Learn how to make smoked chocolate chips fast and easy!
Smoked Chocolate Chips can be made in ANY grill or smoker because we actually cold smoke them using a device called a pellet tube smoker!
Let's Go!
Much like smoking cheese and nuts, smoking chocolate brings out some incredible depths of flavor that can take your desserts and baked goods to an entirely new level.
Whether you are making smoked chocolate chip cookies, chocolate chip muffins, cheesecake, or even putting them in some pancakes, having a jar of smoked chocolate chips on hand will up your game considerably.
Thankfully it is super easy to make a big batch of smoked chocolate chips all at once and then store them for use later!
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Equipment
You will need a grill or a smoker outdoors somewhere, but it does not matter what kind because we are not even going to turn it on!
We just need a safe, ventilated chamber to cold smoke our chocolate chips.
Keyword being: COLD
A Cold Day
Chocolate starts melting at around 86°F so you need to pick a relatively cold day (or colder time of day) to smoke your chocolate chips.
Keep in mind even if it's below 86°F outside, direct sunlight beating down on your grill or smoker can quickly raise the temperature inside the chamber much higher.
So unless you are doing this in the cold winter months, aim to smoke your chocolate in the early morning or evening when you will likely be out of direct sunlight.
Another hack on milder days to keep the chocolate chips cold is to place them in a foil pan on top of another foil pan filled with ice.
More on that below. Let's talk about what tools you will need to cold smoke the chocolate chips.
A Pellet Tube Smoker
By far the easiest device we've found to use when cold smoking anything, whether it's chocolate, cheese, nuts, etc. is a pellet tube smoker.
Yes, you can try using a smoker box filled with wood chips on a gas grill with only one burner barely lit, or by lighting a single piece of charcoal far away from the chocolate and placing a wood chunk on top of it.
You will see these suggestions in other places, and they work OK for cold smoking things with higher melting points like cheese and obviously for smoking nuts.
Unfortunately, even one lit burner or charcoal briquet can be enough to make the cooking chamber too warm for chocolate chips.
This is why we choose to go with the pellet tube smoker.
You can check out a selection of our Favorite Pellet Tube Smokers here.
For our smoked chocolate chips we used this LizzQ model and had great results.
We'll get more into how to light and use the pellet tube smoker below.
- ✅ This accessory is designed to WORK IN ANY GRILL (gas, electric or charcoal) and with any smokers. It ADDS GREAT FLAVOR for your meat or fish and exposes them to a tasteful smoke of smoldering wood. Perfect for smoke cheese.
- ✅ The pellet smoker can produce smoke for UP TO 5 HOURS SMOKING which is perfect for both hot and cold smoking pork, ribs, cured meat, hot dogs, sausages, chicken, cheese, lamb, fish, nuts, fruit, corn, bacon and mo
Another way to infuse real wood smoke flavor is to use a Smoker Box. You can watch our video on how to light and use this box HERE.
Wood Pellets
You will also need some wood pellets, not chips, to light up in your pellet tube smoker to create the smoke.
Unlike wood chips, wood pellets are made of highly compressed sawdust that burns very slowly and will create smoke for hours on end.
They are the same pellets you would use in a pellet grill so if you own a Pit Boss, Camp Chef or Traeger pellet grill, you should have some pellets on hand already.
If not, you can pick up wood pellets at almost any hardware store or get them online.
We are big fans of anything from Bear Mountain, especially their Gourmet Blend because it's a pretty straightforward wood blend that doesn't overpower the chocolate.
You can also use any pellets from brands like Green Mountain, Pit Boss, or Traeger and look for either blends or straight fruitwoods like apple or cherry that will work nicely.
Stay away from strongly flavored woods like Mesquite that do not pair well with chocolate.
- Bear Mountain BBQ Gourmet Blend | Balanced sweet, smoky flavor | Perfect go-to mixture for any meat, fish, poultry or vegetable
- Made from 100% All-Natural premium hardwood - no binders, fillers or additi
A Butane or Propane Torch
The last thing you will need to light up the end of your filled pellet tube smoker is a good butane torch.
You may recognize that a butane torch is also commonly used when caramelizing creme brulees so you can use it for multiple things!
Another more heavy duty (and expensive) option is a propane torch which you can find in most hardware stores.
But if you already own one you are in good shape.
Unfortunately you can't use a normal lighter as the flame just isn't hot enough to get the dense wood pellets sufficiently lit and smoking.
While this may seem like a lot of equipment just to smoke some chocolate chips, keep in mind you can use your pellet tube smoker to both Cold AND Hot Smoke all kinds of foods going forward!
Every great outdoor chef should have these tools at their disposal!
- Perfect torch for preparing the classic creme brulee
- Caramelizes sugars, browns meringues, and melts cheese on gratins
- Features a fuel level indicator window so you know its time to refill; uses standard butane fuel containers
Light the Pellet Tube Smoker
Once you got your equipment and nice cold day, you are ready to make your smoked chocolate chips!
It's best to get the pellet tube smoker lit first before putting the chocolate chips on.
Fill the pellet tube smoker with pellets and place it upright on the grates one one side of your open grill with the open end of the pellet tube smoker UP to keep the pellets contained.
Make sure the grill is OFF.
Light your butane or propane torch and make sure the flame adjustment is set on HIGH for maximum heat.
Hold the torch flame up directly to the exposed wood pellets at the top open end of the pellet tube smoker and keep the flame closely against them for at least 30 seconds to get them sufficiently lit.
