Weber sells hickory smoking chips in a 0.7 kg bag, item number 17624. It is not a fuel. The chips give off little heat but smoke, once they begin to smoulder in a smoker box or on the embers. In our fuels category they therefore sit next to briquettes and pellets without having their job.
Our page lists the product under the name Weber Fire Spice Chips Hickory 700 g. We find this name neither on Weber’s product page nor in the Amazon title; both say hickory smoking chips (Räucherchips Hickory). The text therefore uses Weber’s designation. The 700 g also applies to one bag only, because the Amazon link on this page leads to a twin pack.
The basis is product page 17624 on weber.com, the smoking accessories category page, three Weber guides on smoking, the pages on the Weber smoker box, on the hickory wood chunks and on the chip blend for beef (item 17663), plus the Amazon catalogue, all retrieved on 12 October 2026. We have not smoked with the chips. What you read below about smoke and aroma is either Weber’s statement or an inference from how wood behaves, and which of the two applies is stated each time.
Two bags instead of one: what lies behind the Amazon link
The Amazon title ends in “Packung mit 2” (pack of 2), the unit count shown there is 2, and the weight is 1.4 kg. So two bags of 0.7 kg each are delivered, and Amazon lists them at €6.79 each. The catalogue photo shows two identical bags side by side, labelled “Hickory Wood Chips”. The price on our page, approx. €13.58 (as of 12 October 2026), applies to both together.
Amazon lists a single 700 g bag as a separate entry. When we retrieved it, it was marked as currently unavailable. In the Weber shop, hickory chips come in this one size only, 0.7 kg; you order a single bag there.
For one bag, Weber gives 32.5 cm height, 12 cm width and 17 cm depth; the Amazon catalogue has the same dimensions in inches. Next to them are two further sets of dimensions that contradict each other and these figures. We follow Weber. We have not found dimensions for the twin pack as a whole. According to the Weber page, the manufacturer is Weber-Stephen Deutschland GmbH in Ingelheim, while Amazon shows Weber-Stephen (Europe) as the manufacturer.
Hickory according to Weber: origin, aroma, suitable food
On the product page, Weber writes that the chips are made from natural wood types, including hickory (Carya Nutt.). The wood origin is given as USA/Mexico. The Amazon catalogue field Material names hickory wood, with no share given. Weber sums up the aroma in one line: intense and slightly sweet. As an example of food, it names a large piece of beef, along with the invitation to experiment with different smoking chips.
Weber gets more specific in its guide to smoking wood. The wood chart there rates hickory as moderate (sharp, smoky, with a bacon note) and lists pork, poultry, beef, game birds and cheese as food. Game in general is not in the row, only game birds. According to Weber, the overview comes from the book Weber’s Smoke by Jamie Purviance.
In the running text of the same guide, Weber warns that caution is needed with very sharp types such as hickory: too much of it can quickly smell like a campfire. “Moderate” in the chart and “very sharp” in the text do not quite fit together. We would follow the text and start with fewer chips than fit in the box.
The guide also recommends combining woods whose aromas complement each other, and names alder, cherry, apple and pecan for that. The longer the smoking phase lasts, the more intense taste and colour become: according to Weber, a short steak takes on less smoke aroma than a four-hour pork shoulder.
In detail: why wet chips steam first
Smoke forms when wood decomposes in the heat and the gases released in the process do not burn completely. This works from the outside in. Relative to its mass, a chip has a lot of surface, heats through quickly, starts smoking early and is used up early. Our guide Smoking on the grill sets a rule of thumb of about 20 to 30 minutes of smoke for chips and assigns them to the gas grill and short dishes. Chunks, fist-sized pieces, smoulder there on the coals for an hour or longer.
Water in the wood slows the start. As long as it evaporates, the heat goes into evaporating it, and the wood barely rises above 100 °C. It can only decompose, and so smoke, well above that. Wet chips therefore steam first; this follows from physics and is not stated by Weber.
At Weber itself, soaking is a matter of opinion. The gas grill instructions call for 30 minutes in water, the guide on extra smoke 20 minutes, and the article on smoking wood in general roughly two hours. The chips’ product page gives no soaking time. Our guide considers soaking unnecessary and advises dry chips in small portions that you top up as needed.
Do you need a smoker box?
On a gas grill you need a container: in its guides, Weber names the smoker box, a smoker attachment or a foil tray with perforated foil. On a charcoal grill you do not need one; there, according to Weber, the chips go directly onto the coals. According to Weber, the box can also be placed on the glowing coals or briquettes there.
Weber’s smoker box (item 7576) is made of stainless steel and costs €34.99 in the Weber shop (as of 12 October 2026, like all Weber shop prices in this text). Weber does not mention a box in the scope of delivery of the chips, and the Amazon weight of 1.4 kg corresponds exactly to two bags of 0.7 kg each.
The gas grill instructions describe the sequence for the gas grill like this: preheat the grill to at least 250 to 260 °C, put the chips in the box, place the box on the grate directly over a burner so that it is exposed to direct heat, and close the lid. Once enough smoke has developed, the food goes on the grate and the heat is lowered to 130 °C, which Weber gives as the ideal smoking temperature.
The alternative without a box is described in the guide on extra smoke. Soaked chips go into a foil tray that you cover with aluminium foil; you poke holes in the foil. The tray stands on the flavouriser bar over a burner at the back of the grill, and you turn this burner up fully. The food sits over indirect heat, the burner stays on, and you do not open the grill for at least half an hour.
