General rule for a brisket is an hour to 1:15 per lb.
The only meat that I've brined so far is when I roast a turkey. I really want to try smoking a turkey, but my turkey turns out so darn good from the oven that I hate to take a chance. I'll have to do one this summer to try it.
I've really wanted to play with a dry brine, but haven't had the time.
Here's the rub that I use on pork or ribs:
• 1/2 cup salt
• 1/2 cup turbinado sugar
• 1/4 cup granulated brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon granulated garlic
• 1 tablespoon granulated onion
• 2 tablespoons paprika
• 2 tablespoon chili powder
• 2 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 teaspoons cayenne
• 1 tablespoon thyme leaves
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
For pulled pork, I'll smear yellow mustard all over the pork butt and then shake it on pretty heavy. For ribs, be sure to peel the membrane from the bottom side of the ribs the night before(it makes a huge difference). I like to let my ribs, steaks, chicken, etc sit out for about an hour before smoking or grilling. Then lightly coat the ribs with either yellow mustard or olive oil and lightly shake on an even coating of the rub.
The last ribs that I smoked, I did them for my father-in-law's 80th birthday. I put out Cattleman's Smokehouse BBQ sauce, and it was never opened.
With a brisket or a pork butt, wrap it in foil, then in a towel, and toss it in a cooler for at least an hour. I've let pork butts rest for as long as 3 hours in a good cooler, and they're still nice and hot & easy to pull.
When smoking or grilling pork, if I do open the smoker, I keep a spray bottle with a 50/50 mix of olive oil & cider vinegar, and I'll give the meat a spritz with it. If the heat source is less than 2 feet from the meat, I'll put a water pan between the heat & the meat & I'll fill it with a water & apple juice mix.
For the most part, though, you want to keep the smoker closed up for as much of the cook as possible. A remote thermometer is the answer. I got my cordless remote thermo's at Walmart for less than $20 each.
Oh, and about BBQ sauce. For mother's day dinner, I lightly covered about 6 lb of chicken breast and 5 lb of pork loin (sliced about 1 1/4" thick) with Cattleman's Smokehouse BBQ sauce and threw it on the smoker with a dozen ears of fresh corn. (I had simply shucked the corn and tossed it in a little olive oil & garlic.) An hour and a half at about 250*, and I pulled off some of the most delicious food ever. It was so simple and so darn good.
