Smoke Ring

L

lazybonesmoke1

Guest
I want to put up a sign that explains about the smoke ring. How would you guys explain it to the average joe?
 
My understanding is that it is the result of a chemical reaction. Nitrates from charcoal/burning wood add to it but do not cause it totally. I also believe that it will be further developed when starting with colder rather than room temperature meat.

Some folks will get a enhanced smoke ring from using tenderquick.
 
Maybe something about that it is an indication that the food was cooked using a smoky heat source but that it can also be created using certain meat tenderizers (so don’t be fooled).
 
lazybonesmoke1 said:
I want to put up a sign that explains about the smoke ring. How would you guys explain it to the average joe?
Click to expand...

Is this a sign that will be hung up at your restaurant? If so how about something like this...

Dear customer, the BBQ you are about to enjoy is real BBQ. BBQ slow smoked over wood for long amounts of time. That time honored tradition produces a distinct pinkish hue to the meat. This is called 'the smoke ring' and is desired by BBQ enthusiasts everywhere.
 
Lakeside Smoker said:
Is this a sign that will be hung up at your restaurant? If so how about something like this...

Dear customer, the BBQ you are about to enjoy is real BBQ. BBQ slow smoked over wood for long amounts of time. That time honored tradition produces a distinct pinkish hue to the meat. This is called 'the smoke ring' and is desired by BBQ enthusiasts everywhere.
Click to expand...

Must say, that sound's pretty good to see that when you walk into a resturant.
Back from your trip?? Store open, been in the mood for some burnt end's:mrgreen:
 
Lakeside Smoker said:
Is this a sign that will be hung up at your restaurant? If so how about something like this...

Dear customer, the BBQ you are about to enjoy is real BBQ. BBQ slow smoked over wood for long amounts of time. That time honored tradition produces a distinct pinkish hue to the meat. This is called 'the smoke ring' and is desired by BBQ enthusiasts everywhere.
Click to expand...
What he said:cool:
 
Lakeside Smoker said:
Dear customer, the BBQ you are about to enjoy is real BBQ. BBQ slow smoked over wood for long amounts of time. That time honored tradition produces a distinct pinkish hue to the meat. This is called 'the smoke ring' and is desired by BBQ enthusiasts everywhere.
Click to expand...
When I open my restaurant, I may use this:-D
 
Slight changes:

Dear Customer/Patron,
The BBQ you are about to enjoy is real BBQ. BBQ is slowly smoked over (insert choice of wood here if you wish) wood for a long period of time. This time honored tradition produces a distinct pinkish hue to the meat called 'the smoke ring' and is desired by BBQ enthusiasts everywhere.
-The Management

maybe add it to the menu too
 
We had lunch yesterday and I had the leftovers today, that chicken on the 3 piggy was awesome. I might also add that the pink is more pronounced near the surface and that meat is not undercooked. That is what I get mostly "is this cooked?"
Mike
 
I haven't left for my trip yet. I want to get ready for when we remodel. I want to put up a sign that explains about the smoke ring and about broasted chicken.
 
Two seperate signs one for the smoke ring and one explaining broasted chicken
 
Sorry Boyz, but you can get a smoke ring cooking meat in the oven in the house!!!!
Ain't got nothing to do with smoke.
 
kickassbbq said:
Sorry Boyz, but you can get a smoke ring cooking meat in the oven in the house!!!!
Ain't got nothing to do with smoke.
Click to expand...

Yes, I know, it’s a chemical reaction, but unless you’re lying to your customers, the most “Natural” way of getting it is from the chemicals created by smoke while smoking the meat…

Please correct me if I’m wrong, but I have put meat on my smoker with no rubs/sauces and obtained a smoke ring and if I put that same piece of meat on my Webber over direct heat with no wood added I wouldn’t get the ring.

I guess what I’m saying is that I have baked a pork loin in my oven (both gas and electric) and never had a smoke ring..
 
Lakeside Smoker said:
Is this a sign that will be hung up at your restaurant? If so how about something like this...

Dear customer, the BBQ you are about to enjoy is real BBQ. BBQ slow smoked over wood for long amounts of time. That time honored tradition produces a distinct pinkish hue to the meat. This is called 'the smoke ring' and is desired by BBQ enthusiasts everywhere.
Click to expand...

Perfect...:p
 
The smoke ring is tricky. It's presence does not necessarily mean it is real BBQ. However, most people look for it. The smoke ring also is not related to smoke flavor, contrary to what many may believe. You can easily create a smoke ring cooking in a gas oven, and you can cook meat using wood coals and create a product with no smoke ring.

