Smoke Hollow LS2016-2 2 Burner Propane Gas Barrel Grill Review

Smoke Hollow is a brand many people will be unfamiliar with. They’re pretty new, and they’ve stepped into the budget market creating low-priced cooking products for people who dabble in the backyard or go camping. This particular creation, the Smoke Hollow LS2016-2 2 Burner Propane Gas Barrel Grill is available for around 100 dollars. But, while it’s been heralded for its simplicity, I’ll be letting you in on whether it produces quality food or not. After all, that’s the most important thing right.

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Pros:

  • 2 Burners
  • Nice Side Shelves
  • Easy to Clean
  • Good Design
  • 240 Square Inches Primary Cooking Space
  • 15,000 BTU’s
  • Very Cheap Price

 

Cons:

  • Not good for more complex high-heat foods

 

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Size/Design

It weighs 41 pounds so I wasn’t expecting a fine Steel build. Therefore I wasn’t let down when I found it was made out of low-grade Stamped Steel. For just over 100 dollars the material used is value for money but the Steel is obviously not as durable as you’d find on Grills at twice the price. What I will say is that I liked the simple construction and I’d recommend it for beginners. It’s very easy to use. You get two heat controls for the 2 Burners, some side Shelves that I’ll talk a little more about in the performance section and quite a bit of cooking space. Durable, but not majorly strong, although not majorly priced either.

Performance

Assembly

The assembly is a double-edged sword. While it takes about half an hour which is quite a long time in the Grill business, it’s also very easy. Just follow the instruction to attach the shelves and place the cooking area on the Cart. The Wheels are good and will make pushing easy but they too take a little time to screw on. A good thing though is that you’ll only need to fully assemble once if you’re cooking out in the backyard. For camping trips, you can assemble when you get it and then split it up into two pieces: cooking area and Cart. Then the next time you go camping you’ll just need to do the five-minute job of putting both pieces together again.

So what kind of chef are you anyway?

This is perfect for some and not so good for others. If you like grilling Hot Dogs and Burgers than this will be fine. It’s not fast because they’ve only provided 15,000 BTU’s of heat across a 240 Square Inch cooking surface. But, for basic foods like those mentioned above, it’ll produce great results. The problems come when you need to cook high-heat items like Steaks and Ribs. For these you’ll need to turn often, otherwise, you’ll end up with uneven results. There’s simply not enough heat retention from the Steel design and not enough BTU’s for good heat dispersal. So are you a burger and Hot Dog guy, or are you are Steak or Rib guy?

Side Shelves

For the money so do get value in space. As I mentioned, there are 240 Square Inches of primary cooking space plus two 40 Square Inch Side Shelves. These offer more than enough space to cut and prepare Meats and Vegetables, or anything else you need to take care of. They’re also made to a good standard and attach securely to the cooking unit.

Heat Control

The two heat control knobs are easy to operate and easy to see. They’re not complex and only have two levels: low and high. I’d suggest if you are buying this then you should basically turn everything up high. This way you’ll get the maximum heat at all times and reduce the impact of the heat retention problem. Again for simple foods, controls like this are ideal. They’re also ideal for beginners.

Easy to Clean

A high point here is the cleaning. It is porcelain-Enameled so cleaning can be done with a wash rag and light pressing. It’s a five-minute job.

Conclusion

So who are you? What do you like? What do you want it for? If you go camping or dabble in the backyard then this is good value for money. It’s not huge so you’re not carting around a giant Grill. It’s also simple to operate and when doing basic tasks like Hot Dogs or Burgers it’ll get you great results. If you’re not a serious outdoor food enthusiast and just want something cheap that’ll fill your stomach up then you’ll like this a lot. If you like going camping but you’re on a major budget then it’ll be worth your while buying this. If you’re after the best results on a variety of foods then I would suggest you choose another model. the Smoke Hollow LS2016-2 comes at a very low price and it’s for beginners or hobbyists, and they’d enjoy it. not for everyone, but not bad either. Thank you for reading.