Hola CW,
I'm located at the border of Richardson, and Plano, TX. I seldom get up to CO. much anymore since I no longer am able to hunt the big critters, but I could be enticed to come up there for some sausage, beverage and BS on the porch!
Since I have MOST of the vertebra in my upper back and neck fused, I can't carry the meat out like I used to. Now I'm relegated to hunting whitetail that I can get to easily, not to mention here in TX a 125 pound deer is a big one!
Brining, I seldom brine anything other than turkey when it comes to BBQ. The secret to anything BBQ from a moisture standpoint is prep and cook style.
I cook my birds at ~250° - 275°F until I get an internal temperature of 167°F in the thigh AND the breast. Even the breast meat on my birds comes out moist and very juicy. What's the secret? Don't cook over direct heat and prep the birds with an olive oil slather prior to rubbing. The olive oil seals in the juices naturally. By doing this you can literally cook chicken without any extra sodium.
For moist briskets and ribs, just follow the directions in my workbook and you'll have to put paper towels under the cutting board when you slice them up. Why paper towels? Because the juice will be running off of the board!
Another tip to getting BBQ that is not scorched, don't use ANY BBQ SAUCE until you are almost ready to pull it from the pit. I never put any BBQ sauce on my meats, I serve the sauce on the side. Now, I DO baste the meats with a mop sauce while they are cooking, and the mop sauce has olive oil in it. The OO will assist in keeping the exterior of the meat "sealed" so the natural juices stay inside. I also shy away from anything tomato or sugar based as a mop sauce since both of those critters tend to scorch and burn.
I'll post pics of the prep, cook, and final shots tomorrow as the day progresses. I'll start a new thread for that.
Oh, gonna make some Texas Smokey Links as well from the recipe that Blackriver posted last week.
Charlie