I'm not advocating for pellets, but I do like the system.
I have friends who have traditional wood smokers. I have friends who have wood chunk smokers. All the food tastes great.
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Pit-Boss-Pit-Boss-Pro-Series-1322-sq-in-Mahogany-Pellet-Smoker/1000601259
I like it a lot.
I understand that many want real wood chunks. This one is not one of those. It uses manufactured pellets, available in 12#, 15#, 20# and 40# bags. But it suits me very well. I use about 250# of pellets per year running it most Sundays during the spring and summer.
It is a 5 shelf model, each shelf is a little smaller than the size of a typical oven shelf. So if you can fit something in your home oven it will probably fit in the smoker. I've done multiple racks of baby back ribs (shelf will hold 2) and multiple chuck roasts to make "poor man's" Burnt Ends at the same time without using all the shelves. Typically I smoke 2 to 3 chuck roasts at a time for my Burnt Ends, the chuck roasts are roughly 3# each. I can fit 2 to 3 of those per shelf. Not sure how many chickens I can fit in there but I'd guess at least 10 of them if I put 2 per shelf.
There is a water/drip tray at the bottom. That has to be filled when you start, if the smoker runs all day it may need to be refilled 2 or more times during the day ... depending upon the temperature at which the smoker is set. Obviously higher temps will require the water to be filled more often. The water tray holds about a 1/2 gallon, maybe a little more.
I clean out the ash and windex the glass door every 3 weeks or so.
Temperature control and smoke is controlled by a knob on the front. There are 2 temperature probes that plug into the front panel so you can monitor the internal temp of the meat. Sadly the control system has no alarm related to meat temperatures.
I actually use a separate thermometer with dual meat probes, dual temperature alarms, and a radio transmitter/receiver that lets me leave the smoker and as long as I'm within about 500' of the smoker the remote unit will show me the temp of each of the probes, and also alert me by alarm when each probe reaches the set temperature.
https://www.amazon.com/ThermoPro-Wi...prefix=thermometer+for+smokers,aps,247&sr=8-5
I also have a simple temperature probe that I use for double checks. Its handy for a lot of uses, has a beer cap remover on one end and a magnet on the back so it can stick to the front door of the refrigerator or the side of the smoker, etc.