Oak is not only not a rookie mistake but the choice of many a pro. It is the dominant smoking wood for real Texas BBQ so that oughtta tell ya something.
How, when and if to wrap is among the most debated topics in smoking. Try things out til you find what you and yours like.
In my most humble opinion and my opinion only, the absolute tenets to making good Q are:
*Know what the temp of your cooker is. That means forget that thermometer that came with your smoker and get one that you can put the probe in the smoke chamber for the duration of the smoke. Not knowing the actual temp of your cook chamber is like driving blindfolded.
*Learn when your meat (or whatever you are cooking) is done. Mastering when to pull your Q out of the smoker will put you 1/2 to 3/4 the way to pitmaster status. This will be a bit of a learning curve, but there is lots of advise on this forum. Use the search function and invest a couple hours a week here. It will pay dividends.
*Know the temp of your meats. This helps with the second tenet. You won't necessarily use the internal temp (IT) of the meat to make final judgement on when it is done and ready to pull off, but it keeps you from over cooking and undercooking (the latter can be dangerous). It provides a window for you. Of course, some things you will not check the meat's IT, like ribs or chicken wings, but for most things it is important and useful. Get a dual probe thermo that you can leave one probe in the cook chamber and one in the meat and has remote capability so you can go back inside and watch the football game or cricket match or take a nap or whatever.
Everything else, like wrapping, rubs, sauces, wood choices, heat sources are secondary to the above.
Welcome to your new addiction.
