I will take some pics this afternoon of the second batch so you can all see how they came out. I thought the time was running long like you say BC but I was maybe overly concerned about the temps and the long smoking time just happened. I think this afternoon I will take batch number two and after taking a picture I will put them in the smoker under heavy smoke and try and keep the temp as low as I can to get an hour or so of hard smoke and see if that improves the appearance of them. And sand in the water pan? It would definately absorb a lot of heat and still keep things dry. Good tip I think I'll do that instead of water. While batch two is finishing offf with smoke I will put batch three in the oven to start drying and by the time batch two is ready to come out of the smoker batch three will be ready to go in.
I brought a bag of bartch one to work and invited some coworkers over to try them. It's a large construction site and the path to my trailer is overgrown and muddy it resembles a muddy trail pounded by footsoldiers on a long winter march. They only had one each and both agreed that they have good flavor and smokiness but too dry. It's to early in the day to have a cold beer (only because were all working) but they didn't ask for a grab for a second stick! Dang thats the kiss of death to a smoker! Well if all else fails as a last resort I will chop them up andthrow them in my wifes next batch of beans.
Thanks for all the encouragement and as cheif Dan George said; 'I will endeavor to persevere."