# Smoke Hollow Electric smoker



## rangercarolyn

We purchased our smoker years ago, and used it ONCE. Ruined the meat and threw it out. I called the manufacturer and they told me that the book that was inclosed was for gas smokers and not electric.We used the water pan as directed and the temp never reached the 100 that was required, the meat cooked by steam and was so dry. Now i would like to try again to use it, so how do I do that? Do you just soak the wood chips for the electric smoker, or what? I have the owners manual that was included but afraid to use it again since they told me it was incorrect. It said to use water pan. So help me determine what I need to do to smoke some good meat. I believe the model is 30166E/or 30167E. I have also read that the thermostat has been a problem with these smokers. Should I get a thermometer and check that out? Thanks for any help on this. It just sits on our front deck and I want to get some use out of it.


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## fpnmf

Welcome..

This site has tons of info.

I would suggest you spend some time reading all the different forums and the WIKIs.

Then use the handy dandy search tool for specific interests!!

Take the awesome free E-Course!!!

Have a great day!!!

Craig

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/wiki/about-jeffs-5-day-ecourse
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/wiki/basic-pulled-pork-smoke
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/wiki/finishing-sauce-for-pulled-pork-by-soflaquer
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/wiki/tips-slaughterhouse-recipes-for-poultry
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/forum/thread/82034/how-to-post-qview-to-smf
http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?736-Curing-Salts
http://www.educationbug.org/a/marinate-vs--marinade.html


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## SmokinAl

Glad to have you with us!

I'm not familiar with your smoker, but I'm sure someone who is will be along shortly.


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## meateater

Welcome to the SMF. Glad to have you here. Lots of good folks, great recipes and knowledge. Looking forward to  your first qview.


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## custom99

I have a Smoke Hollow electric. It has been turning out some great products for me since getting it for Fathers day this year. The built in thermo in mine is under by about 15 degrees from the actual temp. I use a remote electronic thermometer and use the potato trick to hold it to monitor the smokers temp. I also use a typical stick in meat thermometer to check meat temp. I use the water pan for some things I am cooking like ribs but not everything. I have no problems with the thermostat at all. I can get the smoker to about a 265 degree top temp if I need it (450 when I was breaking the unit in with nothing in it). I had 4 racks of ribs and 5 potatoes in it on Sunday and it held a temp of 240 for six hours. It took about 10 minutes to get temp to level off after putting all the cold food in at the start of the smoke. I do not soak my chips. I put them in the tray, get them started smoldering with a torch and they burn great. I had to modify the vent holes to get a good burn from the chips since the factory venting is terrible. I had a problem trying to cold smoke but with the help of the pros here I got my bacon done and will be doing a change to make that easier in the future. I am really new to this but if I can help in some way let me know.

   Kevin


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## hardslicer

I have a Smoke Hollow as well and love it.  Nice heavy door that seals nicely and the temps really seem to stay steady once you get them where you want.  It has been a great smoker for me to learn with.


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## fishfilet

Custom99--Kevin--

Thanks for the great thread on your smoke hollow.  Just tried salmon on mine for the first time and had no luck keeping the chips smoking at 160-170 deg. I was told is best for fish.  What modification did you make to the chip pan?  I can get it to smoke at 225 plus, but it just goes out at the lower temp, even if I torch it to start..

Thanks--fishfilet--John


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## custom99

fishfilet said:


> Custom99--Kevin--
> 
> Thanks for the great thread on your smoke hollow.  Just tried salmon on mine for the first time and had no luck keeping the chips smoking at 160-170 deg. I was told is best for fish.  What modification did you make to the chip pan?  I can get it to smoke at 225 plus, but it just goes out at the lower temp, even if I torch it to start..
> 
> Thanks--fishfilet--John


John, I did not modify the chip pan at all. The mod that I did to the unit worked for keeping the chips going. The vent that I did on the side is right where the chip box sits. That way the air being drawn in there passes over the chips and gives them some oxygen, I use the torch to start them, let them flame up a bit, cover the pan to put out the flames, and put back in smoker. The chips have a nice little glow to them then. I have had nice smoke down to 110 after the mod. The only chips I have a problem burning are the Jack Daniels Oak barrel ones that my son bought me for my birthday at Gander Mountain. I usually use them mixed will other woods that were bought at Lowes.
 

