Meat will continue to absorb flavors of smoke from start to finish, as long as it's in contact with smoke. The smoke ring, which is a chemical reaction near the surface of the meat, forms up to meat temps of about 140 degrees; ergo if the meat goes in colder, the time to reach 140 is longer, and the smoke ring forms for a longer period. Theoretically.
And just because the meat will take more smoke flavor, that may not necessarily be a good thing! Who among you has not yet tasted oversmoked meat? That is where skills come in...When to stop or reduce amount of smoke production.
Dave's got it right here!
Contrary to posts I've read on this site, meat WILL take in smoke FLAVOR, as long as it sees smoke. BUT, the smoke RING stops at about 140 degrees F.
Therefore, to produce a deep ring, put the meat on cold, and keep the pit temps at the low range. (225 F or so.)
Also, it only figures, the more glop you have on the surface that stops the smoke from penetrating, the smaller the ring will be.
Dang, now I want to do some butt this weekend, instead of the meatloaf I was planning.
steve