How to Get More Smoke Flavour

Smoke sticks to a cool, damp surface

Meat absorbs smoke compounds most readily while its surface is still cool and damp, in the first couple of hours. Once a bark forms and the surface dries, absorption drops off sharply. This is why wood goes on at the start, and why a quick hot cook takes on far less smoke than a long slow one.

Thin blue smoke, not thick white

The single biggest mistake is smothering food in thick white smoke from smouldering wood. That deposits creosote and tastes bitter, like an ashtray. What you want is thin blue smoke, nearly invisible, from wood that is properly combusting with enough oxygen. Clean smoke tastes sweet; dirty smoke ruins food.

• Use chunks, not chips, for a long steady burn.
• Do not soak the wood; it just delays clean smoke with a period of steam.
• Keep the fire breathing; a choked, smouldering fire makes bitter smoke.
• Add wood at the start, when the surface can still absorb it.

Match wood to meat

Strong woods like hickory and mesquite give more obvious smoke but overwhelm delicate food; mild woods like apple and cherry give a gentler, sweeter smoke. If you want more smoke flavour on beef, reach for oak or hickory; on chicken or fish, more apple, not more of a strong wood that will turn acrid.