[vash]

steve i have a cheap smoker. (nice DTW..as a chinese person..whatever, not worth it..)

anyways back to the smoker. i found that the type of charcoal you use really makes or breaks the deal. anything pre-soaked with lighter fluid is destined for failure. same goes for the fancy smanchy, lump charcoal that is so great for grilling. you need to use quality briquettes. i find i can get at least 6 hours of heat from a pile of briquettes. at about 5.5 hours in, i get my chimney started again, and use long pinchers to add more glowing pieces to push the heat back up.

having said that..i blew it on some beef ribs yesterday. i overcooked them! living in california i couldnt find the "flintstone" sized ribs i typically found in texas. i found "half" ribs..store called them beef spare ribs. yeah, right. butcher told me most of the bones go with the bone in steaks. i didnt compensate for the smaller size, and shorter cook times. and i was watching baseball...i dropped the bbq ball. dang!