've eaten plenty of grilled steaks in my day, but the first time I ever tasted a smoked steak was just over a decade ago, at my cousin's wedding in Tennessee. They'd hired a local pit master with a mobile smoker to spend the night slow-smoking two whole hogs for the feast the next day. I spent a good chunk of the night sitting up chatting with them about the process. It wasn't until the next morning that they threw in a few trays of thick-cut steaks, to smoke slowly in the remains of the fire.
That whole hog was great, but the steaks were awesome, with a sweet smoky crust surrounding a juicy, medium-rare center. Who knew that you could cook a steak for hours and still end up with something medium rare? I've been on a quest to recreate them (or, dare I say it, improve on them?) ever since