What a kilo of hickory costs
The two Amazon bags together cost approx. €13.58. Divided by 1.4 kg, that gives €9.70 per kilo (calculated by us, Amazon as of 12 October 2026). In the Weber shop, one bag costs €8.49, and Weber works out €12.13 per kilo. Two bags there come to €16.98, €3.40 more than at Amazon. The same €16.98 appears struck through next to the offer on the Amazon page.
Axtschlag asks approx. €10.49 for a kilo of hickory chips (Axtschlag Räucherchips Hickory 1000 g). Per kilo, the Weber twin pack is therefore just below it; as a pack it costs approx. €3.09 more because it contains 400 g more.
As larger pieces, Weber lists the hickory wood chunks (item 17619): €11.49 for 1.5 kg, which is €7.66 per kilo. The wood origin is USA/Mexico, as with the chips, and Weber likewise calls the aroma intense and slightly sweet. For context on the price per kilo: apple wood chunks cost €11.99 for 1.5 kg (€7.99 per kilo), beech wood smoking dust €6.99 for 0.5 kg (€13.98 per kilo).
Chips, pellets or briquettes: the alternatives
| Product | Type and quantity | Price | Our rating | Choose this if |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weber hickory smoking chips (this one) | Hickory chips, twin pack 2 x 0.7 kg, calculated €9.70 per kg | approx. €13.58 | 8.5 | you want to smoke with hickory on a gas or charcoal grill and are happy to take two bags at once |
| Axtschlag Räucherchips Hickory 1000 g | Hickory chips, 1 kg bag | approx. €10.49 | 8.9 | you want to buy exactly one kilo bag |
| Traeger Hickory 9 kg | Hickory pellets, 9 kg, fuel for pellet grills | approx. €28.56 | 8.8 | you own a pellet grill and want hickory aroma there |
| proFagus Grillis Sommerhit Briketts 10 kg | Beech charcoal briquettes, 10 kg, provide the embers | approx. €30 | 9.4 | on a charcoal grill you first need the embers before adding smoke aroma |
Prices are guide values from our price boxes and change without notice; we retrieved the twin pack price at Amazon on 12 October 2026. The rating is our editorial assessment based on manufacturer information and price, not a measured result.
What Weber says about safety
The product page has no operating instructions, only the section “Warnhinweise und Sicherheitsinformationen” (warnings and safety information) with eleven statements. We give them in paraphrase and in full; read the exact wording at Weber.
- For outdoor use only (in capital letters at Weber).
- Instructions and further information are in the user manual of the respective grill.
- Store separately from heat-generating appliances and other fuel containers.
- Always wear heat-resistant barbecue gloves when operating the grill.
- Do not use highly flammable liquids such as methylated spirits or petrol to light or relight.
- Do not burn or let barbecue briquettes burn out in enclosed spaces, only outdoors, because there is a risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.
- Keep out of the reach of children.
- When lighting, do not breathe in the smoke and keep sensitive people away from the smoke.
- Only put food on once the briquettes or charcoal show a layer of ash.
- Store in a dry place and protect from heat and open fire.
- Extinguishing embers: with a closed grill, put the lid on and close all vents of the bowl and lid; with an open grill, wait until the embers have gone out and are cold, and only then dispose of them.
Two points speak of charcoal in their wording: the carbon monoxide warning names barbecue briquettes, and the ash layer applies to briquettes and charcoal, not to chips. As a general rule, not a statement from Weber: where wood smoulders, carbon monoxide is produced, so smoking belongs outdoors.
What Weber leaves open about these chips
On these points we found no information either on weber.com or in the Amazon catalogue:
- Grain or chip size in millimetres
- Amount per load in grams and number of loads per bag
- Smouldering or smoking time per load (the 20 minutes of smoking time from the gas grill instructions remain as a guide value)
- Hickory share in the bag, as well as additives or treatment of the wood (Weber only writes natural wood types, including hickory)
- Forestry certification such as FSC or PEFC for the hickory, and the country of manufacture (only the wood origin is given)
- Residual moisture, best-before date and whether the bag can be resealed
- Suitability for electric grills (only gas and charcoal grills are documented; before a first attempt we would ask the electric grill’s manufacturer)
Who the chips suit and when you should take something else
The chips suit you if you smoke on a gas or charcoal grill with a lid and want to try hickory first in short cooking times. For simply trying it out, though, the twin pack is in our assessment more wood than a first load needs.
If your gas grill still lacks a container, the €34.99 for Weber’s box is added to the approx. €13.58 for the chips, making €48.57 in total (Amazon price plus Weber shop price, excluding shipping). With a foil tray and perforated foil, which Weber describes as a substitute, this item drops out.
On a pellet grill you do not need the chips. There the pellets supply heat and smoke at once, and hickory aroma comes via the pellet type, for example with the Traeger Hickory Pellets. If you do not have a grill yet, the Grill Finder first settles the type.
For long cooking times, a pork shoulder over four hours for example, chips are in our assessment the laborious choice: you top up more often, and every opening of the lid lowers the temperature. Here we would reach for the chunks, that is, Weber’s hickory wood chunks.
For fish, Weber’s chart lists alder and pecan, not hickory.
