Smoking is the process of curing
?,
cooking, or seasoning
? food by exposing it for long periods of time to the smoke from a (usually wood) fire. "Hot smoking" is typically a several-hours long process that can be used to fully cook raw meats or fish, while "cold-smoking" is an hours- or days-long process that is generally used to preserve or flavor foods (usually meats or fish, but sometimes cheeses, vegetables, fruits, and even beer).