Smoking Wood Chips.
Real Wood Flavour for Every BBQ Cook.

The short answer is no, you do not need to soak wood chips. This is one of the most repeated BBQ myths and it has been debunked for years.

Wood needs to dehydrate before it can smoke, so soaking chips just delays the smoke production while they dry out. What you get is steam first, then eventually smoke. For most cooks that means inconsistent timing and a stretch of wet steam in your cooker that does not add flavour to the meat.

Use dry chips straight from the bag. If you want them to last longer in a chip box or smoker tray, wrap them in a foil pouch with a few holes poked in the top, this slows ignition without the soaking problem.

Yes, wood chips are specifically the right format for gas grills. Gas BBQs produce great heat but no flavour smoke on their own, so adding chips is the standard way to introduce smoke into a gas cook.

Use a smoker box or chip tray placed directly over one of the burners. Once the chips reach around 200°C they begin to smoulder and produce smoke. Most gas grills will smoke for 20 to 40 minutes per handful of chips, which is exactly what you want for shorter cooks like chicken, fish, sausages, and grilled vegetables.

For long cooks on a kamado, Weber Smokey Mountain, or offset smoker, chunks are the better choice. Chunks burn 1 to 3 hours per piece, which means you can load 2 or 3 chunks into your fire and they will smoulder steadily through the cook without needing constant reloading.

Chips on those same cookers burn out in 20 to 40 minutes, which means you would be opening the lid every half hour to add more. That ruins your temperature stability on long cooks.

Chips do still have a place on kamados and offsets, particularly for shorter direct-heat grilling cooks where a quick smoke hit is all you need. But for low and slow brisket, pork shoulder, or ribs, browse our wood chunks range instead.

Less than most people think. The smoke ring on the meat forms in the first hour of the cook, so adding chips after that point gives you diminishing returns. Most cooks only need smoke during the first part of the cook.

Rough guide:

Short cooks (chicken, fish, sausages, vegetables, 30 to 60 min): 1 to 2 handfuls of chips total.
Medium cooks (ribs, pork loin, 2 to 3 hours): 2 to 3 handfuls in the first hour, then stop adding.
Long cooks (brisket, pork shoulder, 6 to 12 hours): consider chunks instead, but if using chips, 3 to 4 handfuls across the first 90 minutes.

One bag of chips (about 1 to 1.5 kg) will typically last across 6 to 10 cooks depending on your cooker and how heavy a smoke flavour you prefer.

Both are quality smoking wood brands, the differences come down to range and pack format.

Western Premium is an American brand specialising in classic BBQ hardwoods (hickory, mesquite, pecan, apple, cherry). The chips are sized for chip boxes and gas grill use. Solid choice if you want the traditional American smoking woods.

Misty Gully is an Australian brand with a broader smoking range including oak, maple, and cherry. The 3L resealable bags are great if you want a flexible quantity rather than committing to a larger pack. Misty Gully chips are also popular for cheese, fish curing, and lower-temperature smoking.

If you are not sure which brand fits your cook, call us on 0434 010 411 and we will help you choose.

Yes, with two delivery tiers. Across Sydney metro we offer same-day or next-business-day delivery on smoking wood chips. Orders dispatch from our Wetherill Park showroom in Sydney's west.

For the rest of Australia, chips ship through our standard parcel service. Wood chip bags are light, so freight rates are reasonable. Pair chips with a bag of charcoal or pellets and we will combine the delivery, no extra freight on the second item. Pickup from the showroom is also available any business day.