Best BBQ smoking chips: oak top pick, hickory value
Updated: 23 October 2026
You want one bag from this amazon.co.uk set. The best BBQ smoking chips in this capture are a listing result: the highest score is an oak bag with a whiskey scent claim, and the better weight for the money is an 800 g hickory carton. Neither score is a lab cook-off. The full rows, including the bags this page tells you to skip, are on the [smoking chips comparison](/hub/grill-accessories/smoking-chips). Peter F. checked the listing file on 20 October 2026, not a blinded tasting. A purchase through our links may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
You want one bag from this amazon.co.uk set.
You want one bag from this amazon.co.uk set. The best BBQ smoking chips in this capture are a listing result: the highest score is an oak bag with a whiskey scent claim, and the better weight for the money is an 800 g hickory carton. Neither score is a lab cook-off. The full rows, including the bags this page tells you to skip, are on the smoking chips comparison. Peter F. checked the listing file on 20 October 2026, not a blinded tasting. A purchase through our links may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Our top picks
| Badge | Product | Wood | Smoke claim | Pack weight | Note | Price | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall |  Weber Weber whiskey oak smoking chips, 700 g | Oak | Strong | 700 g | 9.4 | about £8.00 | View offer |
| Alternative |  Weber Weber hickory smoking chips, 700 g | Hickory | Strong | 700 g | 9.3 | about £8.19 | View offer |
| Best value |  Woodabrix Woodabrix hickory smoking chips, 800 g | Hickory | Not stated as mild or strong | 800 g | 9.0 | about £9.19 | View offer |
On this page
What the score is
The score is arithmetic on the amazon.co.uk line. Stars supply most of the points, and the review count supplies the rest. Weber whiskey oak reaches 94 from 4.6 and 3,516 reviews. Weber hickory reaches 93 from 4.5 and 4,120 reviews, the largest count and still a point behind. Woodabrix hickory reaches 90 from 4.5 and 520 reviews. Exstream is 4.2 from 46 reviews. Green Olive whiskey oak shows 4.4 from 212, the same figures as the apple ASIN, and the bodies match a title that says apple smoke chips. Ignore those whiskey comments.
Top pick, Weber whiskey oak
Weber 17627, ASIN B0167A9MQE, is 700 g of oak at about £8.00, about £11.43 per kilogram. The material line says oak and the scent line says whiskey. The bullets call the smoke strong for pork, poultry and beef, with or without a smoker box, and they do not give a soak time. This is the highest star-and-count score, which is why it leads. Reviews praise aroma on gas and charcoal, and also a small bag, a fast burn after soaking, a split pack, and no flavour on a Weber Pulse. Buy it for that scent claim and the deepest file. Leave it for mild fruit wood. The handful is set in how to use wood chips on a BBQ.
Best value, Woodabrix hickory
Woodabrix hickory, B08YWTDR14, is an 800 g carton at about £9.19, about £11.49 per kilogram. Weber hickory, B0167A9ULQ, is about £8.19 for 700 g, about £11.70 per kilogram, 4.5 from 4,120 reviews against Woodabrix 4.5 from 520. About a pound more buys about 100 g more wood and a much smaller file. That is why the carton is the value pick, not the top pick. Bullets say natural hickory for charcoal or gas, including a foil box, and a seller line of six to eight meals. Reviews praise sweet hickory, dispute the 3.2 litre volume, and one gas cook had no smell. If the wood is still open, use the smoking wood chips buying guide.
Who should buy a different bag
Weber apple, B0167A9RXC, is 700 g at about £9.01, 4.5 from 3,082 reviews, with a mild, fruity claim for fish, poultry and vegetables. The form field says Chunk while the title says chips. Reviews praise chicken and salmon, call it too mild for burgers, and report a burn of about 40 minutes after soaking. Buy it for the mild claim. Woodabrix cherry is titled 800 g at about £9.09, weight field 760 g, 4.6 from 259 reviews, with larger pieces and some chunks to cut. Exstream at about £7.49 is 360 g, about £20.81 per kilogram, 4.2 from 46 reviews, with a sawdust comment. Do not buy Green Olive whiskey oak on the collided apple reviews.
Common questions
Which bag has the strongest review file?
Weber hickory has the most reviews, 4.5 from 4,120. Weber whiskey oak has the higher score, 4.6 from 3,516, which is 94 against 93. Strongest file can mean either the count or the score. This page uses the score for the top pick and still shows you the larger hickory count so you can prefer it.
Is Weber whiskey the best hickory?
No. It is oak with a whiskey scent claim, not hickory. The hickory bags in this set are Weber 17624 at about £8.19 for 700 g and Woodabrix at about £9.19 for 800 g. The whiskey bag leads the score list. It does not lead a hickory tasting, because that tasting was not done.
Is Woodabrix better value than Weber hickory?
On grams per pound, yes, if you take the stated 800 g at about £9.19 against 700 g at about £8.19. On review volume, no: 520 reviews against 4,120. The value badge follows the kilogram price and the score, with the volume dispute and the thinner file as the limit. It is not a claim that the smoke tastes better.
Why not buy the £7.49 Exstream bag?
Because £7.49 buys a stated 360 g, about £20.81 per kilogram, which is the dearest wood in the set by weight. The listing is 4.2 from 46 reviews, and one UK review describes sawdust that vanished in under a minute. A low shelf price is not the best value when the bag is light and the file is thin.
Who should skip the Weber apple bag?
Skip it if you want a strong smoke for beef, or if you need the form field to say chip. The bullets say mild and fruity, and the form field says Chunk. Reviews that like it are talking about chicken and salmon. Reviews that do not are talking about burgers and a fast burn of about 40 minutes.
Can I trust Green Olive’s 4.4 from 212 on the whiskey oak?
Not as a whiskey result. Those figures match the apple ASIN, and the review bodies match, including a title that says apple smoke chips. Use that file for the apple bag if you use it at all. Do not quote it as proof that the barrel chips taste of whiskey. A high score elsewhere in the set is the same kind of signal: stars plus a capped review count, not a side-by-side cook.
Related pages
Sources
Public UK sources used for this comparison. Listing prices, stars, and review counts are from the amazon.co.uk captures for these eight bags. The score is not a laboratory taste test.
- Food Standards Agency — Cooking your food (retrieved 22.10.2026)
- Food Standards Agency — BBQ food safety (retrieved 22.10.2026)
- Food Standards Agency — Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (retrieved 22.10.2026)
- GOV.UK — Benzo[a]pyrene or PAHs (retrieved 22.10.2026)
- Codex CAC/RCP 68-2009 — reduction of food contamination (retrieved 22.10.2026)
- Wood Protection Association — do not burn treated timber (retrieved 22.10.2026)
- Weber UK — a guide to smoking (retrieved 22.10.2026)
- Napoleon UK — do you need to soak wood chips (retrieved 22.10.2026)