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Hickory vs apple wood chips for chicken, pork, fish

Updated: 23 October 2026

You have pork ribs or a chicken, and two bags that both say smoke. Hickory vs apple wood chips is a strength choice first and a brand choice second. Apple is the mild wood for poultry, fish and a light pork cook. Hickory is the strong wood for pork and beef, and too much of it is the usual failure. Prices and the other woods sit on the [smoking chips comparison](/hub/grill-accessories/smoking-chips). Peter F. checked seller pairing notes and the amazon.co.uk lines on 20 October 2026, not a blind tasting. A purchase through our links may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

You have pork ribs or a chicken, and two bags that both say smoke. Hickory vs apple wood chips is a strength choice first and a brand choice second. Apple is the mild wood for poultry, fish and a light pork cook.

Our top picks

Weber Weber hickory smoking chips, 700 g

Best overall

Weber Weber hickory smoking chips, 700 g
9.3/10about £8.19
View offer
Weber Weber apple smoking chips, 700 g

Alternative

Weber Weber apple smoking chips, 700 g
9.3/10about £9.01
View offer
Woodabrix Woodabrix hickory smoking chips, 800 g

Best value

Woodabrix Woodabrix hickory smoking chips, 800 g
9.0/10about £9.19
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.What the two woods are said to taste like
  2. 2.Chicken, fish and pork
  3. 3.The bags in this set
  4. 4.If neither wood is right

What the two woods are said to taste like

Exstream calls apple sweet and fruity for poultry, pork and ham, and hickory strong and bacon-like, easy to overdo. BBQ Smokers calls apple mild for chicken and pork, and hickory sweet to strong for pork, ham and beef, with too much tasting bitter. Apple can vanish under a heavy rub. Hickory can taste like a burnt rasher if the handful was too big. Review files are ranked on best BBQ smoking chips. A blend of two parts oak to one part hickory is a seller note, and the oak here is whiskey-scented, so keep the mix to one handful.

Chicken, fish and pork

For a whole chicken, start with apple unless you already like a strong smoke. Weber’s apple bullets say mild and fruity for fish, poultry and vegetables. Reviews praise chicken and salmon and call the same chips too mild for burgers. For pork ribs, hickory is the closer match. Weber’s hickory bullets say a strong, spicy smoke for beef, pork and poultry. A handful for about 20 minutes is the chip window. A mug at the start is the bitter result. Hickory on a thin fillet is easy to overdo because the fish finishes first. The dose is in how to use wood chips on a BBQ. Apple for chicken, fish or a light chop. Hickory for ribs, shoulder or beef.
Weber Weber hickory smoking chips, 700 g

Testsieger

Weber Weber hickory smoking chips, 700 g
9.3/10about £8.19
View offer

The bags in this set

Weber hickory, B0167A9ULQ, is 700 g at about £8.19, about £11.70 per kilogram, 4.5 from 4,120 reviews. Bullets say strong and spicy, with or without a smoker box. Reviews praise burgers and a gas box, and call the pieces tiny flakes. Buy it for hickory plus the largest file. Weber apple, B0167A9RXC, is 700 g at about £9.01, 4.5 from 3,082 reviews, and the form field says Chunk. Reviews praise chicken and salmon and a burn of about 40 minutes after soaking. Woodabrix hickory, B08YWTDR14, is about £9.19 for a stated 800 g, 4.5 from 520, with no mild or strong word and a disputed 3.2 litre claim. Green Olive apple starts mild, then talks about chunks.

If neither wood is right

Cherry is the other mild bag if apple’s chunk line puts you off and hickory is too strong. Woodabrix cherry is titled 800 g, weight field 760 g, at about £9.09, 4.6 from 259 reviews. The flavour field says chicken and pork. The material field only says wood. Weber 17627 is 700 g of oak with a whiskey scent at about £8.00. It leads on 4.6 from 3,516 reviews, not because it won hickory against apple. Green Olive’s whiskey oak reviews collide with the apple ASIN. There is no plain oak chip in this set.

Common questions

Which is stronger, hickory or apple?
Hickory. Exstream, BBQ Smokers and the Weber bullets call hickory strong, and they call apple mild or fruity. Strength still depends on the handful. A large dose of apple can taste dirty, and a small dose of hickory can stay in the background. The labels are a starting point, not a guarantee that every bag behaves the same.
What should I use on a whole chicken?
Apple, if you want a mild smoke. Weber’s apple bullets name poultry, and reviews in that file praise chicken. Hickory’s bullets also name poultry, so it is allowed, with the limit that the same guides call hickory easy to overdo. Use apple first on a plain chicken. Move to hickory if you want a stronger flavour and you keep the dose to a handful.
What should I use on pork ribs?
Hickory, in a small dose. BBQ Smokers and Weber’s hickory bullets put that wood with pork. Apple can sit on a light pork chop, and Exstream includes pork and ham under apple, but ribs are where the stronger wood is the usual match. Stop before the smoke is thick and white, or the ribs taste bitter rather than savoury.
Will apple show up on burgers?
Often weakly. Weber apple reviews praise salmon and chicken and call the smoke too mild for burgers. If the burger is the meal you care about, hickory is the closer wood. Weber’s 700 g bag has the larger file. Woodabrix’s stated 800 g has more wood and a disputed volume. Exstream’s £7.49 hickory is 360 g, so it is the dear one per kilogram.
Why is Weber apple labelled chunk?
The title, the item type and the highlight say chips. The item-form field says Chunk. Green Olive’s apple bullets do the same drift, from a mild chip line into chunk copy. You cannot tell the piece size from the star rating. Treat both as a conflict until you have the bag in your hand, and do not plan a long cook on the assumption that they are real chunks.
Can I mix the two?
Only as a small experiment. Seller notes mention two parts oak to one part hickory, and this set’s oak is whiskey-scented rather than plain. Keep the total to one handful. Cherry is the other mild bag if apple’s chunk line puts you off. Whiskey oak, led here by Weber at about £8.00, is a different strong wood, not the winner of this comparison.

Related pages

Smoking chips buying guide

Smoking chips

Best BBQ smoking chips: oak top pick, hickory value

Wood chips on a gas barbecue: one burner, lid shut

How to use wood chips on a BBQ: handful, soak, foil

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.

  1. Food Standards Agency — Cooking your food (retrieved 22.10.2026)
  2. Food Standards Agency — BBQ food safety (retrieved 22.10.2026)
  3. Food Standards Agency — Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (retrieved 22.10.2026)
  4. GOV.UK — Benzo[a]pyrene or PAHs (retrieved 22.10.2026)
  5. Codex CAC/RCP 68-2009 — reduction of food contamination (retrieved 22.10.2026)
  6. Wood Protection Association — do not burn treated timber (retrieved 22.10.2026)
  7. Weber UK — a guide to smoking (retrieved 22.10.2026)
  8. Napoleon UK — do you need to soak wood chips (retrieved 22.10.2026)