Discount Smoke Hollow 38 in. Propane Wood Smoker

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $279.99
Sale Price: $229.99
Today's Bonus: 18% Off

I have been considering buying a propane smoker for a long while, and after much comparison shopping I chose this one.

Background:

Outdoor Leisure makes several smokers, of which this is the top of the line. These are the main differences between them, sorted by Amazon price:

30169G 30" high, 16" wide, 14" deep. Cast Iron burner. Two cooking grids. Outdoor Leisure 30169G Smoke Hollow Propane-Gas Smoker

34168G 34" high, 16" wide, 14" deep. Cast Brass burner. Three cooking grids. Outdoor Leisure 34168G Smoke Hollow Propane-Gas Smoker

30160G 30" high, 16" wide, 14" deep. Stainless steel burner. Three cooking grids. Outdoor Leisure 30160G Smoke Hollow 30-Inch Propane Smoker

38208G 38" high, 20" wide, 14" deep. Cast Brass burner. Four cooking grids. (This is the one I bought) Outdoor Leisure 38208G Smoke Hollow Propane-Gas Smoker

Details:

Construction-wise, there are all similar: they have a large welded box, four legs, a burner assembly, regulator assembly, wood box, water container, and several chrome plated cooking grids. I was able to assemble mine in about 30 minutes. It is bulky, but not too heavy all considered; I am able to move it myself (two people are better). The only construction defect I found was that the burner assembly was a bit bent in places, but it worked fine. The various models have slightly different details in the handle type & etc.

Note that the size is WITHOUT the 8 inch leg height. It is the height of the smoker box.

Pro:

Straightforward assembly. Follow the directions carefully. Tools needed are a screwdriver and pliers.

It lights easily and the propane tank connector is a quick-connect style, very easy to use.

Does a GREAT job of smoking. The instructions said that I would run out of water after 4 hours, but I smoked for almost four and still had lots of water and wood left.

The cooking grids are very stoutly constructed, and clean easily. The wall shelf attachments can be adjusted so that the shelf heights are completely changeable.

The wood box is large, with a nice cover. Both this box and the water container are porcelain coated steel and cleaned up fairly easily.

Con:

Okay, this is a big one. I almost gave this product four stars instead of five. The regulator on this unit burned too hot. Even on the lowest setting, the interior temperature was 350 degrees!. From reviews I have seen on the net, this is a common problem with the Smoke Hollow line, and the company will send a replacement regulator when asked. I have asked, and will update the review accordingly.

WORKAROUND: Despite this problem, I was able to cook at 220 or even lower. The trick is to set the regulator on HIGH, then push it in as if you were going to turn it off but only turn it part way off. In this way one can set the temperature to whatever is desired. I smoked between 220 and 240.

The temperature gauge was not very accurate. I would recommend that you get an oven thermometer and set it inside. I found the interior temperature to be about 40 degrees less than the outside gauge indicated. I list this as a "Con", but it is typical of most smokers.

Cooking:

If you are new to smoking, I suggest that you do a search and look up the subject. There are many techniques that can be used, and the type of wood you smoke with will have a lot to do with the final taste. I mesquite smoked two chickens and a pork loin, and all were delicious, moist, tender, and had a great smoke flavor.

I was pleasantly surprised that there was not a lot of smoke coming out of the box when cooking. The smoke stayed pretty much inside.

Summary:

Despite the issue with the gas regulator, I recommend this product. It does a good job and is well designed.

***UPDATE****

I exchanged a series of emails with the company over the regulator. At first they suggest I try the "work around" I listed above. I replied that this actually is not a good long term solution; pushing in the temperature gauge to shut off is a safety feature. After that exchange, the company is sending me a replacement regulator, but it is on back order until June. I will update when it arrives.

****Update June 2010****

I finally received the replacement regulator. It took about 15 minutes to install. Now the unit works fine minimum is about 175 degrees and maximum is about 300 degrees. If your smoker won't provide cooler cooking, be sure and contact the company for a replacement regulator!

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I read the reviews on the 34 and all were good couldn't find one one this one so I guess this is the first.I have used a Franklin wood stove hooked to a 55 gal barrel for years and great food came from it but it took a large wheelbarrow of wood and 3 hrs to get a good bed of coals to cook with.The wood pan in side this stove measure's about nine and a half by eight inches I packed it full of large wood chunks turned the fire on had smoke in about 6 min.that lasted 5 hrs on a rack of ribs.So far I have only cooked 2 racks of ribs and 2 briskets with no complaints.I may have to cut another vent in it 230 degrees was as low as I could get it. I think this is a great smoker came packaged in good shape and was easy to put together.Bought from Amazon shipped in a timely manner.Beats cutting wood for the old stove plus gas is cheaper than charcoal.

