Look'n to start smoke'n

Shawn, welcome to SMF!  Glad you're here and looking for some advice.  Use the search feature of the site and you'll probably be able to find the answer to any questions you might have. 

About the only smoker that you can use right out of the box without any modifications is the Weber Smokey Mountain.  Great capacity and performance.  Not insulated for MN winter smoking but a welder's blanket and a few clamps solves that issue.   

Electrics are very popular, require almost no modifications, and work best with an AMNPS for long smokes (just type AMNPS in the search line and you'll quickly understand what it is).

Inexpensive offsets all require fairly extensive but easy to do modifications that work best when first assembled.  Since you are in MN, cooking wood is readily available. 

High end offsets and cabinets require no modifications and can be used year-round in MN conditions.

Have fun with your search and keep us posted what you get.

Ray 

  Good afternoon and welcome to the forum, from another hot day here in East Texas, and the best site on the web. Lots of great people with tons of information on just about  everything.

Gary