Those first burns run a half load of fuel, maybe 2 chimneys on the first one with the firebox vent closed to 1/3. The second burn maybe 3 chimneys, it will be hotter..I forget the temps but they are in the manual. 200 and 400? Its a chemical cure. The lignin in the wood will coat it when you season the rig. The problem with spraying a veggie oil inside the cc is that it doesnt really get hot enough to cure especially down low, so it rots and stinks, unless you really crank it up like cast iron if its even possible to get the bottom of the cc that hot.
How much wood? Well the TMV can burn pure wood or pure charcoal. The purists will get a charcoal fire bed going and put one small log or a couple of chunks on top of it. They use at least one chimney (5-6 lbs of charcoal). When its gone, if the wood coals havent replaced it they might add more as needed, but usually the fire can be tended such that the oxidize wood charcoal takes over and one new stick is added every so often. Thats for you to learn. I like to just use wood charcoal, which is a little bit of a hybrid idea along the same lines. Pure wood has a downside, that being when wood is used in larger amounts it also produces wood gas. Methane. And some other flavorful particles. If you are using small amounts of dry wood, the firebox combustion of the "small hot fire" cleans it all up pretty well since its only one stick or a couple of small chunks or even shavings. Those cooks will often foil after a few hours to soften the meat, and finish on coals, when it comes out of the foil and cant accept more smoke
For my tastes I will burn my wood down a bit before I expose meat to it. My fire will be a bit hot at first, because I will have collagen containing meats like ribs or butts in foil with spices. They cook in their own juices for a while before the fire settles in and the temps settle and the foil comes off. Maybe an hour or two depending on the meat. This does not produce a strong smokey flavor. I like layers of flavor, and foiling in the middle of a cook drives the smoke throughout the meat, where I have been flavoring the meat while foiled and then coasting it to finish with more of a external finish of smoke, bark and or baste. I dont do a lot of 12 hour cooks. I like to eat the same day I put the meat on. And I dont eat smoke anymore than I enjoy too much salt. Its nasty. So go easy with it until you find out how to make thin blue smoke.