Something I have found critical to good tasting food from an electric smoker is knowing what weight the wood is. This style smoker is are very efficient at producing good smoke. As such, I weigh my wood and cut/chop it into 1 and 2 ounce pieces. I have found that with chunk hickory, 2 ounces produces a very smokey end product while 1 ounce is subtle and best for those who have never experienced smoked BBQ sans sauce. On a full load of meat, I will bump it up to 3 ounces. For my taste, I have found 4 ounces to be a tad too strong. This is for hickory. I will need to experiment with different woods, same weights, and adjust the quantities based upon the strength or mildness of the wood. And I make sure the wood is dry and without bark. The scale I use is an OXO digital.