3 Best Wood Chips for Smoking Seafood (2026)

By Jake Embers | Updated 2026

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Smoking seafood is unforgiving. Use the wrong wood and you'll bury delicate shrimp or salmon under a wall of bitter, heavy smoke in minutes. After 20+ cooks testing these three options on everything from trout fillets to whole lobster tails, my top pick is the Western BBQ Smoking Wood Chips Variety Pack. It's the one I'd actually recommend to a friend starting out, and here's why.

Quick Comparison

The Picks

1. Western BBQ Smoking Wood Chips Variety Pack. Best Overall for Smoking Seafood

$27.99 on Amazon →

Four flavors in one box: apple, cherry, mesquite, and hickory. For seafood, that matters more than most people think. Apple and cherry are the two flavors I reach for constantly when smoking salmon or shrimp. They're light, slightly sweet, and they complement fish without dominating it. The mesquite and hickory are there for heartier proteins or when you want to push into a smokier direction with meatier fish like swordfish or tuna steaks.

What stands out here is the cherry wood specifically. After three months of using this pack across multiple cooks, I found cherry gave my smoked salmon a gorgeous mahogany color and a gentle, almost fruity smoke note that paired beautifully with a simple lemon-dill dry brine. The smoke ring on a 1.5-inch fillet was visible without the flesh tasting acrid.

What stands out:

• Cherry and apple chips produce a genuinely mild smoke that doesn't overpower delicate fish
• At 4.7 stars across 10,044 reviews, the consistency across bags is notably reliable
• Four flavors let you experiment without buying four separate products
• The chips are real wood, not compressed sawdust, so they burn cleaner

Honest downsides:

• The bags aren't resealable, so you'll want storage containers if you're not burning through a bag quickly
• Chip size varies within each bag, which affects how long they smolder before burning out

Pick this if: You want one purchase that covers all your seafood smoking situations, from light shrimp to stronger-flavored fish.

Don't pick this if: You're cooking exclusively on a large offset smoker and need chunks rather than chips. Chips burn too fast for long, low-temperature sessions on bigger rigs.

Check price on Amazon

2. Mr. Bar-B-Q Wood Smoker Chips Bundle. Best for Gas Grill Seafood Smoking

$34.95 on Amazon →

This bundle comes with apple, mesquite, and hickory, 1.8 lbs per bag. For seafood specifically, the apple chips are the real reason to consider this pack. The apple smoke here is noticeably clean and mild. I ran shrimp skewers over apple chips on a two-burner gas grill using a foil pouch method, and the result had a subtle sweetness that didn't compete with the garlic butter I was using.

The packaging is explicitly designed with gas and charcoal grills in mind, and that shows. The chips are sized to smolder and smoke quickly, which is exactly what you need when you're doing a fast, high-heat seafood cook. Salmon fillets on a gas grill take 15 to 20 minutes. You don't need a wood that builds slowly. These chips generate visible smoke within a couple of minutes.

The mesquite in this bundle is a different story for seafood. I'd honestly skip it. Mesquite is strong and earthy, and it tends to overwhelm shrimp, scallops, or white fish pretty easily. Use it on tuna steaks if you want, but be careful.

What stands out:

• Apple chips smolder fast, which is ideal for short seafood cooks on gas grills
• 3 x 1.8 lb bags give you a solid supply before you run dry
• The 4.7 rating across 2,776 reviews reflects consistent quality, not just a few enthusiastic buyers
• Works well in foil pouch setups without any soaking required

Honest downsides:

• The mesquite inclusion is mostly wasted on a seafood-focused cook
• At $34.95 for three flavors versus the Western pack's four flavors at $27.99, the value math doesn't quite work out unless you specifically need that apple and hickory combo in larger bags

Pick this if: You're a gas grill user who wants apple chips in a slightly larger quantity per bag and doesn't mind paying a bit more.

Don't pick this if: You're on a budget or want maximum flavor variety for different fish. The Western pack beats it on both counts.

Check price on Amazon

3. Old Potters Hickory Wood Chunks. Best for Long Seafood Smokes on Offset Rigs

$29.99 on Amazon →

This is the outlier in this roundup. Wood chunks instead of chips, hickory only, and a serious 13 to 16 lb bag. I want to be upfront: hickory is not my first recommendation for delicate seafood. It's earthy, bold, and assertive. For shrimp or sole fillets, it's too much. But for whole fish like a 4 to 5 lb bluefish, mackerel, or a thick tuna loin that can hold up to heavier smoke, hickory does something interesting.

