Dave

1 minute ago, Curryman said:

Thanks Dave, I've no chimney so just light in the BBQ, open up the front vents and open up the 2 little top vents, close the lid and leave to go out. Is this correct matey?

Yep, exactly that. Then you're good to go.

22 hours ago, Curryman said:

Hi, silly question but what's the best way of burning it off from new please?

Literally just fire up a chimney of coals, whack them in, close the lid and open all the vents and let it burn until cold again.

6 hours ago, eek said:

Hi Dave, I am in same dilemma with you just 3 years after you. Can you please update if you are still happy with it? OR, Should I go for Weber?

Thanks

Hi, I still have it and it’s still my go to grill. Of course I still love my Weber MasterTouch and would never be without that but the Smoke Hollow is still going strong and is great for the bigger cooks. 
 

Only thing I would say about it though, even with a cover on it still manages to get lots of rain water in the ash collector and certain parts do start to rust quite easily. And if leaving it covered outside over winter, unless still using it regularly then be prepared to spend a few hours cleaning it every spring as the grates and other areas will get covered in mould. But a bit of elbow grease and fire and I have it all clean and looking like new every year and this past winter I’ve managed to keep it in a shed so it’s remained dry. 

It will most definitely be getting plenty of use for its fourth summer this year though, would definitely recommend it. 

15 hours later and it seems to have worked out well. 

Pretty much used a whole bag but obviously not enough. Was smoking nicely at 230 with the shoulders at 140ish just before 1am but woke at 6:15 to see it sitting the grill temp at around 180...

Pork temp was 138 so quickly lit a chimney and got it going again and soon was wrapping at 165. Now sitting at 185 internal just before 9am, just hoping the pork will be ok as it had already hit the ‘safe’ temp of 145 before dipping. 

Cooking 5kg of pork shoulder overnight tonight on a 47 WSM.  Should one single layer of beads be enough for this with a mini chimney full to start?  These 4kg bags don't seem to go very far...

Only seasoned it tonight so will fire it up in anger at the weekend. 

Well I took delivery of it this afternoon. It took four hours to put together, no thanks to some pretty bizarre instructions, but number four is now ready to go, or at least will be once I’ve put some coals through it to prime it. 

Does anyone have any experince of these? I could do with a larger plate to supplement the Weber for large gatherings and this seems absolutely ideal, but don’t know anything about the brand. 

So despite twice sleeping through the alarm (one of these cooked to 235f) they actually came out pretty good and there’s still enough heat to do a couple of slices loins. 

Cheers for the advice. 

Ok, all set then. Will report back tomorrow...

Thanks. Pretty much all set now then. Does this look ok? There’s 20 in the chimney which will be lit, assume I just plonk them straight in the middle?  Obviously I’ll add the chunks as well but they’re soaking at the moment. 

Also, the shoulders are being done from frozen so I assume it can’t actually be reheated?

Thanks again. I’ve got a small shoulder on there now so will pull that and reheat it tomorrow to go alongside the other stuff. Temperature maintenance overnight is my only concern as it’s been a bit colder at night this week but at least I have enough beads for it. 

Thanks all. I have a bag and a quarter so will just fill it and light a mini chimney full to start with. I was just worried that might be too many. It’s two separate shoulders weighing 2.5kg each, don’t need it to serve up before 2pm so plenty of time to play with. Plus I can always do some chicken in the morning if it’s still going strong. 

Using the Smokey Mountain for this one. 

So tonight I’m doing my first overnight smoke, two pork shoulders which will hopefully be ready for pulling tomorrow morning. To try and maintain temperature I’m going to have a stab at using heat beads as I don’t get on with lumpwood on long cooks. 

So, the question is, how many for a 10-12 hour smoke? Both lit and unlit. And is it better to use the snake method?  

Cheers

Signed up ages ago but only just got round to posting.  Been grilling for a couple of years now as an actual hobby, on a 57cm kettle and a 47cm WSM. 

Looking forward to getting stuck in to the forum now.

Dave