It kind of depends. I use fist sized hunks of oak, pecan, and hickory. When split and cut in small hunks and stored in a warm, dry place, I will use them in 4 to 6 weeks. If they are larger pieces, it takes longer. They will dry relatively quick in the summer also but take longer in the winter.
Last year I cut a peach tree down and wanted to use the wood, I had a comp in like 2 weeks so I put some logs in my car for 2 weeks and they dried and worked well when I used them.
Burning green wood will produce cresote that will make the food taste nasty. Soaking chunks of wood in water is not the same thing as burning green wood.
I like to split and chunk mine up and put it in a crate in the garage to let it dry quicker. Seems like they dry out a whole lot quicker that way than in whole or large split log form.
I don't know how many people think about this, but I also use my sawsall or handsaw to cut the splits down to chunk size. I don't want all the oil off the chain saw bar on my smoke wood. Anyone else do that?