Mark, it is my understanding that up to 140f meat will absorb smoke, after that it is just flavoring the outside.
I am not saying it is fact but my long cooks of thick meat will have smoke flavor past the outer bark. I do understand that the smoke ring is nothing more then a curing reaction to the nitrates in the smoke.

I agree that I would not want to use smoke woods in my roaster however I have never had to much problem cleaning the buildup off the smoker but it is also a large open area unlike a roaster.

My understanding is that the smoke ring continues to develop only up to 135°, but that smoke flavour will continue as long as the food is exposed to the smoke. I think most stick-burners tend to foil their big roasts at around 170° (the stall) to prevent the meat from being over-smoked.

Mark

When camping, I roast coffee over the campfire in a mesh basket (old fashioned popcorn popper). I also pop popcorn and have tried roasting almonds in this basket. As long as you keep the basket moving, you can get a pretty good roast out of it.

Whatever smoke flavor that gets imparted in the coffee is subtle. It can be hard to judge in camp since your gathered around the fire and your nose gets acclimated to the smoke, but I've taken the beans home and noticed that it's hard to detect a real smokey flavor.

The almonds, however, were another story. I took them a bit too far, but they were way to smokey for my likes and also a bit burnt.

I'm late to this thread, but...

I have a friend who plays with smoke (he avoids fire though haw!). His method is to put the green beans for a bit in a smoker, then do his full roast in his Gene. I can attest to the results. He's experimented with oak and apple, but the most successful, I thought, was ethiopian with almond wood.

How about diluting some commercial wood smoke and giving the roasted beans a quick spray? Or adding a drop into the cup?

Why would adding wood smoke and flavors via chips during the roast be any different in concept and outcome than adding those flavorings/additives directly to coffee?

I enjoy pumpkin flavor (the essence of pie spices) in ice cream; I love hazelnuts hot roasted off the carts in NYC. These putative flavors are widely advertised in coffee chains (Dunkin', Green Mountain, all over). But I don't see the point of flavoring my own roasted.

My yearly homage to the dead writer/humorist Richard Armour:

Creativity: An act that makes me wonder why I never tried that before.
Novelty: An act that makes me wonder by what perversity it was ever attempted.