"This is also one of the times I really, really miss Ken.

Me too!

The best stuff I've found is from Penzey's, they have far and away the freshest and most intensely flavored spices I've found yet - not to say that other sources don't exist, but this stuff is really good.

Linked is just one of their rubs, they have several others.

Here is a link that might be useful: link

I still buy some products from Penzeys, but I prefer The Spice House, which is the original Penzey family company (Bill Penzey's parents and now his sister). Their spices are just that little bit fresher and their website is a delight, if only to check out their annotations on the spices and their recipe archives.

I have blended some of my own rub combinations, but the more time I spend with smoking and grilling, the less "stuff" I find myself adding.

Carol

Here is a link that might be useful: The Spice House

I know I'm unimaginative when it comes to this subject but I honestly can't beat Montreal Steak seasoning as a rub/prep for the smoker and putting Mesquite chips on the smoker tray. We do roasts, hams, and turkeys with it.

But I have noticed that since all the quality propane grills eliminated the lava rocks and went to the SS grill components they have come out with all kinds of mixes/powders to put in the flavoring tray in your smoker/grill. We have an electric Brinkman and have tried the Applewood-Berry powder and really liked it too. So explore some of them too.

Dave

PS: and don't forget the injectable flavorings too.

slow down there with the recipes, first think you are going to want to do it season it, get some lard or some sort of soft fat, or oil, wipe it all around the inside of the smoker, start a small fire, throw in some wood chips at let sit and smoke at about 225 degrees for 2-3 hours.

in the mean time. I'll look for my port shoulder dry rub.

I've had a Brinkman smoker for a bunch of years. I have had no issues, only desire is to have the side firebox option.
keep it clean, seasoned, covered, and it will last you a long time.

For me a little wood flavor goes a long way. My fav is pecan & am fortunate to have a good supply of 10 year old Texas-grown pecan logs that I chunk up and add to the charcoal. Also have an electric smoker.

I think BBQ'rs Delight pellets are very good too.

Here is a link that might be useful: BBQ'rs Delight

Here's the rub, forgot it was a rub/injection.

this stuff is good!

Chris Lilly's Six-time World Championship Pork Shoulder

Amount Measure Ingredient
-------- ------------
For the pork shoulder rub
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup paprika
1/3 cup garlic salt
1/3 cup kosher salt
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon oregano leaves
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon black pepper
-----------
Pork injection
3/4 cup apple juice
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup salt
2 tablespoons Worcestershire
------------
1 whole pork shoulder (approximately 16 pounds)
1 bottle Big Bob Gibson Championship Red Sauce (or substitute your favorite BBQ sauce)

Inject pork shoulder evenly with injection solution. Apply a generous amount of rub onto meat. Pat so the rub will adhere. Place in a smoker and cook with indirect heat for 16 hours on 225F. Serve with sauce on the side or paint shoulder with sauce the last 20 minutes of cooking. When done, the pork should pull off the bones easily. The internal temperature of the pork should reach 195F.

Wow! Thanks for all the help. Of course, I knew I could rely on my Gardenweb friends.

David52, I do use Penzey's spices and am a fan of theirs. At first I could only shop there in person when I went to Madison, WI with DH once a year for his heart check-ups. Then I found there was one about an hour north of here and I will try to get there whenever possible.

Carol, I'd never heard of The Spice House. Thank you for letting me know about them. I will definitely check them out, too.

Dave, nothing wrong with Montreal Steak Seasoning. Heck, I want to try out as many things as I can.

Ristau5741, thank you for sharing your rub/injection recipe that you like so much. It's a must try so I've copied, pasted and printed it. I'll be seasoning the Brinkman this weekend. Right now I'll be using a tarp to protect it, after its cooled down, but I am planning on getting the cover they make specifically for it.

John, thank you for sharing the link to BBQ'rs Delight and your advice.

Right now I have a bag of apple wood chips and a bag of cherry wood chips and I know you have to wet them down, then squeeze any excess water out before using them. I've been debating on whether I should buy chunks in the future. Also, the young man across the road was over last night and said he'd give me a log of persimmon wood that I could try in the future. I wonder if it would be worth it. I was fired up over this before, but now I'm even more excited about it.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

either soaked chunks or you cal also wrap the chunks in foil to help stop them catching on fire (poke some holes in the foil to let the wood smoke out) you want them to smoke, not burn. The chips will burn up too fast.

One of the things I like to do is what I call a smoke-n-grill, where I'll smoke the meat for an hour or two, then grill to finish, get a nice smoky flavor without all the waiting. of course this is with the smaller meats, steaks, tenderloins, ribs, and such.

Is it the one that looks kinda like R2D2? A Round tower with a charcoal pan on bottom, water pan in the middle? I had one years ago. It worked best with natural charcoal instead of briquets. I actually made my own charcoal for it since I have plenty of hickory trees. Better flavor with the natural and even better with homemade.

I had problems with keeping enough water in the water pan, it evaporated too fast over the direct heat. And problems controlling the heat.

I bought a double barrel smoker about 10 years ago, it works much better for slow smoking. And I don't use charcoal anymore. I build a hickory wood fire in the side barrel and put a water pan and the meat in the main barrel. No extra water needs to be added, so you don't lose the heat and the dampers will control the temperatures very well!

wertach, don't try that with Mesquite. :-)

speaking from experience here......

I'm guessing you mean building a fire with it in the side barrel? Mesquite doesn't grow around here! LOL

Dry Mesquite burns like a bandit - even with the vents closed, the paint was burning off the barrel.

Even with a steady, charcoal fire, if you use a piece of mesquite much bigger than a deck of cards, the food ends up with about a 1/4 inch of creosote .......

Yes, its an R2D2 looking smoker and it will be great for us. There's just two of us and we plan on spending a good portion of our life in our motorhome so I'll be able to take it with us. Now, if we had a larger family or did a lot of entertaining, I'd probably graduate into a larger one, but being able to do about 50 lbs. of meat at a time will make me happy.