Since the rebuild and modification of the smoker way back in 2008. It is now 2016 eight years later and the smoker keeps on smoking with no other mods needed.
We often use boneless pork shoulder for family gatherings. People enjoy grabbing a large slab and putting in on their plate. The fat or marbling renders down nice and help with the moisture content in the meat to help prevent any drying.
This year season we are finishing up a bag of pellets made for pellet equipment. The wood is Alder, which can sound really exotic. Unless you are from Washington State where Alder is sort of a menace as it grows everywhere like weeds and most often where you do not want it.
All the modification parts to the smoker have held up well over the years. The original Thermometer stopped working last year so we ordered one online that was a bit larger and it works great and is easier to read. We have found that anywhere between 200-225 is a great temp to get good results.
The bowl of water seems to still help during smoking. It may add a bit of steam & moisture. We did notice it is dual purpose by capturing some of the drippings too. Mmmmm smokey drippings...lol
