entire 5 hours (3 hours wrapped and 2 unwrapped). I was able to spend the day with the family and do some yard work without having to fiddle around and make sure my temp wasn’t spiking or dropping and then I am wasting time replenishing wood. When it came to the first 3 hours of the ribs being unwrapped and getting that yummy hickory smoke into the meat, I just switched out one chip tray at a time. The chips seemed to smoke-out at about an 1. So after an hour, I replaced the tray with the standby tray. Some people may say, “Just turn one burner and switch the other one on.” Well, I didn’t want to fiddle with that because I was already at the temp I wanted. So it was nice to be able to open the bottom door, pull out one tray and immediately replace it with the second tray and close up the door. I did this every 45 minutes to an hour. After the 3 hours the meat has absorbed all the smoke it is going to and so wrapping them and placing them back into the Smoke Hollow was ideal. Of course I didn’t use the rib rack with the ribs wrapped I just used two of the shelves inside the smoker. Here is a cooking tip – when preparing your ribs, save all the excess meat you cut off from the slab. Do not throw it away! We took the excess rib meat, smoked it and it made wonderful bite sized burnt ends that were flavorful and yummy. It allowed my guests to nibble on something as I was getting the ribs cut and prepared for dinner. I have added some pics of our ribs if you would like to see how they turned out. Happy smokin’!