I've been using a mix of Todd Johnson oak pellets and a bag of hiclory pellets I bought at a store. I've also used hickory wood chips mixed with some cherry wood chips as well.
I've used a rub from Smoke and Spice that was fairly hot and spicy, and I've also used wet homemade BBQ sauces and some store-bought Korean BBQ sauce. I don't have any of the stuff in front of me now, but I know the rub(s) I've used have had garlic, paprika, black pepper, salt, jalapeno pepper, chil powder, maybe a little chipotle powder. I can always try to find the recipes and the products to get more specific but I'm trying to answer you while I have access to the computer. Things have been really busy at home.
I read someplace that after about 3 hours the food as absorbed all the smoke it can; I'm not sure if that's true. I love how you never clean the inside of your smoker--not even the grates, There are guys who are vehement about cleaning it all, and MB recommends it be cleaned after each smoke. You use your smoker much more than I do. I bought mine last April and have used it only 4 times. During the summer I used my Weber One-Touch Silver about 10 times, I think. The first thing I smoked in the MES was a brisket and I was really disappointed with the results. The meat was tender as I had hoped it would be, but the rub was way too hot and the warm was a black bark covering the meat, and the meat had a harsh aftertaste. When I smoked some ribs I also got that same black bark. The next time I did a brisket I used a different rub, but this time the meat wasn't that tender. My 2nd attempt at ribs turned out much better with my use of a wet sauce. Since it's been really wet up here in WA, the smoker will probably remain in the garage until next spring. I don't want to use inside my garage, but to use it I wheel it out from there and to my back yard, which is about 40-50 feet. After I finish using the smoker, I keep it outdoors overnight to let it cool off before wheeling it back to garage (I have it on a handtruck). With it being so wet and cold, to me leaving it outside at this time of year isn't an option.
Why is it an electric smoker can't produce a smoke ring? Can that only be produced by woodfire or charcoal? And do you agree with Todd about never putting water in the water bowl because it winds up steaming the food instead of smoking it? He also thought the water was the reason my
AMNPS went out a few times. And I fully agree with you about heat killing the bacteria. I recently passed a state food workers license test and found out the little guys are killed off at 140 degrees and higher. Some of the guys warned about meats in smokers remaining too long in the danger zone--between 41 and 140 degrees, which is why they advised against smoking a large turkey. I've got a turkey breast I plan to smoke next spring.
