Marinade and Smoke Chips

Question

I am planning on doing a pork crown for Christmas and have zeroed in on this recipe, which calls for a marinade: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhgZN1zoLTE

I also would like to have a smokey flavor, for which I plan to use wood chips on my gas grill.

Will the smokey flavor play well with a marinade? Should I marinade the meat first and put it in the smoking grill (not an actual smoker) or should I rather smoke it first a bit and baste it in the middle of cooking?

For me it makes sense to marinade at the beginning to preserve the juices, but I am wondering if the marinade will prevent the smoke from penetrating the meat or if the smoke marinade combination will be weird?

I am also considering putting a dish with water in the grill to create some steam for moisture and only apply the marinade at the end, but am wondering if a steam and smoke combination would work?

Answer 1

Marinating means that your product will be in the marinade before cooking. It is a surface flavor application. It does not seal in juices, nor does it penetrate the protein. Marinate as you would for grilling. Grill/roast (with smoke chips if you wish). You are not technically "smoking," but that is beside the point. You can certainly baste, throughout, with your marinade. If this is the case, you may want to reserve some that raw meat has not come into contact with for this purpose. You will pick up the smoke flavor, even with the marinade and the basting.