Welcome to the EGGhead Forum - a great place to visit and packed with tips and EGGspert advice! You can also join the conversation and get more information and amazing kamado recipes by following Big Green Egg to Experience our World of Flavor™ at:
Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Instagram  |  Pinterest  |  Youtube  |  Vimeo
Share your photos by tagging us and using the hashtag #BigGreenEgg.

Want to see how the EGG is made? Click to Watch

Chips vs. Chunks?

Options
Volgrill
Volgrill Posts: 15
in EggHead Forum
When do you use wood chips and when to you use chunks?  Also, opinions about soaking?
· Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Comments

  • QDude
    QDude Posts: 1,052
    Options
    Chips burn up too quickly.  Use chunks and there is no need to soak them in water.

    Northern Colorado Egghead since 2012.

    XL BGE and a KBQ.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • WeberWho
    WeberWho Posts: 11,027
    edited September 2015
    Options
    Chips work good for lighter cooks such as chicken, fish, etc. that absorb smoke easily  

    Chunks work for longer heavier cooks such as ribs, brisket, butt, etc that take longer to absorb heavier smoke
    "The pig is an amazing animal. You feed a pig an apple and it makes bacon. Let's see Michael Phelps do that" - Jim Gaffigan

    Minnesota
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • SmokeyPitt
    SmokeyPitt Posts: 10,490
    edited September 2015
    Options
    It really doesn't matter which you use, but I like to use chunks for longer cooks mainly.   I like to have some chips on hand for shorter cooks so you can control how much smoke you add.  For example, if I am grilling direct I just throw a handful of chips through the grate before I put the food on.  Chips will work fine for long cooks you just have to use more of them, and it is usually more economical to go with chunks. 

    Which came first the chicken or the egg?  I egged the chicken and then I ate his leg. 

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Darby_Crenshaw
    Darby_Crenshaw Posts: 2,657
    Options
    use either.  chips don't burst into flame  it isn't possible.  so no need to soak (whether chips or chunks).

    chips won't burn up faster either.  a fist sized chunk and a fist sized handful of chips will produce the same amount of smoke.  and i'd go so far as to say that one chunk is riskier than the same amount in chip form (because the fire can move away from the chunk).

    really, wood is wood, and either works.  mix them into the lump toward the middle, and up and down vertically.  gives the fire better chance to find it.
    [social media disclaimer: irony and sarcasm may be used in some or all of user's posts; emoticon usage is intended to indicate moderately jocular social interaction; the comments toward users, their usernames, and the real people (living or dead) that they refer to are not intended to be adversarial in nature; those replying to this user are entering into a tacit agreement that they are real-life or social-media acquaintances and/or have agreed to or tacitly agreed to perpetrate occasional good-natured ribbing between and among themselves and others]

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • JethroVA
    JethroVA Posts: 1,251
    Options
    I use chunks because I have land with hickory, oak and maple on it that I can easily cut into chunks.  I even toss on couple of chunks on top of my weber when I'm doing a quick gasser grilling. 
    Richmond and Mathews County, VA. Large BGE, Weber gas, little Weber charcoal. Vintage ManGrates. Little reddish portable kamado that shall remain nameless here.  Very Extremely Stable Genius. 
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Categories