The only fish I have smoked was Walleye and I did that at 250 and came out great.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/109921/smoked-walleye#post_673151  

Good Luck, Kevin


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## hardslicer

my smoke problems have been solved by using the AMNS......since the electric cycles off and on it's hard to keep the chips burning....with the AMNS you don't have that problem and my Q has improved drastically


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## custom99

hardslicer said:


> my smoke problems have been solved by using the AMNS......since the electric cycles off and on it's hard to keep the chips burning....with the AMNS you don't have that problem and my Q has improved drastically


The AMNS has been my plan. Asked for one for my birthday but the money got used to extend a vacation instead. I will get one hopefully soon.


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## leebobvilla

I have been smoking for years now and learn something new every time. I have owned my elec smoke hollow for about 4 months now and love it for at home, it is the perfect size. I gave the factory water and smoke pan many chances and threw them away, my opinion is that who ever designed them hasn't smoked much. I have had very good results with a 9x13 cake pan as my water pan on a seperate rack.as we all know their water pan isn't near big enough! As far as my smoke source I put solid hickory chunks directly on the bottom rack which is about 1/2 inch above the element. They last for hours. The vent hole isn't near big enough, If you crack the door slightly it creates draft which gets your wood a smoking.After you get smoke flowing close the door. My smoker naturally vents out the door now even when closed, well seasoned


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## uncle duece

Being a newbie to smoking meat, I have to ask what does AMNS stand for?


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## fishfilet

We have had our Smoke Hollow 30168E for several years now, and initially had a problem getting it to produce smoke at a low temperature.  We researched and found the A-MAZE-N smoke generator product:  www.amazenproducts.com/.  The stainless steel device burns very slowly using the wood "powder" they recommend.  I also add wood chips on top of the powdered wood, and light it with a propane torch.  It burns about 1 to 1.5 hours on one fill.  Often I refill it to add more smoke.  I leave the door ajar for the first 10 minutes or so, to get it really smoldering.  With the addition of wood chips, the powdered wood I purchased from them has lasted for more than two years, with smoking about every two weeks.  I tried sawdust and it did not work nearly as well as this powdered product.  Good luck!


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## bajabarrister

I have had just about the same experiences that you have had. Both the water bowl and smoker box are too small. I believe I will try your remedy. However, I have not had a problem with the venting and generation of smoke. My ambient temperature here in SoCal is usually around 75-80 degrees. Perhaps that is a factor.


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## perryb

custom99 said:


> John, I did not modify the chip pan at all. The mod that I did to the unit worked for keeping the chips going. The vent that I did on the side is right where the chip box sits. That way the air being drawn in there passes over the chips and gives them some oxygen, I use the torch to start them, let them flame up a bit, cover the pan to put out the flames, and put back in smoker. The chips have a nice little glow to them then. I have had nice smoke down to 110 after the mod. The only chips I have a problem burning are the Jack Daniels Oak barrel ones that my son bought me for my birthday at Gander Mountain. I usually use them mixed will other woods that were bought at Lowes.
> 
> 
> The only fish I have smoked was Walleye and I did that at 250 and came out great.
> 
> http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/109921/smoked-walleye#post_673151
> 
> Good Luck, Kevin
> 
> I have a smoke hallow as well and would like to add more vents. What type of vent did you create? It sounds like you made it on the lower left side but did it help? I think I need to create more draft for more smoke. Does your unit emit smoke from the door?


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## learning2smoke

what kind of modification did you do to the venting on the smokey hollow?


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## columbian

LeeBobVilla said:


> My smoker naturally vents out the door now even when closed, well seasoned


Would you recommend cutting a hole in the roof of the smoker and installing a butterfly vent?

Or just drilling a couple of holes in the side wall at or below the level of the element?


