First, I can’t figure out why this is called a 43” wide smoker when it’s actually 24” wide. Adding in the handles only gets it to 28”. Even the specs on the website contradict the title.
This is SOOOO much easier than cooking with charcoal. I have no interest in debating the differences of charcoal and gas. This fits our needs perfectly. There’s a TON of room inside and lots of adjustable shelving and one rib rack shelf accessory. We’ve made a turkey, a pork shoulder, brisket and baby back ribs. Delicious! And the entire neighborhood knows what we’re up to. I’ve gotten texts now from two different neighbors asking what smelled so good! For years I avoided smoking because it seemed like way too much effort. I’m so happy to have this smoker. It’s not a lot of effort, and in fact, is actually an enjoyable process. My Wife also loves it. She loves the process and checking on the food and smelling it throughout the day. We’re just learning the different types of wood chips/chunks, injectables, marinades, etc. It does seem to take longer than we plan for, so you have to “figure it out” before you can count on dinner being done on time! Home Depot carries a great selection of wood chips and chunks, by the way.
I highly suggest purchasing a cover because it takes on water any time it rains. I had a really hard time locating a cover for it. The mfr does not seem to offer one large enough. I finally found one that fits really well. It’s the perfect length and width, has zippers to make it easier to put on/take off and the chimney pocket aligns and fits perfectly. There’s some overhang in the front, but it’s a non-issue. Search for “Smoke Hollow SC44 Smoker Cover for 44-Inch Smoker” on HD’s website.
The build quality is almost perfect for this price point. The one thing I’d complain about is sloppy door fit. The hinge pins are a loose fit, which allows the door to hang crooked on the latch side. It looks awful, but works just fine.
Installation was quite easy and didn’t take too long at all. I’ve assembled many such items and this was well executed.
!!! NEEDLE VALVE !!!
Big complaint coming up… on its lowest setting we could not get the temperature below 270 degrees. We wanted 200 for one batch and 225 for another. I’ve read many similar complaints and I just don’t understand why the manufacturer wouldn’t address this issue. We actually had to prop the lower door open to keep the heat down! Hopefully I have my facts correct here, because I’m going to try to help you. The regulator that comes on this is 0.5 PSI. Believe it or not, there’s still too much flow, so you want to add a needle valve. Home Depot had nothing in the grill section and nobody in the store that knew anything about this. I couldn’t even find any needle valves in plumbing. I found a replacement regulator / needle valve combination at another store, only to discover that it is NOT the right product to use, at 10 PSI! We were able to get our desired temperature with this, but I believe it’s dangerous and am taking back. Even throttled down the burner controls were unresponsive. Plus there are warnings not to use a 10 PSI regulator on a grill. After a ton of research I settled on ordering a high quality “scientific needle valve” online that allows for micro adjusting. I also had to order the misc. brass couplings and adapters required to plumb this into the line. The problem when doing this is that valves and extensions are all NPI (National Pipe Thread) while the gas fittings use a flare SAE fitting. I can’t tell you how frustrating it is to locate the required parts. Some were easy once I figured out what to look for, but the adapter for the grill end? Forget about it! I could only find it on a BBQ website in Texas. See the included pictures for my final setup.
Parts list for installing the needle valve, starting at the smoker. Note that I went with 3/8” . If you want to step down to 1/4” control valve you’ll have to adjust.
• “3/8" Female SAE Gas Flare x 3/8" Male NPT Adapter 33-6B” from Tejassmokers. Only place I found this!
• Eaton Weatherhead 3300X6 Brass CA360 Fitting, Coupling, 3/8" NPT Female
• Anderson Metals 38300 Lead Free Red Brass Pipe Fitting, Nipple, 3/8" x 3/8" NPT Male, 3-1/2" Length. This is the extension pipe.
• Parker 003371002 337 Series Brass Micrometer Flow Control Valve, 3/8" NPTF Port, 250 psi, Fine Adjustment, 59 scfm
• “3/8" Male NPT x 3/8" Male SAE Gas Flare Adapter 48-6C” from Tejassmokers. This threads into the NPT valve and you then connect the regulator hose that used to go to the smoker to the SAE flare end.
• Teflon tape. No need to go crazy.
Pros: Easy to Assemble, Large Cooking Space, fun!!!!!
Cons: requires modification for low temp smoking, sloppy fitting door