Best Deals for Smoke Hollow 38 in. Propane Wood Smoker

Love this Smoker. I read the reviews on many other smokers and shopped around for a while. I started smoking 2 years ago with a charcoal smoker, It was an awsome learning experience but it wasn't easy to cook and 10 pound pork butt for 18 hours having to change the coals over every 6 hours or so. With this Smoke Hollow 38208G Propane gas smoker, you can set it up the night before, set the temp to 230-240 or so, put your chips (soaked or unsoaked)in, and let it go over night while you get some sleep.When i smoked ribs, i put a rub on them the night before, soak my chips for about 2 hours prior to starting to cook, set the temp to 250-260 placed the ribs in side, put the chips in, close it up and go do some yard work for and hour or so, place another set of chips in (that's optional)let them cook for 2&1/2 more hours, take them out and wrap them in aluminum foil with an apple juice baste, set them back in for another 90 minutes, unwrap them and coat them in BBQ sauce and heaven isn't to far away.I seen very little in the way of smoke seeping out of the smoker but you can definately smell it.This smoker is one of the best out there.I did have a small issue setting the temps to a low setting. The solution was easy to fix. If you set your temp to its lowest setting, and you find the temp is still to high, simply turn your gas tank down to almost off (maybe about a 1/4 of a turn open)or less. This will bring you to exactly a perfect temp and maybe save you on propane too.

Honest reviews on Smoke Hollow 38 in. Propane Wood Smoker

I did a reasonable amount of research before deciding to buy this model. I had never used a smoker before this one, and so far have done salmon and chicken. The chicken had a very nice smoked flavor to it, but I need to work on my rub a lot more and let things soak in much longer before cooking them. I smoked the chicken about 4 hrs at 225. It was fairly difficult to keep the temp at 225, but I think a decent part of that is just the learning curve. I smoked 4lbs of salmon which had been brined and allowed to dry properly at 180f for 7 hrs to get it to 148 int temp. I had a hard time keeping the smoker this low, and it required using the method that many others have mentioned on here to basically push the knob in and move it toward cutoff but not quite there. A full basket of wood chips/chunks lasted about 4 hrs for me, I made the mistake of letting it run out completely, and it takes a really long time to bring it up to temp and get the chips smoking again. I think next time around I will try to add them every 2 hrs or so and just be quick with the door.

The build quality is ok, the box seems pretty sturdy as does the burner portion, but the handle is a bit flimsy and the vent is pretty useless from what I could tell. The first comment my wife made was "Wow you paid over $200 for that, it looks like it cost about $20 to make." Mine did have a big dent on the top of it, and I don't actually think it had anything to do with shipping, my best guess would be it was built and left this way which passed QC for these guys.

I don't have another smoker to compare it to, but the food has been really good and the build quality is ok.

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(I've now edited this review and replaced the original 3* with a 4*. The replacement regulator was shipped after a short delay, and everything works much better now. The only reason it's not a 5* is that the customer shouldn't have to go through this charade.)

This would be an excellent smoker choice but for the temperature issue. The smoker itself is sturdy, well designed and spacious.

I've used it to cook for a large family group a couple of times, and the construction and general approach are fine. The problem was that I couldn't get the temperature down to where it needed to be; the minimum it would produce was 350 degrees. That is an oft-repeated complaint on this manufacturers smokers, and I don't understand why it hasn't been fixed. The regulators aren't rocket science, just ship one that produces heat in the 200 400 degree range; I feel confident that whatever Taiwanese supplier made the regulator included can handle that. I hadn't seen the work-around (press in as if to turn off, etc.) posted here, but there should be no need for that.

I've emailed the company asking for a lower temperature regulator replacement, haven't heard back yet. This is inconvenient and expensive on both sides; of my time and for the company as well. Just fix it.

One small suggestion for the manufacturer: the instructions for assembly are generic and apply to several models with different sub-directions where appropriate. The only times I got off track were when I followed the instruction branches for the wrong model. The assembly instructions are appropriately just cheap throwaways--get a good secretary or a technical writer for a couple of days and produce specific instructions for each model.