WOW!! So, yesterday, I finally got round to doing my smoked yams experiment. I rubbed the skins all over with bacon grease, smoked 'em at 250 for about 3 hours with cherry and mesquite wood chips/chunks, then upped the temp to 350 for half an hour cause they weren't caramelising like I wanted and also wanted to up the smoke for a bit, and then let them rest about half an hour with just the residual heat.
OH MY GAWDS! I very highly recommend doing this. They were amazing with just a little butter, salt, and pepper. And for goodness sake, don't discard the skins like so many seem to advocate!
Next I think I'm gonna try beets.