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## columbian

Would there be anything wrong with removing the rack above the element and resting a piece of sheet metal directly on the element? Would that create a short, maybe?

Mine also can't keep the chips going at 225 -250--according to the built in thermometer, anyway. This thing probably needs a new thermometer. Would a standard meat thermometer inserted through the door work?


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## learning2smoke

Here is a link i have tried and works great

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/109505/venting-mod-on-a-smoke-hollow-electric-unite is a link


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## cherrylarry

I just bought the Smoke Hollow 30166 at a great 2013 Black Friday price of $99.  Having read a lot of the SMF posted comments, I did a little testing to check out the front door thermometer that came with the unit.  The instuction manual with the smoker noted the following: "...always check the internal temperature of smoker wth a different thermometer to assure that the front heat indicator is correct", so obviously the S.H. folks are well aware of the issues that customers have had with their supplied thermometers. With a pan of water on the kitchen stove, my wife's candy thermometer and the S.H. door thermometer in hand I started with tap water temp and heated up the pan of water.  As the water temp ramped up I noted that the S.H. thermometer consistantly read about 5 - 8 degrees hotter than the candy thermometer. At boiling water (211 degrees F at our elevation) the candy thermometer read 208 degrees and the S.H. door thermometer read 215.  CONCLUSION. The S.H. thermometer is within 5 degrees of actual and for al practical purposes, good enough.  No need to buy another thermometer to monitor box temperature.

Among other common user comments was the problem with generation sufficient smoke with previous S.H. 30 in. electric units.   S.H. folks made a modification to the chip pan for this 30166E model over similar previous units.  They drilled 16 holes in a square pattern in the bottom of the pan to attemp to get more heat transfer from the heating element to the chips. The pan is located on a rack about 3/4 inch above the heat element. (All of the electic smokers that I have used since I began smoking in 1968 have had the wood pan setting directly on the electric hot plate or heating element.) At this point I should reveal that all of my past smoking has been for making wild game jerky and smoked fish - no actual smoker cooking where higher temperatures may be required. And as custom would have it, my first use of the 30166E was a batch of jerky that I wanted to smoke at around 140 degrees.  Sure enough, it was not possible to generate adequate smoke with the box temperature in the 140 -160 degree range, even after preheating the unit a getting a good flow of smoke prior to putting in the jerky meat.  Other users have cut out the rack so that the chip pan rests directly on the heating element or added butterfly shuttered vent holes to improve venting for better wood burn.  My observation, like some others have posted is that the chip pan is a little small. And I was also not fond of having the holes in the bottom of the pan that allowed ash to filter through and collect on the bottom of the smoker. So here is my plan for the next batch of jerky (note that I am referring to jerkly only and not meat smoker cooking).  I will remove the bottom rack (takes 5 minutes to remove 4 nuts and slide out the rack) that holds both the water pan and the smaller chip pan.  Since I do not use water for jerky smoking I will use the larger water pan for chips and set it directly on the heating element.  Now I will have a system similar to what I have been using for the past 45 years.  If the heat turns out to be too much for wood chips I will use my version of wood chunks.  I take an apple limb about 4-5 inches in diameter and use a drawn shave to remove the bark, then cut it into "rounds" about 1 inch thick.  These babies last a long time in the smoker and produce a bunch of smoke.  Will keep you posted on progress.

I am really looking forward to smoker cooking and I believe that this S.H. smoker do a great job for me.  It just needs a little tweeking for jerky making as I see it now.  Don't be suprised to see lots of questions from me and making smoker meats.  I am definitely a nube it that department!


