I've been buying the same 1cuft bags of hickory and pecan from the store
for years. I wrap them in HD foil, put a tiny little 1cm slit in the
middle and all is usuallay OK. Sometimes I had a problem with them
catching on fire, but I assume that was too much airflow though the unit
(usually when I popped the lid).

But my problem lately is too much smoke. The smoke is just POURING...
BILLOWING out of that little hole. Way too much smoke. And then it starts
coming out of the folds in the foil, too, which were crimped and smashed
pretty well.

It is a new smoker - about 6-7 cooks on it. But it's the same model I
always use. And the bag of wood chunks were bought at the same time. I
figure the wood is just too dry, right? Anyway to tame it other than
trying to soak some of the smoker pieces? Large chunks of wood really don't
"absorb"" water, do they?

I finally found some of that those 40lb bags of Lazarri lump for $12. It
was a no-brainer to decide to but some. Oops, I forgot I wasn't supposed
to buy anything taxable at Restaurant Depot... but they ended up charging
me tax anyway. That's fine with me! I highly recommended restaurant depot
or any other restaurant wholesale outfit for anyone on a budget. Most of
the stuff is sold in small enough quantities and the savings are
incredible.

-sw