avidhomebrewer

Recipes 

I've used peat malt for a few batches and it turned out great (in my opinion). However, it didn't exceed 4 ounces. Like all the others who posted, rauch and smoke are the same thing, both smoked somehow. I have used smoke malt (40% in one batch) and it was a little too much smoke flavor for me. I would suggest starting small (about 1 #) and working your way up. I made one batch with 1# and it wasn't quite enough for my tastes, so I jumped up to 4#, which was too much.

Iordz

Recipes 

Rauch malt is exclusively smoked over beech-wood, whereas "smoked" malt can be smoked over any type of wood. Good choices for smoking include alder (my favorite), cherry, apple, hickory and other flavorful hardwoods. Good indicators of smoked flavor are foods like, smoked salmon or smoked pork, they should give you an idea of the taste you might be expecting.
Using peated malt in small quantities can be interesting; a good example is Stone Smoked Porter. Don't be afraid to use it, just go easy on it and I'm sure you can make a good beer with it. In my opinion peat malt has no place in brewing Scottish style ales, it is not an authentic ingredient and it doesn't taste good in them. You will not find peat malt it in any good examples of Scottish ales.