Tomorrow, I'm pulling out a pork shoulder and a rack of baby back ribs for the smoker. Gonna take a couple days to thaw out, but it's time to get smokin'. 
I use a fairly inexpensive Weber Smokey Mountain smoker. I use chunk charcoal, though I've read lately on America's Test Kitchen that the natural chunk charcoal doesn't last as long as briquets -- something I've experienced. I never use liquid starter, favoring paraffin lighting cubes or something similar in a chimney. On a pork shoulder, I keep it simple. Just salt and pepper usually, though a scant amount of a homemade, mix-up-some-stuff is not an impossibility. If I'm feeling especially jaunty, I may brine the shoulder -- but not this time.
I use a fairly inexpensive Weber Smokey Mountain smoker. I use chunk charcoal, though I've read lately on America's Test Kitchen that the natural chunk charcoal doesn't last as long as briquets -- something I've experienced. I never use liquid starter, favoring paraffin lighting cubes or something similar in a chimney. On a pork shoulder, I keep it simple. Just salt and pepper usually, though a scant amount of a homemade, mix-up-some-stuff is not an impossibility. If I'm feeling especially jaunty, I may brine the shoulder -- but not this time.