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## cherrylarry

*More on the thermometer that came with the S.H. 30166E smoker:*   The thermometer itself when tested outside the smoker checked out fine as per my previous post.  But put it in the smoker and the results were not so good.  It reads about 20 degrees lower than center of the smoker during operation.  I note that the thermometer is mounted metal on metal to the door, If there is any thermal heat transfer from the door/mounting it might cause the thermometer to read lower than the interior box temperature.  Secondly, past experience with my Little Chief smoker showed that there can be a large temperature difference at different locations within a smoke box.  It is hottest at the top (heat rises) and likely also at the center.  If the smoker drafts intake air enters from the bottom, depending on how the meat racks are loaded, the path of least resistance for the rising air flow may be along the outside edges of the smoker resulting in lower temperature there.  If you look at the position of the probe through the door, it is taking reading from very near the door-side edge; not the center of the smoker.  So, I think that if you really want to monitor the interior temperture, do what many have recommended and buy a thermometer with a probe on a cable extension and monitor the temperture where the smoking action is. (or if you are a real cheapskate like me, just note that the thermometer is reading off (20 degrees for me) and adjust accordingly - after all this is a Black Friday $99 deal, and I don't want to tarnish are good thing, at least not yet!)

*More testing on smoke production at low temperature:*  A whole host of options that work for getting the S.H. electric to generate smoke at low temperatures have been posted here and elsewhere.  They include buying and installing an add-on smoke generator, cutting out a portion of the lower pan rack so that the smoke pan sits directly on the heating element, cuting vent holes in the smoker to increase air flow provide and someone asked about placing the wood on a sheet of metal on the heating element.  Yesterday I did little more testing and made a "dry run" using my new S.H. 30166E . I removed the bottom chip and water pan rack (loosen 4 nuts and slip out the rack - takes about 5 min.) and used the larger water pan for chips. I placed the pan directly on the heating element near where the chip pan was origianlly positioned.  I tested this without meat in the smoker (didn't need more ruined jerky).   It worked great.  I put my version of wood chucks (apple rounds cut from a debarked limb) in the water pan (rather than the small chip pan) and set the pan directly on the heating element.  I then cranked up the temperature to the lower end of the "high" range and got the wood smoking in about 10 min.  Then I opened the door as if loading meat racks, during which time the temperature dropped to around 100.  I then lowered the temperature control.  After closing the door the temperature stabilized to within my lower jerky making range and TBS continued until the wood chunk was exhausted.  No added cost, no mods, not much fuss.

I note that I was concerned that cutting out a portion of the rack (a nonreversable modification) and dropping the chip pan through so that it sets directly the heating element may cause the chip pan to overheat at higher meat cooking temperatures and either flare the smoking wood or burn it out too quickly.

Now when I want to smoke chunks of meat and at higher temperatures (where this unit produces good smoke as built), I will just reinstall the lower pan rack AND not have voided the warrenty by cutting out portions of the my new smoker. :)

Larry


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## tomatoted

What does AMNS mean?


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## cmayna

Amaze-N-Smoker

http://www.amazenproducts.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=12


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## jted

TomatoTed said:


> What does AMNS mean?


Hi Ted. Here is a quote from Todd Johnson's web site. He has  invented (patented) several smoke generators that make our smoking  lives easier.

The A-MAZE-N-SMOKER(AMNS)*[sup]PATENTED[/sup]* is a smoke generator that was created out of my need to Cold Smoke meat, fish and cheese. After months of testing, we found the perfect combination of design, materials and sawdust that gives consistent results every time. Even though the AMNS was created for Cold Smoking, it can also be used to supplement smoke at temps up to 180° inside your smoker.

The 6"x6" AMNS will smoke for 8 hours on 4 oz. of A-MAZE-N-DUST, and the 6"x8" AMNS will burn 10 hours on 6 oz. of A-MAZE-N-DUST. They DO NOT burn pellets.

A-MAZE-N-DUST is a special blend of sawdust that gives the A-MAZE-N-SMOKER it's long and consistent smoke times. Each A-MAZE-N-DUST smoke flavor is a 100% natural product, with no additives, fillers, scents or oils added.

You should stop by roll call and introduce your self. Then proceed directly to Todd's website.

http://www.amazenproducts.com/default.asp

He does make a couple of them give him a call and find out which one is best for you.

You are on your journey to great smoking    Jted


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## radioguy

Here is the MOD I did to a Smoke Hollow 30166E.  This definitely improved the temp / smoke control.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/158043/one-more-mailbox-mod-works-great#post_1137774

RG


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