On this day there was a town promotion called The Classic Cars.  About 700 cars had registered to attend but the rain kept many of them away.  For the past week the rain that fell in Te Aroha reminded me of the flood of 1985 when three of the Barbarich family were killed when their house disintegrated in the path of rocks and water.  The rain held off for the day.  We put on a hangi in the hangi keg.  Into separate muslin bags went potatoes, kumara, cabbage, pumpkin and ham as the meat.  Instead of the usual two litres of water in the steamer, I poured in half that amount.  I wet the sacks that went over the lid, turned the gas burner on full bore and off we went to the car show.  Two hours later I returned to find the sacks burnt to smouldering embers and the hangi keg completely devoid of water and blackened from the heat on the outside.  BUT... the smell of the hangi food was tantamount to the smell of the underground hangi.  SO... I discovered that I should have been using less water to steam and cook the hangi.  The taste was supreme. 
HERE I was considering the addition of another ingredient to my recipe for the hangi flavouring, to get a stronger taste, and just by accident the secret was in the degree of heat to be applied to it.