this is my first smoker. i had no idea what i was even getting when i ordered a traeger. a pal works there and i moved into a place with a lot of space and got me half off the Ironwood 650. I love it and would really recommend a pellet grill to start. It's _SO_ easy. you set the temp on the grill, forget it, and measure the temp of the meat.

so, get a meat probe. https://www.thermoworks.com/Thermapen-Mk4 is the best one, thermoworks also has probes that you can use the entire cook.

lumberjack pellets are considered the best and are a great deal @ dick's https://www.dickssportinggoods.com/p/lumber-jack-competition...

https://www.youtube.com/user/howtobbqright and https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPjkdaqksNWgA63aZfQ2bAQ are your mentors