Don,
first of all don't lose hope! I am a fellow single dude and often cook for myself. I have smoked salmon twice in the smokintex and have cooked chicken several times with great results - it sounds to me like you could really benefit from a probe-style thermometer. Here is what mine looks like:
It's a farberware digital lcd thermometer, and on the end of that wire is a probe:
And I just stick the probe into whatever I'm cooking for temperature monitoring. If I'm not sure what temperature I need to take something to, I just search on here or
Smoking-Meat.com and I can find out. The smokintex tells you to cook for a certain amount of time, but I have found that getting to a certain temperature is a smarter way to get consistent results. Especially factoring in the weather, since it takes longer at colder temps. It cost me 20 bucks at the grocery store and has been well worth it. I always stick the probe into the thickest part of whatever I am cooking. This particular thermometer has an alarm on it that you can set to go off when your desired temperature is achieved.
As far as chicken and salmon go - I have never actually smoked breast of chicken. Reading around these forums has taught me that you want to have a fair amount of fat in whatever you're smoking so that the meat retains moisture. I always just get some small whole chickens, 5 pounds at the most, and smoke them whole after emptying the cavity and rinsing. I rub a light coating of olive oil and then sometimes I put a mixture of honey and juice from the jalapeno jar, sometimes i use dry rub. Stick the probe in and smoke with wood of choice until it reaches the desired temp. Great every time.
for salmon, I always follow Jeff Phillips' smoked salmon process, which you can find on
Smoking-Meat.com. He brines his salmon then leaves it out to dry before smoking. This makes a sticky outer layer that keeps the moisture in when you smoke, but doesn't make the outside hard or crusty. Again, i use the probe thermometer to ensure proper cooking. One thing I like to do with my smoked salmon is about two thirds of the way through the smoke, open up the smoker and brush it with a mixture of honey and maple syrup then let it finish cooking.
The smell issue - the only cleaning I do on the smoker is I clean the racks after I use them. I also empty the firebox ashes out each time. I cover the bottom of the smoker with foil and from time to time I will replace it. Always make sure to poke a hole through the foil where the drain hole is in the smoker. If you have to bring yours inside like I do, I always wait a day or a night and let it cool off and everything, then close the door and bring it in, and put a glove over the top hole to minimize the odor. I have not cleaned the walls of the smoker or anything like that.
I really hope that helps. Let me know if you have any other questions and I look forward to your SUCCESS stories!
-Kevin