Wood Chips.
For Gas, Electric, and Smoker Boxes.

Chips are roughly fingernail to thumbnail sized (about 10 to 25mm pieces). Bags hold 3L by volume, which fits 6 to 8 standard handfuls. Sized specifically for gas grill smoker boxes, electric smoker chip trays, and foil pouches. Hardwood only, no softwood fillers.

Chips are designed for gas grills, electric smokers, and smoker boxes. They burn fast and need replacing every 10 to 15 minutes, which gives short, targeted bursts of smoke. Chunks are designed for charcoal grills, kamados, and offsets. They smoulder for 15 to 30 minutes each on hot coals and deliver sustained smoke without constant replenishment. Pick chips for gas and electric. Pick chunks for charcoal and kamado.

The soaking debate is more contested for chips than for chunks. The case for dry: dry chips ignite within minutes and produce clean blue smoke from the start. The case for soaking: lightly soaked chips slow the burn, useful for foil pouch methods where you want extended smoke time. Our recommendation is dry chips in a smoker box, and lightly soaked chips (15 minutes max) for foil pouches. Avoid heavy soaking, which produces steam not smoke.

As a general rule: mild fruit woods (apple, cherry, maple) for chicken, pork, fish, and ham. Medium woods (pecan) for pork shoulder, ribs, and poultry. Strong woods (hickory, oak) for brisket, beef ribs, and large cuts. The strongest wood (mesquite) is for beef brisket, dark game, and lamb. When in doubt, apple is the safest wood, and mesquite is the easiest to overdo. Blending two complementary woods (apple plus hickory, cherry plus oak) is a competition technique.

Depends on your grill and the length of the cook. As a starting point: short cooks (under 1 hour) use 1 handful in a smoker box. Medium cooks (2 to 4 hours like ribs) use 2 to 3 staggered handfuls. Long cooks (5+ hours like pork shoulder) use 4 to 6 staggered handfuls. Add a fresh handful every 30 to 45 minutes. Stop adding chips in the last hour, as the meat has absorbed all the smoke it will absorb by then.

Roughly 6 to 10 cooks per bag for most home cooks (using 1 to 2 handfuls per cook). Heavy electric smoker users who load chips every 30 minutes across multiple long cooks can get through a bag in 3 to 4 cooks. Light gas grill users running a smoker box on weekends can stretch a bag to 10 to 12 cooks. Stored dry, chips do not expire. Buying 2 or 3 flavours at once gives you variety without a stale-bag risk.