I try. My time is very limited, between my work schedule, and home schedule (small children, other activities, etc.). I'd LOVE to be able to smoke up a brisket, or pork butt, but I just don't have the 8 - 10 hours required to do a really good job. And, PeppA doesn't really go for something that's been smoked more than about 4 hours. It's to strong of a flavor for her, as she wasn't raised on the stuff, like I was.
I'm thinking that maybe, what I need to do, is get the brisket or pork butt, smoke it for four hours or so, take it out of the smoker, wrap in plastic wrap, then in foil, and put it into the oven, @ 250°F, for the remainder of the cooking time. This ought to keep it moist enough so the connective tissues break down (PeppA doesn't understand about that yet, as many times as I've told her), and give it enough of a smokey flavor to make me happy, but not so much that she won't touch it.
I received an electric smoker back in March from a co-worker. That's what I've been using lately. I've got a couple ideas to modify it slightly, to increase the shelf-space inside, as well as make it easier to load it with more wood, so I don't have to feed it every 30 minutes.
I also just bought a huge charcoal grill, that can double as a smoker. I'm thinking about sending off for the optional side-mounted firebox so I can use the entire main cooking area to smoke foods in.
I got a wild hair up my rear about doing this, since there is NO good BBQ restaurants around here. That's what I get for moving north.
I've yet to use the electric smoker I borrowed from my Dad. Hope to use it w/in the next couple of weekends!
