It did have some moisture, though I would have preferred a little more. That said, I wouldn't call it dry at all. The burnt ends came out pretty good. My only complaints are the sweetness of the rub and the lack of smoke ring. Which I'm sure was because it stopped producing smoke abut an hour in.
I think the reason it stopped producing smoke is because I put the chunks on the outside corners of the chip box and the chips in the middle. When I was checking it yesterday I could see that the chunks were still pretty brown, so didn't bother to pull out the box to check and assumed that the chips were the same. I found out today that all of the chips in the middle turned to ash. Next time I'll reverse that and put the chunks in the middle.
As for moisture, I think you'll see an improvement if you roll into the wet-to-dry smoke chamber method...best part is, it gives consistent results.
The smoke ring should still be there with a propane, charcoal or wood-fire smoker, even if smoke is non-existent. The smoke ring comes from the burning of any organic matter, really, whether it's smoke wood or fuel, hence, you don't see a smoke ring from an electric cooker, and, why some folks strive to achieve it in electric cookers by pulling some tricks with added charcoal in the smoke wood pan/box, etc.
The smoke ring is produced from NO2 (nitrogen dioxide) which is a by-product of fuels burning, and is produced at temperatures above 600*, as I recall.
That said, there are factors which can impede the production of smoke ring which cold gave effected yours today, and the I can think of which may have had the most impact are smoke chamber temperature (higher temp = reduced smoke ring), (also effected by meat surface and internal temperatures...too high = lees smoke ring), and humidity, along with surface moisture on the meat (too little of either or both = reduced smoke ring).
Hope that makes sense, but if not, my explanations in the wet-to-dry smoke chamber method, how it works, in specific, roll along the same thoughts.
Smoke wood chip and chunk placement does matter, as you discovered. It takes a few smokes to learn how each smoker produces heavier, lighter and longer lasting smoke...sounds like you're on that already, by using chips for a more rapid onset of smoke along with using chunks for a longer lasting smoke...good work!
Remember, every smoke gets easier and produces better results if you're paying attention to a few details along the way. Stay with it, 'cuz you're doing GREAT!!!
Eric