You should see a nice orange flame develop and stay lit after you remove the torch flame from the pellets.
If the orange flame goes out when you remove the torch you didn't hold the torch to the pellets long enough.
Keep the pellet tube upright and let the orange flame continue to burn for about 5 minutes with the lid to your grill open.
After 5 minutes you can carefully lay the pellet tube down on its side. Make sure to wear a pair of good insulated BBQ gloves because the pellet tube will be HOT!
Also be careful not to spill the lit pellets down into your grill as you lay it down. You can put a piece of aluminum foil down on the grill grates for the pellet tube to lay on if you want.
Then gently blow out the orange flame and you should have smoke continuously billowing out of the end of pellet tube smoker.
Most pellet tube smokers like the LizzQ will last about 5 hours as the burn slowly makes it way down the tube of unlit pellets.
Place the Chocolate Chips in the Grill
Pour your chocolate chips into a disposable aluminum pan or tray and spread them out as much as possible into a single layer so you will have the maximum surface area exposed to the smoke.
If it's really cold outside you can skip this step, but we like to place our pan of chocolate chips on top of another pan filled ice underneath to keep the chocolate chips extra cold and prevent any possibility of melting.
Sometimes the heat from the pellet tube smoker is enough to warm up the inside of the grill while the chocolate chips are smoking so the ice is good hedge against that leading to them melting.
Place the aluminum pan of chocolate chips on the other side of the grill away from the pellet tube smoker.
If you have an exhaust tube on your grill, such as on a pellet grill or charcoal smoker, place the chocolate chips on that side so that the smoke travels over them on its way out the exhaust.
If you have a normal gas grill with a vented back just look for what direction the soke seems ot be travelling out of the smoker tube and place the chocolate chips in the path of the smoke.
Close the lid to your grill or smoker.
Time
The hard part is over!
Now just let the chocolate chips smoke in the chamber, stirring them around every 5-10 minutes to check they aren't melting and also so that every surface of each chocolate chip gets exposed to the smoke.
Smoking for 20-30 minutes will give you a mild smoke flavor and 45-60 minutes will give you a stronger smoke flavor.
Removing and Storing
Once you have finished smoking the chocolate chips, remove them from the grill and transfer them to an airtight container such as a mason jar.
They will taste extra smoky if you eat them right away, but if you store them for a few days in the container, the smoke flavor will mellow out, much like it does with smoked cheese.
You can leave your pellet tube on the grill to continue burning out if you wish or you can shake the pellets out into an ash bucket to burn out much faster.
Wearing your insulated BBQ gloves, pick up the pellet tube near the UNLIT end and dump the unused lit pellets into an ash bucket to burn out and extinguish.
Place the top on the bucket to extinguish them even faster.
- Mini-sized Ash Bucket: The Coal/Pellet bucket offers a small sleek design which is perfect for mini fire pits. The bucket measures 6.3 x 8.5 x 12.6 that doesn’t take up much space and still does its job. Perfect for fireplaces, fire pits, hearths, grills, and Mo
📖 Recipe
Smoked Chocolate Chips
Equipment
- Grill or Smoker any grill or smoker will work
- Pellet Tube Smoker
- Wood Pellets preferably fruitwoods like apple or cherry
- Butane or Propane Torch
- Insulated BBQ Gloves
- Aluminum Foil Pans
Ingredients
- 12 oz Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips
- 6 Cups Ice
Instructions
Light the Pellet Tube Smoker
- Make sure the grill is OFF.
- Fill the pellet tube smoker with pellets and place it upright on the grates one one side of your open grill with the open end of the pellet tube smoker UP to keep the pellets contained.
- Light your butane or propane torch and make sure the flame adjustment is set on HIGH for maximum heat.
- Hold the torch flame up directly to the exposed wood pellets at the top open end of the pellet tube smoker and keep the flame closely against them for at least 30 seconds to get them sufficiently lit.
- You should see a nice orange flame develop and stay lit after you remove the torch flame from the pellets. If the orange flame goes out when you remove the torch you didn’t hold the torch to the pellets long enough.
- Keep the pellet tube upright and let the orange flame continue to burn for about 5 minutes with the lid to your grill open.
- After 5 minutes, wearing a good pair of insulated BBQ gloves, carefully lay the pellet tube down on its side.
- Then blow out the flame and you should have smoke continuously billowing out of the end of pellet tube smoker.
Smoke the Chocolate Chips
- Pour the chocolate chips into a disposable aluminum pan or tray and spread them out as much as possible into a single layer so there is maximum surface area exposed to the smoke.12 oz Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips
- Place the pan of chocolate chips on top of another pan filled ice underneath to keep the chocolate chips extra cold and prevent any possibility of melting.6 Cups Ice
- Place the aluminum pan of chocolate chips on the other side of the grill away from the pellet tube smoker.
- If you have an exhaust tube on your grill, such as on a pellet grill or charcoal smoker, place the chocolate chips on that side so that the smoke travels over them on its way out the exhaust.
- Close the lid to your grill or smoker.
- Let the chocolate chips smoke for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to expose all sides to the smoke and make sure they aren't melting.
Remove and Store
- Once you have finished smoking the chocolate chips, remove them from the grill and transfer them to an airtight container such as a mason jar.
- They will taste extra smoky if you eat them right away, but if you store them for a few days in the container, the smoke flavor will mellow out, much like it does with smoked cheese.
- Eat as a snack or use in another dish such as chocolate chip cookies, muffins, cheesecake, or pancakes. Enjoy!
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