It is not cigarette smoke that I am referring to in this instance.

One afternoon, a man is smoking his gourmet ribeye steak in his backyard at a gathering of friends and family. After several hours, the smoke not only flavours his food and his clothes but also permeates everything in his house. He loves the smoky smell, and his children love it too, but not his wife. She enjoys the taste but not the odour. She even asks her husband and the children to shower.

If you have barbecued before, I am sure you can relate.

Smoke lovers will try everything they can to get the smoky air to their clothes, their rooms, and even their hair. At the same time, smoke haters will try everything to get rid of this smell.

Smoke lovers who love the smell of smoke

They will ask “why do you burn candle when you can smoke meat?”

They say they love the taste of their smoked gourmet meat. But is it true?

Let’s find out

Grilling, Roasting, Smoking: can you tell which one is which?

“Easy,” You say, and I agree

But what if you cover your eyes can you still tell?

“Still so easy”  and I must agree

How about you cover your nose with your index finger and your thumb?

Please actually try it before you answer because most people cannot tell.

If you you find it hard to believe, you can try it yourself. You can prepare a grilling, a roasting and a smoking dish for this experiment. And you can also ask your friend and family to participate

But If you do not have time to do all this,  read on to find out an answer.

Let’s look at the definition of each cooking method first

Grilling: direct contact  with flame, exposed to burning charcoal on the grill

Roasting: no contact with flame, mainly use heat from all sides. The heat radiates and cooks the food

Smoking: there are several ways of smoking meat. The one in this instance is hot smoking: no contact with flame, use wood to produce heat and wood smoke to cook and flavour the food

My friend is a Sous-chef, and I am fortunate enough to have these 3 dishes served by him.

First I taste all three to get an idea and they are distinctively different. The fragrances are differences and so are the taste.

With my eyes close, I can identify correctly three dishes

However, when I hold my breath with my index finger and my thumb, I can only correctly identify the grilled dishes

And it is not about the taste because without smelling, I cannot tell the differences. I can only taste the saltiness in three dishes 

I can precisely pin point the grill dish because of the charred meat. It is tougher and harder compared to the others two. 

To me, the roast dish and the smoke dish are the same in my mouth if I cannot smell them.

Without the aroma, cooked meats taste the same

To smoke lovers

You smoke meat because you like the way it taste. The taste is from the smoke fragrance. Apart from loving smoked meat, I believe that you will also enjoy other smoke-related scent.

Smoke haters who said  its odour is disgusting

Some smoke haters say they may like the meat but hate the smoke odour. But in reality, what they really hate is the greasy, sticky substance that sticks on their belongings. 

They may not hate the smoky scent. 

Here is why

People use Hickory Wood which is known for its fragrance of smoke. When you light them up, they produce a campfire smell. When a small breeze passes through, you will also feel the subtle sweet and savoury. It makes you hungry because you may have smelled it before. It has been a popular wood to smoke food for a long time.

Forget about the meat, burn this wood alone would also bring you satisfaction.

Smoke haters, if you have a chance, try to experience this Hickory wood alone. Without the fat dripping into it while burning which you really hate, burning hickory wood alone will change your mind. You will feel how good smoke fragrance is.

You can find this wood locally at some specialty stores or you can even order them online.

Have you noticed that if someone like smoked meat (and vegetables)? He will be likely to like the aroma of coffee and whisky as well? I know I do. Here is why

The common chemical compounds are Guaiacol and Syringol which are responsible for the fragrance of smoke. The particular fragrance that brings nostalgia to many people.

Why I am telling you this? 

Guaiacol and Syringol are also presented in agarwood, which explains why there are many people remember their childhood memory when heating agarwood chips or smelling agarwood oil. 

For Smoke lovers  who love charcoal and like to grill stuff

Try our Emptiness agarwood chips

You can grill this wood on top of your charcoal with a tweezer

Notice some bubbles from the wood chips. That is the resin are turning into gas. This smoke fragrance please you without the grease and tar.

In the Middle East, people “smoke” agarwood on their apparels, even on their beards and hairs.

For smoke haters

You don’t like the smoke because it irritates you. But somehow, you like its the aroma of it. You hate the smoke but you love its smell. So what do you do?

What if there is a supreme clean smoky aroma, no tar, no toxic.

And you do not have to burn anything to create it

Introduce to you

The Peated Oud - a pure co2 oud oil that is smoky woody and leathery. 

Gentleman, if you want to groom your beard,  take a small dab to dab on your beard or you can use this oil together with your current beard oil. Feel the improvement this oil makes to your skin, hair and beard cares.

You see, this oud oil blends well with your cosmetic and fragrance, and with a happy bonus: superior smoke flavour without tar and grease.

Want a fragrance of smoke on your clothes, beard and hair without smoke?

Want something quick and convenient?

Want something that has a long history of use, something that in the Bible, the Q’ran, the Buddhist scripture and Hindi text?

Surely something that all the deities love should not be bad right? Why don't you try it yourself?

Try the Peated Oud today