opening the smoker and other mysteries

[longhorn59]

I keep reading about how important it is to never hardly open the door, but dont you need to check the butt, replace lost water and low charcoal and maybe even spritz or turn the meat? Also wondering if anyone has tried smoking the meat for a while then applying the rub for bark? Or, what about cutting down a butt to be half as thick to speed cooking and getting more bark per bite?
I have a Brinkmann (R.I.P.) gas smoker but use charcoal with a gas assist just to get it fired up.

 

[SmokinAl]

First of all. Welcome to SMF. The saying is " If your looking your not cooking ", but we all open the smoker for the various tasks that you mentioned. Yes if you cut a butt in half you will shorten the cook time, but IMHO the long cook time is what makes them soooo good. I have never tried to put rub on after I've started smoking. Give it a try & let us know what happens.