Just got my first smoker

[MileHighGrowler]

(01-31-2021, 04:40 AM)Benton Wrote: I've done them both ways and prefer unwrapped. I alternate between spraying it with apple cider and sundrop one time, then smearing on some butter the next.


I tried a couple without rub. It does effect the flavor, but the bigger issue was the moisture. The ones without rub were a lot drier. I dunno the science of it, but rubs help keep the moisture in, which is a big part of cooking anything slow.

I think the salt in a rub is probably the key to the moisture being better when a rub is used.  There's plenty of science on why a brine produces more moisture than no brine, but essentially the rub acts like a brine and so ends up helping keep the meat more moist than if there was no rub.  

I don't know for sure, but I also suspect that a good bark helps hold moisture in the meat as well as it forms somewhat of a "casing" around the meat.  The rub will definitely help with bark creation, though the actual elements of the rub will determine how.