Indirect moist heat smoking is a great slow-cooking process that produces an incredible, tender and easy end result, the meat falls apart, Considering the end result requires 12 hours, it is not for the fainthearted, but the lucky thing is, it is perhaps one of the easiest as far as prep work, and one of the oldest. An unusual side benefit is that the meat keeps longer, and if fully smoked, can be used to flavor other dishes. For those who don't have the patience, take heart, you can do your prep work, smoke say, an entire Pork Shoulder or raw ham 3-5 hours, and then cut it up and cook it until it shreds in a crock pot, saving the flavor of the smoke in the meat.
I'd like to mention that I do my smoking in a similar fashion to the old Caribbean jerk system, using a simple salt/sugar/chili powder/pepper/hot pepper rub which is held onto the outside by a light coating of molasses. It should be said that the wood used adds an enormous amount to the meat, Apple wood, mesquite add a simple flavor, and hickory or oak add a stronger, pungent taste. In the Caribbean, green allspice is used, here in the US, pecan is a similar choice, but every area has it's own choice of local wood. When learning o smoke, remember that less spice is better, and get a thermometer to take internal meat temp, the correct internal temp is 165-175 F, so a correct cooking temp is much lower than grilling, between 220-260 F.
One thing to recall is this, grilling is fun, barbecuing is a masterful skill, but smoking/jerking is the easiest method, and so it is understandable that those early settlers in the islands began jerking meat to sell to passing ships. These early cooks, as well as their grills, were called Boucaniers, the French term for those who hunted with large, wicked looking knives called boucans, which were often made from broken maritime cutlasses.
It should be remembered hat the Spanish, who wanted absolue control of all islands and trade in the Carribean, ran these merchants out onto ships, where they took their skills with knives and cutlass to a new direction, becoming Pirates, or, as we have anglicized the French term, Buccaneers.