I used to live across the street from an apple orchard, and I agree that apple smoked meat is wonderful. If you have access to pecan wood or pecan shells, that's a very good flavor that isn't overpowering. I never cared for mesquite, and even hickory can be overdone.

Another wet rub can be made with parsley, celery, garlic and a little salt & pepper pureed in the blender and slathered on the chicken. I've done dozens of chickens that way, and never had any leftovers when serving the freeloading guests that show up at my place. Wet stuff does inhibit the absorption of smoke, though. Smoke aficionados usually let the surface of the meat dry a little in the fridge to form a 'pellicle' which helps the smoke stick to the surface a little better.

The mayo in your recipe probably inhibited the absorption of the smoke flavor (which, if you didn't want things overly smoky, worked out just fine).

Just a general note: it's nice to have something fatty in the top rack of the smoker and something less fatty below. Fresh ham or pork butt or spare ribs on the top rack, dripping its goodness onto chickens or turkey below. I once did spare ribs dripping on to domestic rabbit. Both came out great.

And my 'desert island' hot sauce that I use to add zing to a sauce or a dish is Huy Fong Sriracha. Hotter than Tabasco but less vinegary. Pure capsicum hotness with just a little garlic. Wonderful stuff, and powerful.

Here is a link that might be useful: huy fong sriracha

Wow Arley, Thanks! Those are some great ideas, which I will be taking into consideration, and I appreciate your explanation of things turning out the way they do. Your wet rub sounds great, and will the next one I try. I'm looking forward to my next chicken!

Oil is just as good a medium to stick the rubs as mayo and you can use lots less.

But if it wroks for you with mayo then that is great. Write your method down so you can replicate it.

Often I massage pork with yellow mustard before adding the dry rub although its difficult to discern any changes with or without mustard. I most often do it as part of showing off for enthralled visitors.

If you need to cook something a bit longer than you want to smoke it, just wrap the item in some foil. Of course you will want to crisp up chicken skin after wrapping it up but that is why they invented propane torches with spreader tips.

I second Arley's suggestion to try pecan for smoking chicken. It's wonderful.

Two stage process for killer steaks:
Use thick steaks about one and a half inches thick. I love Ribeyes.
Warm steaks by placing in a freezer bag in hot water for about 15.
Dry and season both sides with Kosher salt well. Smoke on low for 4 hours or so...removing the steaks when they are about 20 to 30 degrees away from reaching desired edible temp. Place in freezer for quick reduction of temp (20 to 30 minutes or so) and then place on a rack in fridge to rest and dry for at least 4 plus hours. This sets the smoke and dries the steak which will aid in creating a wonderful "finish"
To finish~ one of two options but #1 is my all time fav....
#1. Rub cold (smoked, dried) steaks with a little butter. Blast a cast iron skillet over high heat with about a tablespoon high heat oil such as peanut or grapeseed until nearly smoking. Place steak in pan. Cook until beautiful brown crust forms. Turn steak and cook other side until desired doneness. (please not past medium rare)
Rest for at least 15 before inhaling.... nothing beats a great smoked pan fried steak!

Method #2 for finishing: Rub cold smoked steaks with butter and finish off either on piping hot gas or charcoal grill.

The above method is great for entertaining. You can smoke other meats using the same method (not smoking until completely finished) with a cold rest and then finishing either in the oven, stovetop, or on the grill. Quickly chilling them down in freezer after removing from smoker is key to prevent spoilage issues.
Chickens done this way will end up with crispy skin if finished off at a higher temp. You get the best of both worlds,...smoke AND crispy skin!
Pork tenderloins marinated, smoked, chilled, and finished off to get grill marks are fabulous. Trick is to make sure and take the meat off the smoker before it is 20 degrees or less being done so that you will have time to finish over high heat without over cooking the meat, ...and time to establish grill marks and a pleasant surface finish.
For this the meat must be very cold for final step. I sometimes will chill down further in freezer AGAIN right before finishing...especially for small cuts such as pork tenderloins or chops. (they need to be thick too)

I know this may seem like a hassle but actually comes in very handy for the cook because you can do your smoking early in the day and finish off right before dinner. The cold sets the smoke and yields fantastic flavor.
I actually created this method because I have always heard that smoked meats taste better the day after smoking. It works. Give it a try you might like it! :)

Mextaxa, your post will be going in my Tips file!

Ci lantro, I'll will definitely try that next. I have a feeling I'll be smoking a lot of chicken.

Monaw, I appreciate knowing about your method for steaks. I don't always cook/eat a lot of steak, but have a feeling my dh would really love this. I'm going to give it a try.

Thanks everyone!

The skin and bones can be boiled in a 2qt sauce pan for smokey chicken broth. After simmering for awhile use a strainer to take the skin and bones back out of the broth. An amazing amount of meat comes off the bones... like a whole 'nuther chicken.

A recipe for the broth I like is to simmer down to 1 qt. Add a can of coconut milk (or juice)
Some mushroom slices
Green curry paste to taste

Often I tweak with extra hot peppers and more cumin... just my taste. Green curry paste can be dragon snot hot so add slowly if you are not familiar.

Spoon over cooked rice or lentils! I really like it with lentil as they take the smokey sweet flavors well.

If the meat has been well skinned, deboned, and defatted it makes good bbq chicken sandwiches... throw meat in frying pan and simmer your favorite sauce into it. I like to toast the bread/bun so it does not get soggy from the sauce.

I'm single and often the wings are snacks, the breasts sandwich meat, and the rest soup/broth meat. I can eat for 3 days on on fryer sized bird.

: )
lyra

I use our smoker two or three times a week and smoked chicken is probably my favorite thing to do. I like to season under the skin as well, since my dh won't eat the skin anyway. That way the meat gets seasoned, too.

I rarely use a recipe for a rub because it's way too much fun combining different herbs and spices on my own. (I use a mortar and pestle.) There are many, many bbq books out there to get ideas from though.

You can use so many different woods to smoke with. Grape vines work great and impart a sweet flavor and smell and so does persimmon. We use cherry most often because we have a lot of cherry trees on our property. Hickory, too, but cherry is milder and I like it better.

As Arley said it works great to put something with a little more fat on it above something else. Pork butt above a pan of baked beans is fantastic.

Good luck with your smoking adventure. Have you smoked a fatty yet? Those are lots of fun. I'm sending a link to my favorite smoking site. Under QTalk you can access the weekly throwdowns they have. Really creative and fun stuff going on there.

Here is a link that might be useful: BBQ Brethren

Lyra, your broth recipe sounds amazing. Oh yeah, I had a chicken sandwich yesterday which was so good!

Caboodle, I'm putting pork butt and baked beans on my list of things to try very soon. Thanks for the link. I'll have some fun looking around!