How much smoke s too much?

I like smoke. And i'm not exactly subtle.
Rarely such a thing as too much smoke. I find most complaints about smoke revolve less around the quantity, than the quality.

And especially when low quality is misconstrued as 'too smokey'.

I like smoke.  On Memorial Day, occasionally it would look like a WWII destroyer laying a BBQ smoke screen sailed past my house.  )

So much depends on taste.  Wife and I both really like heavy smoke flavor - but too much will become bitter.   You will know it when you hit too much.

Different foods will take on smoke differently.   I love roasted Cauliflower - first time I cooked it on the egg, had way too much smoke - ( it soaks it up like a sponge ) - was too bitter to eat.

Long cooks with heavy pieces of meat - I load up the smoking wood.  Pizzas' -- light touch.

 

once again, matter of your taste.

 

Very true - seems like mesquite is heavier - might just be my perception.

Years ago my neighbor gave me his old charcoal-water smoker when he got a new one. It was my first foray into smoking.

Our favorite thing to smoke was fish. And we SMOKED fish! Lots of it. On weekends we would catch fish and smoke fish and eat smoked fish with fresh salsa. My neighbor had 'taught' me to soak wood chips for a few days and put a few handfuls on the coals. That puppy would flat out smoke. So much so that one of the old ladies down the street would call the fire department.

The first time the fire department came we were sitting in the back yard smoking fish, telling war stories, drinking beer and margauritas, and ahem when we heard sirens and non-nonchalantly noted they were getting closer only to be SURPRISED when the trucks all pulled up in front of the house and a bunch of guys in fire gear charged into the back yard. Talk about a buzz killer. Well. We showed them the 'fire' and they called off the dogs. They said the lady down the street had called. I inquired about breaking the law and they said we weren't. And they said they couldn't accept any of the fish.

The second time was a duplicate of the first (WE were just as surprised as the first time!). We asked the guys since we're not breaking the law what could we do and they said if we gave them a heads-up call that would help. So. On the smoker we painted "Call Fire Dept." with their phone number and every time we smoked after that we called them up and let them know and no more fire trucks!

I've since learned on here that you don't have to soak the chips, so we don't do that anymore. But occasionally I throw a good handful of chips in while grilling chicken and it smokes them up pretty good. As someone noted, smoke gets ON the food and you can certainly coat boneless skinless chicken with a thick coat of smoke in only a few minutes. 

I like a more subtle smoke; I like it to compliment the meat as the meat is the main show.  That being said lots of personal preference in this and some meats can handle and are enhanced with a heavier smoke and some really need the smoke to take the backseat as a subtle flavor contrast.