Smoking is a process by which foods (meats, fish and shellfish, cheeses, vegetables even) are preserved, or sometimes merely flavoured, by being exposed to smoke. Since woods produce smoke which imparts great flavour to foods this is what is most often used, with different woods being favoured in different parts of the world. This would be dependent upon availability and taste. Europeans are inclined to favour the more del=icate alder, beech and apple and get their stronger versions from oak. In the US hickory and oak, mesquite and maple are more favoured, with alder and fruit woods coming up behind. It is also possible to smoke foods for flavour, though not for preservation, using other things entirely, such as teas, or corncobs. Hot smoking is carried out at temperatures between 165ºF (75ºC) and 185ºF (85ºC). Unlike cold-smoking, this renders foods cooked, so that they are pretty safe to consume after the end of the smoking process. Good quality smoking, with someone keeping an eye on the process, can result in wonderful foods, moist and flavourful. Sometimes industrial hot-smoking can end in foods that are dry and chewy. Cold smoking is carried out at somewhere between 80º F (30ºC) and 100º F ( 40ºC over a period of anything from four hours to four days. In cold smoking the item being treated is hung in the smoke but not in direct heat. The result is an intense smoky flavour, often with the food deeply bronzed in colour, but be aware as this process may not have cooked the food in question.