I, personally, love the convenience of chunks. No special grate, no soaking, etc. The best feature of these smokers is convenience in achieving quality results, and I find chunks allow that. The chunks smoulder for the right amount of time, and there's no reload required. The hickory dowels from Smokin-It are awesome, and they're talking about adding some additional woods. I have apple, cherry, and peach from Fruitawood.com, and they work well, tool. My only problem with their chunks is the size; they are generally too big for our smoke boxes. I've had to re-size them to fit. Quality wood, though. Stay away from the big-box store brand woods; they are typically too dry for our smokers (they'll flare-up and burn instead of smoulder).