Bar BQ Grills: Smoke Hollow Smoker Modifications Part 1

I have been enjoying mySmoke Hollow smoker/grill/gas grill since I bought it this summer. I've used it mostly for grilling because there were a fewmodifications I wanted to make to improve the smoker capabilities.

It's not that the smokerpart is defective. I would recommend this smoker/grill to the back yard griller. But it has been my experience that ANY smoker under$500 is going to require home brewed innovations to improve theirperformance. For example, horizontal smokers like the CharGriller need standard mods as do Brinkmann vertical smokers.

Here is what I did to mySmoke Hollow smoker in the past week.

[The thought occurs to me that modifying and fabricating your cooking equipment is pretty specific to grilling/smoking. When is the last time you heard about someone modifying their oven or altering their stand mixer? I think it adds a level of personal involvement in our cooking.]

Issue 1:

Air gapsbetween lids of the cooking chamber and fire box. It might not lookthat bad, it's only 1/8^th inch, right? But consideringthe distance around the lid, that is equivalent to having a 10.25square inch hole in your smoker. This causes heat loss, inconsistenttemperatures, and increased fuel consumption.

Solution: Install agasket. I used a Nomex gasket for a Large Big Green Egg.

Clean the edges with Goo Gone, then mineral spirits and let dry 30 minutes.

Cut gasket to size.

Affix with 3m 77 spray adhesive but brush it on instead of spraying.

After installing thegasket, shut the lids, loosen the hinge screws, align the lid andre-tighten the screws.

Issue 2:

Air gaps due touse of â€œspot weldsâ€ in the construction of the fire box.

All 4 corners need attention.

Yes, that is daylight coming through the corner.

Solution: Seal the airgaps using JB Weld like caulk. It handles the high temps of the firebox with ease.

That is JB Weld coming through the seam. No more air gaps.

JB Weld fills the gap and handles the heat.

Issue 3:

Chimney exhaustallows hot smoking gasses to escape unevenly.

Solution: Extend chimneydown to the level of the cooking grate. This will create even tempsin the cooking area by keeping in the hot cooking gasses until theyeven out at the grate level.

I just rolled up somemetal flashing, stuck it into the chimney. The flashing will try tounroll, holding it in place.

Issue 4:

No charcoaltray. There tray is meant for split logs only.

Solution: I added astandard charcoal grate purchased at Lowes.

I did a test burn lastnight and the smoker worked noticeably better. There was minimalleakage and the temps held steady. Today I have been smoking chickenand have maintained 250f rather easily.

Look Ma.....no leaks!

Don't expect that gasket to stay white for long.....

I did have two of the strips come loose during cooking HOWEVER, one was taken off and reattached during the install and the other I sprayed the adhesive instead of brushing it on. I'll re-clean those two sides and re-do the adhesive properly.

Next Steps: Get acharcoal basket built for the fire box. Add a 3/8â€ plate to thebottom of the fire box to reinforce it and add thermal mass. Get a rain cover so I can keep this out on my deck with my two Big Green Eggs.

Giveaway Winner

The winner of a copy of Rick Browne's 1,001 Best Grilling Recipes is Dirk.