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Q-talk *ON TOPIC ONLY* QUALITY ON TOPIC discussion of Backyard BBQ, grilling, equipment and outdoor cookin' . ** Other cooking techniques are welcomed for when your cookin' in the kitchen. Post your hints, tips, tricks & techniques, success, failures, but stay on topic and watch for that hijacking. |
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02-26-2008, 10:18 PM | #1 |
somebody shut me the fark up.
Join Date: 05-10-06
Location: Overland Fark, KS
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Mad Science Experiment - Smoke Rings
I'm posting my plans for this weekends experiment a bit early because it will be a busy weekend. I have had to plan this schedule out, and want to get the first part where I explain this experiment out of the way while I can.
This experiment is to test some various methods of making BBQ meat to see what impact, if any, each method has on the smoke ring formed in the meat. I have read so many different ideas about how/why smoke rings are formed, and it is difficult to be sure which ones are right. There is a web page which I think might have the most complete plausible explanation, and that page is http://www.geocities.com/senortoad/S...bequeMeats.htm Now, in addition to some of what is described in that link, many of the things I have heard around the BBQ community about smoke rings and it's formation are things like: 1. The smoke ring shows the depth of smoke penetration into the meat. 2. It is how to tell meat has really been smoked and not cooked in an oven. 3. It is formed by wood ash landing on the meat. 4. Stops forming after meat has been on for X number of hours. 5. Stops forming after meat has reached a certain temperature (usually 140 is what I hear). 6. Stops forming when the pathways in the meat become clogged (from rub and/or soot). 7. The smoke ring is what gives meat it's smoky flavor. 8. Cooking meat in a gas oven can form a smoke ring. My experience tells me that some of those above are definitely not correct, and I also believe some others may not be correct but have only experience to make me feel that way and no direct evidence. So I plan to do some experiments that should shed some light on many questions about smoke ring formation. I am not planning to glean insight to all questions about smoke ring formation in this one weekend, but this weekend should demonstrate a number of smoke ring facts and misconceptions. I am going to be cooking 16 pieces of pork in 3 different cookers. Each piece of pork will be a quarter block of a deboned pork shoulder butt. I will quarter 4 butts to get the 16 pieces. These should be of sufficient size to make a good test, yet small enough to not be so wasteful I begin to question why the hell I'm doing all this. Two of the cookers will be WSM's running on wood chunks and charcoal briquettes. One WSM will have a water pan to make a moist cooking environment, and the other will use a sand pan to have a drier cooking environment. Each will be cooking at approximately 250-275 degress. The third cooker will be a gas oven set to the same temps that the cookers are running at. On each of the WSM's I will place 6 pieces of meat prepared the following ways. The only difference between the 2 WSM's will be the moist vs dry environments. 1. Plain, no treatment of any kind before or during the cook. 2. Brined for 24 hours prior to cooking. 3. Plain, but spritzed with apple juice every 45 minutes during cooking. 4. Rubbed overnight before cooking. 5. Slather and rub applied overnight before cooking. 6. Brined for 24 hours, then slathered and rubbed overnight, and spritzed with water every 45 minutes during cooking. In the oven I will place 4 pieces of meat prepared the following ways: 1. Plain, no treatment of any kind before or during the cook. 2. Rub of Morton Tenderquick Cure applied to meat before cooking. 3. Slather of liquid smoke and rub of Morton Tenderquick Cure applied to meat before cooking. 4. Rub of wood ash applied before cooking (it will not be eaten though). What should be demonstrated by all this: 1. What differences, if any, are there in smoke ring formation between a wet and dry cooking environment? 2. Does applying extra moisture to the meat with mop/spritz or brining affect the smoke ring compared to not using these techniques, and is one method better than the other? 3. Do rubs, slathers, or mops/spritzes clog up the meat pores reducing depth of smoke ring compared to meats that do not use these techniques? 4. Does cooking in a gas oven form a smoke ring? 5. Can a smoke ring be formed in meat cooked in a smoke-free gas oven? 6. Can smokey flavored meats with a smoke ring be produced in a smoke-free gas oven? 7. Does wood ash contribute to smoke ring development? Questions that are not answered in this experiment, but I hope to answer in a future experiment are: 1. Does the smoke ring represent the penetration of smoke flavor into the meat? 2. Does smoke ring formation stop after meat has been cooking for a certain amount of time, or when it reaches a certain temperature? 3. Can meat with no smoke ring taste smokey? I'll post updates later this week and post the results hopefully this weekend or on Monday.
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Asshattatron Farkanaut, CGCFO Chief Galactic Crockpot Foil Officer Certified MOINK Baller & IMBAS Certified MOINK Ball Judge #0003 - Are you MOINK Certified? Sole recipient of the Silverfinger and fingerlickin Awards! Don't forget about the Throwdown Thingies! The Secret Squirrel Society doesn't exist - Zero Club Duh. |
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Thanks from:---> |
02-26-2008, 10:52 PM | #2 |
Moderator
Join Date: 09-17-05
Location: Mooresville, NC
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Our very own Alton Brown !!!!!!!
