Somene told me that I should soak my smoking wood (hickory, mesquite, whatever) or use green wood, and light a charcoal fire underneath the wood, rather than burning the wood itself. Has anyone tried this? I have always seen others just burn the actual wood itself, which is the reason green or soaked wood is recommended.

I have never heard of that. I wonder what the effect would be on the taste. I suppose it's worth a try though; seems like you would definitely use less wood that way.

Maybe I should consult my cookbook from Bobby Flay, the grilling expert.

That is what I do. I use a charcoal fire and then once the coals are hot, I place the soaked woodchips directly onto the coals. The wood will produce LOTS of smoke and will eventually lose its moisture and burn normally.

You get your best smoking when you lite the charcoal first and get the coals hot. Just before you put your food on the grill to cook add your soaked wood chips or green wood. Keep an eye on your grilling and when you see the smoke diminishing you can add more soaked wood chips or green wood.

I find that the big chunks of mesquite wood for grilling are nice and produce some flavor they are not as good as using the charcoal with the soaked wood chips or green wood.

How long does the fire last, normally? My fear in trying this was that the charcoal fire would burn out and I would have to re-light it at sometime during the process. Or does the wood simply burn on its own after that?