How to use wood chips on a BBQ: handful, soak, foil
Updated: 23 October 2026
The chicken is on, the lid is down, and the smoke is either missing or a thick white cloud. How to use wood chips on a BBQ comes down to a small handful, a soak decision the brands do not share, and a temperature check rather than smoke colour. This page is for a first cook on charcoal or with a foil pouch. The rows are on the [smoking chips comparison](/hub/grill-accessories/smoking-chips). Peter F. checked maker guides and the Food Standards Agency on 20 October 2026, not a lab cook. A purchase through our links may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
The chicken is on, the lid is down, and the smoke is either missing or a thick white cloud.
The chicken is on, the lid is down, and the smoke is either missing or a thick white cloud. How to use wood chips on a BBQ comes down to a small handful, a soak decision the brands do not share, and a temperature check rather than smoke colour. This page is for a first cook on charcoal or with a foil pouch. The rows are on the smoking chips comparison. Peter F. checked maker guides and the Food Standards Agency 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 | Soak on listing | Wood | Pack weight | Note | Price | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall |  Weber Weber whiskey oak smoking chips, 700 g | Not stated | Oak | 700 g | 9.4 | about £8.00 | View offer |
| Best value |  Woodabrix Woodabrix hickory smoking chips, 800 g | Not stated | Hickory | 800 g | 9.0 | about £9.19 | View offer |
| Alternative |  Exstream Exstream hickory smoking chips, 1 litre | Soak before use | Hickory | 1 litre; 360 g | 7.6 | about £7.49 | View offer |
On this page
How much to add
Start with a handful, not a heap. Weber’s UK guide talks about a handful or two for about 20 minutes. Smoke & Soil, as a seller rule of thumb, says a small fistful and 20–30 minutes. Green Olive’s how-to says thick white smoke tastes bitter. A full cup on a small kettle for four burgers smells like a bonfire, and the meat tastes of ash. A cupped handful beside the coals, or inside a pouch, is the amount these guides describe. Add a second handful only when the first has stopped and the food still has time under the lid. Chips smoulder. They do not cook the chicken. Piece size is in the smoking wood chips buying guide.
Soak or leave them dry
Soaking is a choice with a cost, not a rule you failed. Weber’s UK guide says soak chips for at least 30 minutes and drain them, and not to soak chunks. Napoleon’s UK article says soaking is not required, because water has to boil off at 100°C before the wood smokes, which delays the smoke and cools the box. Green Olive and Barbecuechef’s foil method also sit at about 30 minutes, then a drain. Woodabrix’s PDF says two hours and closed vents. Do not close every vent: that can stall a charcoal fire or push carbon monoxide into a covered space. Drain until the chips are damp, not dripping. Soaking does not turn sawdust into a chunk. Burner layout is on wood chips on a gas barbecue.
Charcoal and a foil pouch
On charcoal, set a drained handful beside the coals, or build the foil pouch Barbecuechef describes: a double layer of foil, about 10–12 holes in the top, on the coals or above a hot zone. If the pouch flames, put the flames out. Open flame burns the wood instead of smouldering it. Pine and other softwoods are out. Use hardwood sold for food. On a kettle, bank the coals to one side and keep the chicken on the cooler side with the lid on. Expect a thin smoke and about 20 minutes if the pieces are real chips. If the smoke is bitter, reduce the wood before you change species. The Food Standards Agency gives 70°C for 2 minutes, or 75°C for 30 seconds, in the centre. Smoke colour is not doneness.
When the cook is longer than the chips
Chips run out. Weber’s guide treats about 20 minutes as the chip window and points to chunks once the cook is an hour or more. A three-hour pork cook means lifting the lid for another small handful, and each opening drops the temperature. Reuse a pouch only while the chips are charred, not ash, and only for the same cook. If every reload dies in a few minutes, the pieces are too small, which matches the sawdust comments in this set. Switch to chunks, or keep chips for burgers and chicken.
Common questions
Do I have to soak the chips?
No. Weber’s UK guide says at least 30 minutes, then drain. Napoleon’s UK article says soaking is not required, because the water must boil off at 100°C before you get smoke. Pick one approach and keep the dose small. Soaking is not what makes a bitter cook safe, and skipping it is not what ruins a mild wood.
How long should they soak if I do?
If you follow Weber, Green Olive’s site or the Barbecuechef foil method, at least about 30 minutes, then drain. Do not copy a two-hour soak paired with closed vents. Drain until the chips are damp, not sitting in a pool, or you will spend the first part of the cook boiling water.
How many chips go on the coals?
A handful, or a small fistful if you are using the seller rule of thumb from Smoke & Soil. Weber’s guide allows a handful or two for about 20 minutes. A mugful on a small barbecue is already into the thick white smoke Green Olive warns will taste bitter. Add more only after the first handful has finished.
Why is the smoke thick and white?
Usually too much wood, a flare-up, or wet chips that are steaming before they smoulder. Green Olive’s how-to ties thick white smoke to a bitter taste. Put flames out, cut the next handful down, and wait for a thinner haze. Colour is a cooking clue, not a doneness test.
Why did the chips burn out in minutes?
The pieces were probably flakes. Reviews in this set describe chips gone quickly even after soaking, and one Exstream comment says sawdust vanished in under a minute. A 30-minute soak cannot enlarge a flake. Reuse only pieces that are still woody, not ash. For a cook of an hour or more, Weber’s guide points to chunks rather than a stack of reloads.
How do I know the chicken is cooked?
By the centre temperature, not by the smoke. The Food Standards Agency states 70°C for 2 minutes, or 75°C for 30 seconds. Use a probe in the thickest part, away from bone. A brown skin and a fragrant lid do not replace that reading, on charcoal or on gas.
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)