An apparatus for cooking or smoking and a fuel combustor therefor. In the cooking or smoking apparatus and method, combustion products produced by the combustor, by a gas burner, or by other means are preferably delivered upwardly through an upwardly extending inner flow gap which at least partially surrounds a cooking or smoking chamber. The combustion products are preferably then delivered downwardly through the cooking or smoking chamber and then upwardly through an upwardly extending outer flow gap which is outside of the inner flow gap and which also at least partially surrounds the cooking or smoking chamber.
