C & B,

My smoker that I've used for years has an offset fire box so it cold smokes essentially. I never buy chips, I just split up some alder with no bark on it and build a mini fire in the fire box using lighter fluid. Once its burning decently, I kill the oxygen to it until it is down to a smolder and then open a little oxygen back to it. 3-4 hours of pure cold smoke followed by an hour in the oven at 180 is perfect. Split alder turns out great, is easy to come by, and free. No need to use anything else. I've tried apple, hickory and mesquite and don't feel there is enough difference to make it worth while. Plus, with apple, its a real pain to try and get the bark off.

One other thing, I have found that if you throw it in the fridge for 2-3 days before freezing it or serving it up, it absorbs more of the flavor into the meat and is 10 times better than the day of the smoking.