Smoking chips are the cheapest flavour upgrade in outdoor cooking: a fistful turns a kettle BBQ into a smoker and a gas grill into something far more interesting. But technique decides whether you get delicate blue smoke or an acrid grey cloud. Here’s the method.
To Soak or Not to Soak
The great debate, settled: soaking delays smoke rather than improving it. Wet chips must dry before they smoulder, steaming first and smoking later — on a fast grill cook they may barely smoke at all. Dry chips smoke immediately. Where soaking does help: very long cooks, where it slows the burn rate of each handful. Practical answer: dry for most cooks; a 30-minute soak only for multi-hour sessions with chips added in stages.
The Foil Pouch Method (Any Grill)
- Take a generous handful of chips — hickory, beef & lamb or poultry & pork blend
- Double-wrap in foil, fold into a flat parcel
- Pierce 6–8 holes in the top with a skewer
- Place directly on the coals (or above a gas burner)
- Smoke starts in a few minutes; the parcel paces itself for 30–45 minutes
Timing: Smoke Early, Not Late
Meat stops absorbing smoke flavour once its surface heats and dries — the first half of the cook is when wood matters. Add chips when protein goes on, not when you’re peeking at hour three. Poultry and fish: gentler wood and less of it, per our pairing guide.
How Much Is Enough?
Two generous handfuls for a standard BBQ session. More is not better — oversmoking is the most common beginner error, and it’s why strength-matched blends exist. You want the smoke you notice, not the smoke that announces itself from the street.
The Heat Beneath
Chips smoke best over a settled charcoal bed — lump for heat, briquettes for endurance (the trade-offs: charcoal vs wood). Everything ships from the BBQ shop, with more technique in our guides.