Wood chips on a gas barbecue: one burner, lid shut
Updated: 23 October 2026
The sausages taste like the oven. Wood chips on a gas barbecue work when they smoulder in a box or a pierced foil pouch over one burner, with the lid shut, for a short handful rather than a multi-hour fire. The listings are on the [smoking chips comparison](/hub/grill-accessories/smoking-chips). Peter F. checked UK maker guides and those listings on 20 October 2026, not a lab cook. A purchase through our links may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
The sausages taste like the oven. Wood chips on a gas barbecue work when they smoulder in a box or a pierced foil pouch over one burner, with the lid shut, for a short handful rather than a multi-hour fire.
The sausages taste like the oven. Wood chips on a gas barbecue work when they smoulder in a box or a pierced foil pouch over one burner, with the lid shut, for a short handful rather than a multi-hour fire. The listings are on the smoking chips comparison. Peter F. checked UK maker guides and those listings on 20 October 2026, not a lab cook. A purchase through our links may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Our top picks
| Badge | Product | Gas note | Wood | Pack weight | Note | Price | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall |  Weber Weber whiskey oak smoking chips, 700 g | With or without a smoker box | Oak | 700 g | 9.4 | about £8.00 | View offer |
| Alternative |  Weber Weber hickory smoking chips, 700 g | With or without a smoker box | Hickory | 700 g | 9.3 | about £8.19 | View offer |
| Best value |  Woodabrix Woodabrix hickory smoking chips, 800 g | Coals or foil smoker box | Hickory | 800 g | 9.0 | about £9.19 | View offer |
Box or foil
Gas has no coal bed, so the chips need a container. A smoker box is a metal pan with holes. A foil pouch is a double layer, a handful of chips, and holes so smoke leaves without the wood sitting in the flame. Weber’s UK method puts a box on the grate over one burner. None of these bags includes a box. Chips on the flavourizer bars flare, the lid comes up, and the smoke never settles. Soak timing is on how to use wood chips on a BBQ. Napoleon uses a short soak so chips survive preheat. Weber says soak a handful for 30 minutes and drain.
Heat and the lid
Weber’s UK article preheats to at least 250–260°C, sets the box over one burner, leaves the lid on until smoke builds, then reduces the heat. Napoleon keeps the burner under the box low so the wood does not ash in five minutes. Shut the lid once smoke appears. Weber calls about 20 minutes plenty, which is a handful, not a bag. A joint still needs a cooler zone: pouch on one side, meat on the other. Do not tip a hot box into a plastic bin. The Food Standards Agency’s 70°C for 2 minutes, or 75°C for 30 seconds, still applies.
When gas smoke has no flavour
Reviews on Weber hickory and Woodabrix hickory include a gas cook with little or no flavour, and the whiskey oak file includes a Weber Pulse with no smoke. Check placement before brand. The lid was shut for most of the 20 minutes. The pouch sat over a lit burner, not a cold grate. The dose was a handful of food-smoking chips, not dust and not a bitter cloud. Mild apple on heavily seasoned beef is a species miss, which is hickory vs apple wood chips. If lid, zone and handful are already right, the pieces may be too small or too wet. Change the bag. Chunks fit a small chip pouch poorly.
Which bags mention gas
A listing line is not a burner diagram, and the box is not in the parcel. Weber whiskey oak at about £8.00, hickory at about £8.19 and apple at about £9.01, each 700 g, say the chips suit use with or without a smoker box. Woodabrix names a foil box on the hickory carton, about £9.19 for a stated 800 g. Exstream recommends a box on the 1 litre hickory variant, 360 g at about £7.49. Buy Weber for the optional-box line and the larger files. One Pulse review reports no smoke. Buy Woodabrix for the foil mention and more stated grams. The 3.2 litre claim is disputed, and one cook had no smell. Skip Exstream as a gas bargain at about £20.81 per kilogram.
Common questions
Can wood chips work on gas at all?
Yes, if they smoulder in a box or a pierced foil pouch over one burner with the lid shut. Weber, Napoleon and Char-Broil all publish a UK version of that idea. They do not work as loose chips in the burner flame, and they are the wrong format for a multi-hour cook you leave unattended. Expect about 20 minutes of flavour from a handful.
Do I need a smoker box?
You need a container, not necessarily a branded box. Weber’s gas method uses a box on the grate. Char-Broil’s uses a foil pack with holes. None of these chip listings includes a box in the component line. A foil pouch is the fallback when you do not own a box, and it is what several of the bags already mention.
Where does the box sit?
Over one lit burner, not on a cold corner of the grate. Weber’s guide puts it on the grate after a preheat of at least 250–260°C, then you lower the heat once smoke shows. Napoleon’s guide puts it on the sear plate over a low burner. Follow the diagram for your own barbecue if it has one. Do not copy a four-burner layout onto a two-burner hood without leaving a cooler zone for the food.
Should the chips be wet on gas?
Weber’s gas article says soak a handful for 30 minutes and drain. Napoleon calls the soak optional and uses it so the chips survive preheat. Drain either way. A pouch full of water will steam before it smokes, which is one route to smell without taste. The longer argument between the brands is on the how-to page.
Why is there smoke but no taste?
The smoke often left through an open lid, or the dose was a few flakes, or the wood was too mild for the food. Reviews on Weber hickory and Woodabrix hickory both record a gas cook with little or no flavour, and one Weber whiskey review reports no smoke on a Weber Pulse. Shut the lid, put the pouch over a lit burner, and use a real handful before you change brand.
How long will one handful last?
About 20 minutes of useful flavour on Weber’s gas method, which that article calls plenty. It will be shorter if the pieces are dust, and it will not carry a pork shoulder for several hours. Char-Broil’s UK guide calls mesquite too strong for most foods, and points lighter woods at fish and chicken, oak or hickory at pork.
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)