[Byte1]

Right after I retired, I started my "smoking" hobby. I started out with a brisket, which is considered one of the more difficult pieces of meat to smoke. I started at 2am and smoked it for about 14 hours and then wrapped it in plastic, foil and towels and placed it in a cooler for a couple of hours until company arrived. It turned out FANTASTIC, and I had folks that swore by pork BBQ that told me that they would rather have my brisket. I did a lot of research on line and watched a lot of BBQ videos before I attempted the project, but by taking a bit of each idea and combining them, my brisket was the best. Of course, I made my own rub with a couple of secret ingredients that I got the idea when traveling overseas. I also used apple wood that was given to me from an orchard. I spritzed the meat about every 45 minutes with a mix of apple juice and cooking oil. I think the real secret to great BBQ is the "resting" period, where you wrap it up and let the juice re-incorporate back into the meat. I mean, other than cooking it real slow and with a low temp.
I've done beef roast before, and it comes out pretty good if you prefer pulled beef over pork. I had a young relative that shied away from all meat, that tried my pulled pork butt and later asked me to do one for her birthday. I did and it made her day.
My opinion regarding smoking meat is that the only way you can mess it up is if you don't smoke it long enough. And when I mean smoke it, I do not mean that you have to have more than a couple hours of wood smoke, but rather a long period of slow and low temp cooking. You can actually smoke it for a few hours and then wrap it and place it in a well regulated oven for the remainder of the time without losing any of the flavor. It's a lot easier than watching a charcoal and/or wood fire for many hours.

Thanks for starting this thread. I really enjoy BBQ but don't do it as much now, since I have been here. There are a few decent BBQ eateries in the area, that have made me a bit lazy when it comes to spending hours at the smoker.