Well all I have is Walmart wood chunks and what I do is soak in hot water for 30 mins and so far has worked great for me. Before you ask why hot water? No reason it's just what I do.
I will check out the websites on other wood. But have to ask how long will wood from a good place sit around before it dries up? And can you tell the difference in smoke and flavor?
Thanks again!
John, that is "traditional" thinking, on wood. Take dry wood, and soak it in water. You cannot rehydrate wood that fast; it takes days, or even weeks, to rehydrate dry wood. What you are doing is just delaying the wood from getting hot enough to smoke, which wastes valuable smoke time! With our smokers, the sooner you get the wood smoking, the better. We start with cold meat, in a cold smoker, and the goal is to get the smoke into the meat before it hits about 140 internal temp. Unfortunately, your technique will never do that.
Once you use a real "quality" wood, like Smokinlicious.com, you'll understand what I mean. Well-seasoned wood, with the proper moisture content for smoking (20-30%) is a great thing! The stuff you buy at the big box stores is usually <2%. You would be better off wrapping it in foil, instead of soaking it.
Oh....use the hickory that you have for the chicken!
But, order some cherry from smokinlicious!