using the foil will not keep the moisture from escaping the meat, you are just reforming the moisture on the outside of the meat. in order to keep the moisture from leaving the meat, you have to reduce the heat application when the meat reaches the point that it wants to loose its moisture. make sense? this is the part that separates good q from awesome q. do you keep the heat cranking, and get her done, or do you back down the heat and let her take her sweet time...
there should be some sort of way to measure rate of mosture departure, so we could better control this. hmm
also, another theory is that the air around the meat is too dry when heated, and draws the moisture out like a thirsty tree. so if you keep the air cool(thus cold smoke) or at least keep the air wet(thus water smoker or pan of water in the smoker), the meat will turn out less dry, or even moist. thats where electric smokers come in.... they dont dry the air nearly as much as the gas/wood version.
