Asking for help for my first smoke

fireman03 said:

 
First off I have to say this website and the forums are such valuable information!! Glad I stumbled across it.  Going to go for my first smoke and just had a couple questions that I wanted to throw out there and get some advice on. 

I have the propane driven Masterbuilt 2 door smoker.  Only modification I have done is I have the cast iron skillet to use for the wood chunks and purchased a remote thermometer.

1. Should I smoke a Pork Butt?  Have read that it is the most forgiving with temp control.

Yes Pork Butts are forgiving since they have a lot of fat in them. They are a good go to first smoke.

2.  Do I use water or sand?? If sand what do people mean by wrapping it in foil? Replace the stock water pan?

You don't want water in a propane smoker. You can fill you water pan with sand to act as a heat sink. Most people cover the sand in foil to prevent it from getting full of grease.

3.  Have read that chunks are the best way to go.  To me soaking them doesn't make to much sense since they won't produce smoke that way but I could be way off too.  Do I burn chunks for the entire length of the smoke? Or just a few hours?? and how many should I put in the skillet??

You will have to do some test runs with your setup to see if chunks or chips work best. You are right about not soaking the wood. I would start out with one or two chunks (baseball sized) and see how much smoke they put off then go from there.

Think that might do it for now!!

Thanks in advance.

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