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In the sidewinder cookers, the heated air, however baffled and directed, still flows in strata according to the temperature. This means that the hotter air flows up to the top of the cooking chamber and out the stack without necessarily coming in contact with the meat on the grate. Although some cookers are designed so that the heated must exit below the meat, the flow is up and over, rather than under, around and through, so that the meat does not normally come into intimate contact with grossly excessive smoke. Rather, as the smoke cools, some of it is deposited on the sides of the cooker and builds up layers of creosote. This shiny black, acrid layer is an indication of an inexperienced cook. Sometimes, however, even this serendipitous air flow can not prevent way too much smoke being deposited on the meat.

Regardless of the species of wood, too much smoke is offensive. It is truly amazing that those whose palates do not rebel at creosote contaminated meat are the same ones who claim that they can discern the flavor of grape leaves, wine barrel French oak, Mackintosh apple or June berry. Fact is that, except for a few wood species, such as hickory and mesquite, less that 5% of the palates in the world can tell what kind of wood was used to cook.