I mix this together and heat it on the stove top for about 10 minutes to help dissolve the sugar better. Store in refrigerator.

A smoked salmon recipe:
(This recipe is courtesy of Bruce Bissonette.)

Bruce smoked a 3.88lb. fillet from Sam's Club on a WSM and it turned out well. Bruce started out by brining it for 90 minutes in the following brining solution:

1 gallon of water
1 cup kosher salt
1 cup brown sugar
½ cup soy sauce
½ cup white wine
1 tbls granulated garlic
1 tbls onion powder
1 tbls dried thyme
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp dill

He then rinsed it and patted it dry and allowed it to dry on a rack for 2 hours. At that point the salmon was brushed with maple syrup and sprinkled with Hi-Mountain Salmon Seasoning (any rub or seasoning you like on fish will do). The fillets were smoked on a WSM with the top grate temp between 195-205 for three hours. Chunks of Sugar Maple wood provided smoke flavoring.

My method of cooking baby back ribs:
I started learning to cook ribs with a basic rib rub recipe. As we became active in bbq competitions and as our skill and knowledge increased, we began to tweak the rub to fit our own tastes and when we did, our bbq contest results improved. Now when I cook ribs, I use The BBQ Guy's "Original Spice Rub". I usually rub the ribs the night before I want to cook them and leave them in the refrigerator wrapped in Saran wrap to season for several hours. I have been smoking my baby backs at 220-230 degrees on my WSM for 4 1/2 - 5 hours in a Weber Rib Rack using apple chunks or hickory chunks for flavor. I have had my best luck using 1/2 a chimney of lump charcoal and getting it grayed over before placing it in the cooker on top of about three fire starting chimneys full of unlit lump. I use a stem thermometer placed through the top vent to monitor temperature. On hot days I will start off with much less lit charcoal to allow my cooker to slowly come up to a temperature of 225 degrees. If it gets too hot, I add a little ice to keep things calmed down. I put the ribs on and if all works according to plan I shut the bottom vents and leave the top vents open and then I am at the desire temperature. If I am still too hot I place foil around the door opening to form a gasket, which seems to seal up the air intake a little bit on my WSM. I don't open the lid for 3 hours then I spot check the meat temp with an instant read thermometer. I have this process where it works pretty consistently for me.

Here are some notes from a recent rib cook that turned out well.

10/8 9:30 p.m. I just finished preparing three slabs of ribs for smoking tomorrow. I sprinkled them front and back with The BBQ Guy's Original Spice Rub and put them back in the refrigerator to let them marinade overnight.

10/9 9:30 a.m. I started a 1/2 charcoal chimney full of Royal Oak and added the lit charcoal to the unlit lump in the WSM.

9:50 a.m. The WSM has reached 200 degrees and I add the ribs, two racks on the top rack and one on the bottom rack.

11:50 p.m. I wrapped the ribs in foil, meat side down on a goohy mixture of dark brown sugar and honey. I also added a few ounces of cherry juice. I usually use a grape juice/apple juice mixture, but didn't have any on hand.

1:00 p.m I unwrapped the ribs from the foil and check for doneness. The meat is beginning to pull away from the bone and the bones will separate from the meat with a slight tug by the fingers. I brushed the ribs with honey and sauce and let them continue to cook for another 20 minutes to firm the sauce.

1:20 p.m. I removed the ribs from the smoker.

My method for cooking chicken drum sticks on my WSM:
I marinade the chicken drum sticks for several hours, which helps to reduce the tendency for drying out. I learned that from The BBQ Forum also in a discussion about "Jumpin' Jim's" chicken recipe. I don't use the recipe exactly, but use a variation of it with good results. When I'm ready to cook the drum sticks, I sprinkle them with my favorite chicken rub and place them on the cooker. For better results it pays to take a little extra time and make sure you thoroughly cover the meat. I use apple chunks and/or hickory chunks for seasoning. If I am cooking a lot of chicken on my WSM I usually place about 12 drums on the bottom rack first and then place the other 12 on the top rack about 30-40 minutes later. The top rack cooks faster and splitting them into 2 seperate groups helps me with the timing so they're all done at about the same time. I cook them until done (about 2 3/4 hours) and brush them individually with my favorite sauce prior to serving. You could also just submerge each piece in a little tub of sauce, but I prefer "lightly sauced" to "soaked". Others may do it differently, but this process works best for me.

BBQ Tips

How to keep BBQ hot if you're not quite ready to eat it...
use an ice chest/ice cooler. Put some hot water in an empty ice chest, close the lid and let it set for 3 or 4 minutes. Drain the hot water and you've got yourself a portable BBQ warmer. We've kept pork butts warm this way for 6 or 7 hours.

How to keep your hands clean when cooking BBQ...
use powder free latex gloves. They come in packs of 100 at the local Sam's and will keep your hands clean. You'll maintain good sanitary practices too.

How to keep your spouse interested in the BBQ hobby...
get him/her involved in it with you. It's a lot of fun. You meet nice people and it's something you can do together.

How to keep your BBQ expenses in line with your budget...research all your purchases thoroughly. Make sure your purchase will do what you want it to do BEFORE you purchase it. For example, if you want to learn to cook whole hogs, you probably need to consider a big cooker or if you want to cook 10-15 racks spare ribs every weekend you're going to need something bigger than a WSM.