To quote the manual "hold mode goes into effect at the end of both cooking modes and remains in effect until manually turned off." I understand that to mean... if I choose a 225 degrees temp. for 5 hour, at the end of 5 hours it goes into a holding mode. My timer started counting backwards and the temp did decrease but I think it was because I open the smoker. My question is if the all happens automatically...what is the hold temp programed into the control unit. If it isn't auto. I guess the smoker keeps cooking at 225...I wouldn't call that a holding mode. I think I will phone CS. Thanks for the responses!