any leftovers that I have end up in the smoker... (little chief to be exact)

You can smoke the diggers but I prefer to cut them off and use in chowder.

this recipe is not a wet recipe that can be used for canning, it is a drying/dehydrating recipe that makes tender clam jerky

I cut the bodies in half or with larger clams in long strips.
brine them for an hour in a 3/1 brown sugar/kosher salt
rinse and lay out on paper towels and pat dry.
Lay the strips out on the smoker rack and place in one of the top two slots in the smoker away from the heat.
smoke for an hour or two depending on the humidity and temp and desired dryness
use 1 or 2 small pans of chips (apple or cherry).

not to much smoke or you cover up the flavor of the clam and not too much heat or they will get tough.

my son Jonah eats it like candy, he can't get enough once he gets started.