Always smoke with hardwood and never with softwood, the difference is that softwood comes from evergreen trees while hardwood comes from trees that lose their leaves in the autumn. Softwood burns faster and contains more moisture, and that produces black smoke. Use hardwood for clean smoke that tastes amazing! You can use any kind of wood chunks or wood pellets that you prefer in your smoker. For this recipe, we used apple smoked wood chunks. Each wood variety has its own unique flavor that you will love!