You can go through that trouble and expense if you want to. But if the purpose is for smoking chicken or pork, why not just use apple? I've tried both and there's no difference in flavor I can detect, and around here in NH anyway there are apple orchards all over the place where you can go and pick up a trimmed off branch to take home and chop up. It's when you start using hardwood like oak where you start noticing a difference in flavor. Try dried apple soaked for an hour in water and make sure your marinade recipe has plenty of allspice and thyme.