The full guide
Read straight through, or dip into the sections that matter for your next smoking session.
Every food smoking question eventually becomes a wood question. The smoker is just the oven; the wood is the flavour. We mill and pack our smoking woods here in Cornwall, so rather than sell you mystique, here is the plain-English version of what to buy for what you cook.
Two decisions matter: the wood itself (mild fruit woods through to punchy hickory and mesquite) and the grade (fine chips for smoker boxes and stovetop ovens, coarse for the BBQ, dust for cold smoking). Get those two right and it is hard to go wrong.
The quick answer
- Fish and seafood: apple, alder or oak - gentle smoke that flatters salmon and mackerel instead of flattening them.
- Red meat and BBQ: hickory or mesquite for a big, classic smokehouse hit.
- Poultry and pork: cherry sits in the middle with a faint sweetness - the most forgiving all-rounder after oak.
- Not sure yet: start with a sampler and let your own kitchen decide.
Our smoking wood picks
Fine or coarse? Match the grade to the kit
Fine chips (7/20 grade) catch quickly and suit small chambers - stovetop smoking ovens and smoker boxes where the cook is short. Coarse chips (20/160) are chunkier and burn slower, holding their smoke through a longer barbecue. If you run a kettle BBQ with a smoker box, coarse is your grade; indoors on the hob, fine.
Match the wood to the food
Think of it as seasoning. Apple and alder are the light touch; oak is the dependable middle; hickory and mesquite are the heavy hand you want on brisket and ribs but not on a delicate fillet. Blending is half the fun - a little hickory through apple gives a rounded smoke that is all your own. Our which wood chips do I need? guide pairs every wood we stock with the foods it suits, and the deeper wood flavours guide walks through each flavour in turn.
Want the detail on one wood? Read our guides to apple, oak, cherry, hickory, beech, maple, alder and mesquite, or to the best wood for smoking fish.
Can't decide? Buy the sampler
The 12-flavour sampler pack is the smartest first purchase in the range: smoke your way through a dozen woods in small bags and find your favourite before committing to a big bag of one. The 10-flavour gift pack is the same idea in gift form - it has converted a lot of people's dads.
When dust beats chips
Cold smoking - smoked salmon, bacon, cheese - happens below 30°C, and chips will not smoulder that low. That job belongs to fine wood dust in a cold smoke generator. If that is the road you are heading down, our hot vs cold smoking kit guide covers the kit side.
Wood chip questions, answered
Should I soak wood chips before smoking?
We smoke ours dry. Soaked chips mostly steam before they smoke, so you wait longer for less flavour. If you want a slower burn on the BBQ, use the coarse grade instead of the watering can.
How much should I use?
A small handful in a smoker box or stovetop oven is plenty - you can always add more. Over-smoked food tastes bitter, and delicate fish gets there fastest.
How should I store them?
Somewhere dry, in the resealable bag. Damp chips smoulder unevenly; damp dust will not smoulder at all.
Browse every flavour and grade in the smoking wood chips collection - and when the first batch is ready, the treacle-cured salmon recipe is a lovely place to start.
Smoking kit to help at home
Home smoking essentials that make the advice easier to put into practice.
