I usually will try to marinate it overnight in whatever red wine I happen to have that day with some pepper and crushed fresh garlic. Then I drain it and try to pat it dry. I always make up my own rub. I bought a coffee grinder that I use for nothing but that. I use a base of black peppercorns and usually garlic salt. We don't normally salt our food too much. Then add in other spices. Usually a sweet paprika, a little chipotle pepper and a decent amount of ancho chilli powder. I grind that up and rub it a couple hours before the smoke.
I try to put a pan underneath what I am smoking to catch the drippings. In this case, I put apple juice in it to start and sliced the onions and crush a few garlic cloves with it.
For almost everything I try to keep my temp between about 225 and 250. I might let it go as low as 210 in the early stages. After a couple hours, I start to spritz it with southern comfort and apple juice if it is beef. I used captain morgan's and apple juice if its is pork. Then, when it hits about 160, I put it in the tray with the drippings and foil it until it hits 210.
I use a gosm so it is propane. But for wood on the beef, I sometimes use mesquite, but I think this time it was a combination of apple and cherry.
Hope that helps. I love playing with different combinations of spices in the rubs. I don't ever measure it, so it may not get duplicated exactly. But I usually leave the jars out until after we have tried it so I know what it was if it is exceptionally good.
