does the smoke damage veg?

What are you cooking, old Tires?  Anything that generates THAT much smoke is more likely to damage the Food, a flavor like it's basted with Driveway Sealer, than cause an issue in the garden. A few minutes of Hot Dog and Burger smoke won't hurt anything. And twelve hours of TBS will have little contact or any impact as it drifts by.

If you are talking BBQ Smoker, you should be generating a Thin Blue Smoke. Visible but dissipates a few feet away from the vent leaving only a Sweet Smell for the plants and neighbors to enjoy. With a BBQ Grill, to be generating heavy white plumes of smoke, you are burning loads of Fat and having major flare ups.  Anything that fatty, should be seared, burgers , steaks, then finish the cooking over Indirect heat where the bulk of the fat drips into a pan. The opposite for fatty poultry. Start indirect then brown and crisp the skin over the heat the last few minutes...JJ

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