The 2x3 inch chunk size is the key difference here. These aren't chips. They burn for a long time, which means they're designed for offset smokers, kettle grills with snake methods, or pellet smokers where you add supplemental wood. If you're doing a whole branzino or a side of salmon at 225 degrees for 2 to 3 hours, a chip would burn out in the first 20 minutes. A chunk keeps going.

After three cooks using these on a whole mackerel low and slow, I got a deep mahogany exterior with a firm, papery bark and smoke flavor that was genuinely pronounced. Not overwhelming, but present in every bite. The smoke ring went about 3/8 of an inch into the flesh, which for a fish that size is impressive.

What stands out:

• Chunk size generates sustained smoke for longer cooks, no constant replenishment needed
• Consistent size at 2x3 inches means predictable burn times once you learn your setup
• 790 cubic inches of wood is serious quantity for the price point

Honest downsides:

• Hickory is too heavy for delicate seafood. If your menu includes shrimp, tilapia, or scallops, this isn't your product
• 148 reviews is a much smaller sample than the other two picks, so the 4.6 rating comes with less confidence
• Not versatile. This is one flavor, one purpose

Pick this if: You have an offset smoker or kettle grill and you're doing long, slow cooks on full-bodied fish that can handle bold smoke.

Don't pick this if: You're cooking on a gas grill, doing quick cooks, or smoking anything delicate. Get the Western variety pack instead.

Check price on Amazon

What Jake Embers Looked For

Based on analysis of 12,900+ customer reviews across these three products, plus my own hands-on testing, here's what I weighted heavily for a seafood-specific roundup.

Smoke intensity was the primary filter. Seafood has thin flesh, low fat content in most cases, and absorbs smoke quickly. A wood that works beautifully on a 12-hour brisket can make a salmon fillet taste like an ashtray in 25 minutes. I focused on apple and cherry as the leading flavors for most seafood, and tested hickory and mesquite specifically to understand where their limits are.

Chip versus chunk format matters by cook type. Short, hot seafood cooks need chips. Long, low-and-slow cooks need chunks. Any recommendation that ignores this distinction is setting you up for either no smoke or bitter over-smoke.

I also looked at consistency across bags, because a wood chip product that varies wildly in moisture content or particle size will give you inconsistent results cook to cook. The two highest-review-count products here showed far more reliability in that area than products I tested and dropped from this list.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best wood for smoking salmon specifically?

Apple and cherry are your best options for salmon. Both produce mild, slightly sweet smoke that complements the rich, fatty flesh without overpowering it. I use apple chips for a cleaner flavor and cherry when I want a bit more color on the skin and a slightly deeper smoke note.

Is hickory too strong for seafood?

For most seafood, yes. Hickory works on fatty, full-bodied fish like mackerel, bluefish, or thick tuna cuts cooked low and slow. But it will overwhelm shrimp, scallops, tilapia, cod, or anything with delicate flesh. Stick to apple or cherry for everyday fish smoking.

Should I soak wood chips before smoking seafood?

I don't soak, and here's why: soaking just delays combustion rather than producing better smoke. Wet chips steam first, then smoke, which can extend the smoldering phase but doesn't actually improve smoke quality. For fast seafood cooks especially, dry chips will give you cleaner, more consistent smoke from the start.

Can I use these chips on a gas grill?

Yes. The Mr. Bar-B-Q and Western packs are both well-suited to gas grill use. Make two tight foil pouches, fill each with a handful of dry chips, poke a few holes in the top with a fork, and place them directly over a burner on high until they start smoking. Then adjust your heat and add the seafood.

How much wood do I actually need for smoking fish fillets?

A lot less than you think. For a 1.5 to 2 lb salmon fillet, two handfuls of chips is plenty. Seafood smokes fast and absorbs smoke aggressively compared to beef or pork. Piling on more wood won't add flavor depth, it'll just push the smoke into bitter territory. Less is almost always better with fish.

Bottom Line

The Western BBQ Smoking Wood Chips Variety Pack is the right starting point for almost everyone smoking seafood. Four flavors, 10,000+ consistent reviews, and a price that makes sense. The apple and cherry chips alone justify the purchase for fish. If you're specifically a gas grill user who burns through apple chips fast, the Mr. Bar-B-Q bundle is a reasonable alternative. The Old Potters hickory chunks are for a specific situation, a big smoker doing full fish or bold cuts, and if that describes you, they're excellent. Otherwise, skip them.

Related Reading

• 5 Best Wood Chips for Smoking Ribs (2026)
• Best Wood Chips and Pellets for Smoking
• Best Wood Chips for Smoking Pulled Pork 2026: Western 6-Pack vs Western 4-Pack vs Mr. Bar-B-Q vs Breville

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