Here is the low-down on smoke rings:

  • The chemical that gives meat its color is myoglobin. Some meats contain more myoglobin than others. Beef is a darker color than pork because it contains more myoglobin than pork. Chicken thighs are darker than breasts for the same reason.
  • Meat curing is performed by adding sodium nitrate and/or sodium nitrite to meat. When myoglobin is mixed with sodium nitrate and/or sodium nitrite they combine into nitric oxide myoglobin which is a very dark red color. When heated, this nitric oxide myoglobin is converted to nitrosylhemochrome which is the typical pink color of cured meats. Ham, Bacon, Corned Beef and Pastrami are examples of cured meats.
  • Smoke is the result of the incomplete burning of wood. When wood is heated, the cellulose materials of the wood begin to break down releasing volatile gases and leaving behind organic matter. If the air around the fire is hot enough and there are sufficient levels of oxygen, the gases released into the air by the wood will ignite and be visible as flame. In optimal wood burning conditions, such as an open campfire, once all of the wood is burning it appears that there is no smoke coming from the fire. This is because all of the gases released from the wood through the burning process are igniting. As the levels of oxygen to the fire, or the heat surrounding the fire are reduced, fewer of these gases ignite and instead are carried off and are then visible to us as smoke. Thus smoke is a mix of these gases, along with small bits of carbon and ash from the burnt wood that get released into the air. One of the gases released by the burning of wood is nitrogen dioxide (NO2), which is a nitrite compound.
  • The smoke ring is a chemical reaction that occurs when the gas nitrogen dioxide, which is a gas that is present in the smoke, is combined with water moisture on the meat forming nitrous acid. This nitrous acid combines with the myoglobin in the meat forming nitric oxide myoglobin, which when heated turns into nitrosylhemochrome resulting in the final pink color. The nitric oxide myoglobin and nitrosylhemochrome are the same chemicals formed when curing meat with sodium nitrite. The lowest temperature found in all of my research that listed a meat temperature at which the smoke ring stopped forming was 120 degrees. The commonly held believed temperature at which this curing process (smoke ring formation) stopped at is 140 degrees however, but I am not sure how big a deal it is to know whether it happens at 120 or 140 to be quite honest.
Now that you know the how and why a smoke ring is formed from wood smoke, you can also see that smoke rings can be produced without it. If you were to apply curing salts to the meat and begin cooking it, the curing process woudl stop when the meat reached a certain temperature and you would wind up with what looked like a smoke ring. This would happen whether you cooked it in a BBQ Pit, Oven or your toaster.

For a simpler explanation I like to give to people, I simply say that the smoke from wood contains a gas that binds with the water on the surface of the meat forming a new chemical that is actually a curing salt. This curing salt penetrates into the meat as it cooks and the smoke ring is the depth this curing occured before the meat reached a temperature at which the curing process stopped. I don't usually get a lot of questions after that.
 
You know, after reading lots of stories about customers who accuse establishments of undercooking their meat I'd add a line that goes something like this:

"The smoke ring is only coloration on the outside layers of the meat. The rest is fully cooked."

Knowutimean?
 
bigabyte said:
  • The chemical that gives meat its color is myoglobin. Some meats contain more myoglobin than others. Beef is a darker color than pork because it contains more myoglobin than pork. Chicken thighs are darker than breasts for the same reason.
  • Meat curing is performed by adding sodium nitrate and/or sodium nitrite to meat. When myoglobin is mixed with sodium nitrate and/or sodium nitrite they combine into nitric oxide myoglobin which is a very dark red color. When heated, this nitric oxide myoglobin is converted to nitrosylhemochrome which is the typical pink color of cured meats. Ham, Bacon, Corned Beef and Pastrami are examples of cured meats.
  • Smoke is the result of the incomplete burning of wood. When wood is heated, the cellulose materials of the wood begin to break down releasing volatile gases and leaving behind organic matter. If the air around the fire is hot enough and there are sufficient levels of oxygen, the gases released into the air by the wood will ignite and be visible as flame. In optimal wood burning conditions, such as an open campfire, once all of the wood is burning it appears that there is no smoke coming from the fire. This is because all of the gases released from the wood through the burning process are igniting. As the levels of oxygen to the fire, or the heat surrounding the fire are reduced, fewer of these gases ignite and instead are carried off and are then visible to us as smoke. Thus smoke is a mix of these gases, along with small bits of carbon and ash from the burnt wood that get released into the air. One of the gases released by the burning of wood is nitrogen dioxide (NO2), which is a nitrite compound.
  • The smoke ring is a chemical reaction that occurs when the gas nitrogen dioxide, which is a gas that is present in the smoke, is combined with water moisture on the meat forming nitrous acid. This nitrous acid combines with the myoglobin in the meat forming nitric oxide myoglobin, which when heated turns into nitrosylhemochrome resulting in the final pink color. The nitric oxide myoglobin and nitrosylhemochrome are the same chemicals formed when curing meat with sodium nitrite. The lowest temperature found in all of my research that listed a meat temperature at which the smoke ring stopped forming was 120 degrees. The commonly held believed temperature at which this curing process (smoke ring formation) stopped at is 140 degrees however, but I am not sure how big a deal it is to know whether it happens at 120 or 140 to be quite honest.
Click to expand...
Thats not gonna fit on the sign...:-D
 
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