First time smoker.... can't get any smoke?

[mike3891]

Bought the masterbuilt 44 inch smoker. Never smoked before but we loved it when our friends did so got one for ourselves. I grabbed a bag of the kingston wood chips when I bought the smoker. I can't get a good smoke though. I got very minimal smoke at all out of them. I've had it at 300-350 degrees for hours and tried putting it on my regular grill first at 400-500 degrees and barely get anything. Not even enough smoke for the burner door to fill up and only a few mins of smoke. I switched the chip try out for a cast iron skillet. Didn't even try the tray based on what I read up on before even buying it. The chips just go black after a while. Any ideas?

 

[noboundaries]

I don't have a propane smoker, but I'd try wood chunks instead of chips. 

The reason I say so is I use wood chips in my charcoal grill for short smokes, 20 minutes or less.  For longer smokes I use chunks, and can go for hours when I do so. 

 

[mike3891]

I'll have to try the chunks. Eventually I tried using the original chip pan instead of the cast iron like most people say to use and I got smoke. Definitely doesn't last long and when I add more it takes forever to start smoking.