Wow! Thanks for all the help. Of course, I knew I could rely on my Gardenweb friends. David52, I do use Penzey's spices and am a fan of theirs. At first I could only shop there in person when I went to Madison, WI with DH once a year for his heart check-ups. Then I found there was one about an hour north of here and I will try to get there whenever possible. Carol, I'd never heard of The Spice House. Thank you for letting me know about them. I will definitely check them out, too. Dave, nothing wrong with Montreal Steak Seasoning. Heck, I want to try out as many things as I can. Ristau5741, thank you for sharing your rub/injection recipe that you like so much. It's a must try so I've copied, pasted and printed it. I'll be seasoning the Brinkman this weekend. Right now I'll be using a tarp to protect it, after its cooled down, but I am planning on getting the cover they make specifically for it. John, thank you for sharing the link to BBQ'rs Delight and your advice. Right now I have a bag of apple wood chips and a bag of cherry wood chips and I know you have to wet them down, then squeeze any excess water out before using them. I've been debating on whether I should buy chunks in the future. Also, the young man across the road was over last night and said he'd give me a log of persimmon wood that I could try in the future. I wonder if it would be worth it. I was fired up over this before, but now I'm even more excited about it. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

LiLRhody: I have tried this before and i just don't seem to come out as good as chipolte i buy in the store. Exactly how long do you smoke your peppers before you throw them in the deyhdrator? What do you smoke them in? What temperatures are you smoking at? How smokey do you think yours taste compared to store bought? I wish i had a good recipe for chipolte in adobo sauce too. I smoke mine in a weber bullet smoker i have. I just put a cast iron pan on top of portable burner that i put in the smoker with hickory chips in it. The temperature is usually about 120ish if i remember correctly. I replace the chips as soon as they turn black. I smoke them until they are all the way dried. Mine have turned out pretty bitter tasting.

I see you asked this a couple years ago, but I'll answer what I can anyway. the size of any ceramic piece is limited by the size of the kiln to fire it. If you can fit only one piece at a time in the kiln, that increases production time and cost. The folk who make bathroom fixtures probably have HUGE kilns. I'm confused about what you're planning; you say, "This would not be a mold were you pour out the slip ... I am assuming slip can be used to to make a solid peice" I don't see why you would want a solid barbecue. And a slip-molded piece more than 1/2" thick is likely to crack like crazy when drying--and forget about firing it, it would probably explode. I don't think glazing greenware (even without paper) is a good idea; if the glaze vitrifies before all the moisture is gone, you'll get cracking or worse. If you don't need a glassy finish, you could use underglaze or colored slip to coat your greenware.

2Many, I was thinking about how to use the 12" tube for shorter smokes. First thought was to loosely crumple some aluminum foil and stuff in as a space filler and then add pellets to fill. (Except getting foil out would be a bit of a pain.). Thinking that a partial loose fill might cause the pellets to burn too fast? After I ended up with that huge 40# bag of pellets decided not to worry about it; I'll just fill it up and let 'er burn out past the time I remove the food. With pricier pellets, yeh, I'd try conserving the fuel. Course this then strengthens the argument for adding a 6" tube...for shorter smokes and adding part way thru longer smokes. Then again, I was pondering last night why something like a tomato paste can or two with a bunch of holes punched in it wouldn't work... (from a brand with a removable paper label.) Pulled a couple of chicken halves out of the freezer last night. Going to brine overnight and smoke 'em tomorrow. Thinking I'll try to confine the smoke a bit better with the chicken going on what you learned with your bird. I bought the chicken already halved (was in the reduced 'Use today or freeze' bin--perfect, I thought for experiments!) so the halves may be a little more receptive to smoke than a whole bird? Also, more prone to drying out but brining ought to help offset that... This is actually kinda' fun to do. Needed that cause I get burned out on cooking!