Well,,,By Golly,,and fact of the matter,,,,that hellascious wind finally died down,,and it in the mid 70's,,,SO,,,I sure enough smoked up 10# of chickie leg quarters this past weekend ,,,,UMMm,,UMmmm,,was they great tastin,,!!  and,,,and,,,they is all gone 'cept one little piece that musta come from the runt of the bag,,,,,

 AND,,,,and,,,,,unlike somebody I know,,,,,,I didn't post it as I feel for all youse folks that is still landlocked from your smokers due to all thet DANG SNOW ole "you know who" sent everybody,,,and I KNOW Ya'll woulda felt bad and thinkin I was standin up the collar,,,,,so I kept it to my own self,,,(calmly lickin my fingers),,,,,

  Hey Shameless,,,,,I'll have you know,,,I DO NOT use pallet wood for something as important as my smokin groceries,,,,it be mostly Pecan, apricot, Pecan, and some Mesquite for diversity,,,,say,,!  I kinda like thet word,,,ole oblama used to use thet word all the time so it must be important,,,,Chit ,,got off subject there again,,,,,

 I have a big Apricot tree in front yard I been borry'in some branches off of it but think it gonna be all mine this year as the north half of the tree started to dry up 2 years ago,,and now the south half is doin the same,,,chit I never got very much fruit off it as it always bloomed out way too early and frost usually got the blooms,,,,, 

 You just can't hardly go wrong with some good seasoned Pecan for just bout any smokin.

I'm like you in that I LOVE chickie fixed just bout any old way,,especially smoked chickie,,,I wait till they throw the 10# bags of chickie quarters for bout .39 /lbs and will stock up till they ask me to not come back and let the other customers get their share,,,,CHIT,,ain't my fault them customers are some slow in seein a good buy,,,,

 Yeah,,Ted,,up in the mountains west of us,,there used to be lots of Apple orchards but there ain't too many of em left for some reason,,I knew several of the ranchers up there so I could go get a pickup load for $30 so thas what I used a lot of,,NOW them guys want $125 a pickup load so I use mostly Pecan of which there are a lot of here

   I'm thinkin this big old Apricot tree is gonna serve me for a long time,,it has two trunks bout 12" each and I'm gonna put the chainsaw to this year,,,,

 like ole Trucker says,,it gonna be good on some hog meat,,,UMMmmmmm

 

I'd like a smoker some day.  Maybe if/when I retire.  I don't have the time right now.  I do use charcoal, not gas!  Sometimes, I'll soak some wood in water and throw it off to the side in the charcoal.  Apple or hickory is great on pork chops!

 Yes Sir Trucker,,,that's my method for smokin meats,, I fill one of those charcoal starter thingies and get that charcoal going then dump it into the fire chamber and put the wood I'm gonna use right on top of the charcoal. With chickie or pork that is usually enough for the whole cookin time. Now,,brisket takes bout another half a load of charcoal to get er done,,,,

     His Mesquite was well seasoned .    He did a dry rub. Same on both Beef and Lamb

 

      To start he would build a hot fire in the box to get the pit hot and another on the ground next to the box. When there was nothing but red hot coals in the box the meat went on. He keep the heat where you couldn't lay your hand on the lid and keep it there more than a second or two. If it got to cool he just added more coals only from the outside fire using a shovel.  He kept the fire outside going for a good supply of coals. Cooking time was 5 or 6 hours turning about once a hour.

      You talk about TENDER especially the lamb. Taste of meat roasted with seasoned Mesquite using Coals Only was not overpowering at all.   Cooking with coals only is the secret using any wood. I prefer Post Oak coals to do my Brisket mostly because I have tons of it.

      

Well yeah.....I'm with you.  Except that "longer time" part, that's my missing ingredient.