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.
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.
