What have you smoked lately? Q-view...

Just before Thanksgiving, wanted to smoke some snacks to take to my Mom's....did a Spiral ham, couple pound of mixed nuts, and I usually throw on some red taters just because. I rub a little EVOO on the taters, some seasoning, and pull them out when the main course is done. Sometimes they're not cooked all the way through, but can always be finished off when you decide how you want to cook them. I either chop and fry up, or finish off as a baked tater...red taters cook quicker... Good stuff.

Smoked some white bass yesterday on my pellet smoker.  When I got finished, I cooked a venison roast on the same grill.  300 degrees for 20 minutes, then down to 275 for another 20 minutes and it was a little overcooked on the outside (I left the char vent open a little, which I shouldn't have), but was perfect on the inside. Wish I took pictures, but I always forget to do that!

Edit: here's one of the white bass before I ate it.

3 racks of seasoned baby back pork ribs came off the Traeger the other day.

Finishing a batch of Canadian Bacon today. Always nice to have on hand for breakfast sandwiches, pizza toppings etc.  

Alderwood smoked pickled eggs.

I’m on my second master built electric 40”. 
 First thing I would recommend is getting a pid and some type of smoker box.
You could join smokinmeatforums and get any answer you can ask. There are many pros. on this site. 
 The nice thing about a pid is it will keep your heat within a degree or two of your set temp. No temp spikes.
 if you go electric. You need to realize they work like an oven. You can get a + or - of 15o when it turns on and off. I wouldn’t count on the factory probes for accuracy.
 More than happy to help out. 
In the pic is my plug and play pid. The smoke box I put in a mailbox and connect it to the inlet for the smoker tray.  This can be lit at both ends for heavy smoke for about 6hrs. Or just one end for about 12hrs. 

Honey BBQ snack sticks. Two batches of jerky. Smoky Hickory and Honey BBQ. As you can see the wife is partial to the Honey BBQ flavor. 

Birdboy-  Agree about prime rib on a smoker. Hard to beat.. Looks like you were feeding a small army  

Prime rib is always a winner. Prime rib smoked and slow cooked in a Traeger is life changing. 

Go-Fish-   I don't personally have a Master Built. Just mentioned friends/family members have them . The buddy I mentioned with the "heat control issues" has an analog unit.  I have the Smokin-It brand. One of the reasons I selected this brand is that it has an insulated box and holds temps well in winter and it is a true 'set-it..forget it" type set-up. It is a higher end priced unit..

Good luck getting a unit that fits your needs/price points.

I also have a ninja woodfire grill/ smoker it pellets load from the side and empty from the same little basket for pellets /ash it is like a small oven you are limited to say what you want to smoke you can google this item for more information i got this for different reasons also.

Hey guys, thank you for the replies.  I did some research before I posted my request for recommendations.   I considered both the Master Built and the Bradley auto puck loader so I could get a unit that you didn't have to open the door on.   But, I have read the ash left in the smoker with a new wood load on top will cause bitter smoke.  So if that is true, I will still need to open the door to empty the ash out of the tray so the "Set it and forget it" or load without opening the door feature is something I think I need to forget.     
That being said, the Bradley pucks will add cost and more importantly take my apple tree chunks out of the picture.  The Master Built unit seemed to be the one I was going to buy and just open the door to dump ash when I load chips but there are a lot of reviews on that unit saying the digital control mounted on the top fills with moist smoke through the wire feed hole and shorts it out and before that happens, it is pretty inaccurate.   Maybe the analog version of the Master Built is the way to go?     Maybe remount the digital control on the side of the unit away from the wire feed hole? 
So I haven't pulled the $300 trigger on the Master Built yet.     Maybe I am over thinking this, 50 years ago I smoked in a pine box that I made that looks a lot like WWYH's cold smoker below.  It had a hot plate in the bottom and a cast-iron fry pan with apple chips from my tree.    I smoked a lot of trout and salmon in that unit and they turned out great, but I was always worried a smoldering chuck of wood would start the whole thing on fire....    
Pap, Kona and Fowler, thank you for your input, do you have the digital or the analog Master Built?   
Does anybody use the chip auto load features without dumping the ash?    
Thanks, Go-Fish

I own the master-built no problem the issue u need to remember  in cold weather do not open the door as much makes for a harder heat build up compared tonormal tempetures.

Go-Fish-   I have a couple friends/family members who have Masterbuilt units and they are OK with them. One of my buddies has mentioned he has had issues smoking in really cold weather (holding temps etc) but the Master Built might fit your needs/price range

I've been using the electric Master built for years purchased @ Cabelas. Doesn't get regular heavy use but no complaints from me.
I like the remote and temp probe options. Haven't noticed any uneven temps. Mine uses the chips vs the pucks. I probably Average once an hour for adding smoke chips. Not a fancy unit by any means but does a great job.

Go-Fish, I have a 6 rack Bradley digital smoker. I am not happy with its design and function. The heat in the cabinet is uneven, the heating element is undersized and the cost of the Bradley brand pucks for smoke is a bit pricey. I’ve added a circulation fan to help with the uneven heat. When it’s below 45°F I smoke in it to get smoke flavor and then move the product to the house oven to finish. I do summer sausage, snack sticks, ring bologna, smoked kielbasa as well as a few other smoked type sausages and fish. Bradley has come out with a few new models since I bought mine 4 years ago. They are more designed for meal size servings than bulk sausage. I’ve considered replacing the Bradley and have looked at some other smokers. Masterbuilt and PitBoss have vertical cabinet types that are reasonably priced, would do sausage products, fish and meal sized portions of ribs, pork butt, brisket or fowl. Those are $350-700 dollars. The next step up would be brands like ProSmoker and several others in that $1,800-3,000 price category. For now I’m holding on with the Bradley I have. ​