Hey Cody, welcome to SMF! Glad you are here. Sorry for the 2 day delay getting back to you. Soooo busy.
For a first smoke the common wisdom is to start with something relatively inexpensive, very forgiving, yet still delicious. By far the most forgiving cut of meat on the planet is the pork butt/shoulder, either bone-in (more flavor) or boneless. You can throw it on a smoker at any chamber temp between 225F to 350F and the end result will be just about identical. The only difference will be the time involved to get it to the table. An 8 lb pork butt smoked at 225F can take up to 16-20 hours. At 300F it can be ready in 7-8 hours. Milder fruit woods like apple, cherry, peach, or pear go well with pork. Pecan works nicely too. Heck, even strong woods like hickory work but can be overpowering if too much is used. There are a ton of threads here about smoking styles for the versatile pork butt/shoulder. Bottom line, the meat is so forgiving don't sweat chamber temp swings above 225F. Target internal temp is 200F-205F.
Chicken is a fast, easy smoke, especially dark meat cuts like leg quarters. Leg quarters are highly recommended and easier than say a whole chicken. Poultry likes high chamber temps, 325-350F, to get a crispy skin. Or you can smoke it at a lower temp then crisp the skin up on a grill. Just make sure the internal temp on the meat is 165F or higher when done. Chicken can take on a lot of smoke flavoring so again the milder woods work nicely for a first smoke.
The easiest and fastest meat you can smoke is sausage of just about any type. Brats are great smoked! Sausage holds up well at any chamber temp with any wood type, strong or mild. 165F internal temp or higher is your target.
Have fun and keep us posted on what you do.
Ray
