re: Meat Suggestions for the smoker?

Go with a butt, if you do chicken on an electric, put it in the oven at 325-350 for a bit after the smoke to crisp up the skin.

I honestly wouldn't recommend a butt for the first smoke, if only perhaps you haven't done one before? They're a very forgiving piece of meat, except for the time it will be finished. There are so many factors that determine when a butt is finished that you can't count on it to be ready for a certain dinner time.

I'd go with some brined chicken.

One nice thing about electric smokers is that most have a probe and will shut off when it hits your target temp AND won't run out of gas in the middle of the night like has happened to me.

When you do decide to tackle a smoked butt, here's a good read...

LINK

I've taken heed with the teachings in that page and have had great results. Notice the target temp for a butt is 202, which is higher than what some recommend.

There's lots of great recipes on that site if you click on the tab at the top. They're very good at explaining why things happen.

Here's another good read on how to smoke a turkey. I use it for chickens as well. Trust me, you're going to want to smoke a turkey in your new smoker.

LINK