Looking forward to your findings...
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XL BGE (#2) & Performer Platinum Former owner: Jambo Backyard, Klose BYC, Lonestar Vertical offset w/ Insulated Firebox, Medium Spicewine, Pitts & Spitts, XL BGE (#1) & (2) Medium BGE's, 22" WSM & (2) 18" WSM's, 18" & 22" Weber Kettles |
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02-26-2008, 11:11 PM | #3 |
Quintessential Chatty Farker
Join Date: 12-15-07
Location: England
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can't wait to see the results on this one.
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www.drsweetsmoke.com Slappin that bass like some delerious funky preist!!! UDS, Half Pint (Mini UDS), Weber, ProQ 20, Kegrilla *250 gallon cooker- 'The Meat Beast!!'* British BBQ Championships Grand Champion 2008 ~~~~ British BBQ Society - Southern Championship Grand Champions 2009
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02-26-2008, 11:16 PM | #4 |
is One Chatty Farker
Join Date: 05-05-05
Location: Fredericksburg Va
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Have you contacted the local media and requested coverage?
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I support PETA - People Eating Tasty Animals Other half of the Cat Sass BBQ team Traeger BBQ100 18.5 " WSM X2 Weber Gold Kettle 22 1/2" Weber 18 1/2 " 22.5 " WSM X2 |
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02-26-2008, 11:21 PM | #5 |
On the road to being a farker
Join Date: 12-09-07
Location: Pewaukee, WI
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Wow...thanks for taking this on. I'm looking forward to the results.
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The Dude: Yeah, well. The Dude abides. Medium Spicewine 3 WSMs www.smokincaboose.com |
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02-26-2008, 11:51 PM | #6 |
Full Fledged Farker
Join Date: 06-06-06
Location: Ramona, California
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Go for it. Anticipating the results.
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"Lady of Q" Former member of "Four Q BBQ Team" Soul Fusion Kitchen BWS Party G2 Two 18.5 inch WSMs, One 22.5 inch WSMs, one 22.5 inch Blue One Touch Gold Kettle Hot Pink Thermapen 20 ft custom BBQ trailer |
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02-26-2008, 11:59 PM | #7 |
somebody shut me the fark up.
Join Date: 09-23-07
Location: North Side of Chicago Illinois
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Looking forward to this one!!!!
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Jeff CBJ# 23376 Stockcar BBQ Race Fast, Cook Slow, and Enjoy Life! If it don't come off a smoker, it's just a side dish! Lang 60 Patio (The Mistress), Black Stainless Lang 36 (Little Princess), Large BGE (Ramona), Big Green UDS (Cottage Cooker), Brinkman SnP Pro (Little Bubba-Retired), 8 Burner Gasser, 3 - 22.5" & 1 - 18" (circa 1975) Weber Grills, & a Weber Smoky Joe. |
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02-27-2008, 12:59 AM | #8 | |
Babbling Farker
Join Date: 03-14-07
Location: Culpeper, Virginia
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Quote:
No. No idea. Still not sure about that one. Same as above. Never heard that one. No. No, unless it has nitrates on it? Unsolicited, yes!
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Certified Master Judge #5382 What is best in life? "To crush your BBQ opponents, to see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their women." |
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02-27-2008, 02:14 AM | #10 |
somebody shut me the fark up.
Join Date: 10-27-06
Location: Bothell WA
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Too much work for me! Take lots of pics!
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Brian - Left Hand Smoke BBQ PNWBA 2010 Team of the Year BGE's/WSM's/Pellet Pro WSM/BWS Gater/BDS Clones/Cookshack 008/Weber Performer w EZ-Que/Cajun Bandit/Rib-O-Lator Test Pilot/La Caja China/BBQ Guru/Weber 1000 RK Drum Coffee Roaster Follow Left Hand Smoke on Facebook!http://www.facebook.com/pages/Left-H...462391?sk=wall KCBS CBJ/PNWBA CBJ www.pnwba.com |
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02-27-2008, 06:50 AM | #11 |
Full Fledged Farker
Join Date: 01-25-08
Location: West Islip, NY
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Food Network called!!!!
Where can they send the cameras??????
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XL BGE WEBER SMOKEY MOUNTAIN WEBER PERFORMER FOUR SEASONS GASSER Yellow thermapen AKA-Crusty DippinTush http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...pinsgasser.jpg |
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02-27-2008, 06:50 AM | #12 |
Babbling Farker
Join Date: 01-28-07
Location: Melbourne, FL
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Looking forward to your results for sure!
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DaChief BGE Large WSM Weber One-Touch Gold Weber Go-Anywhere Turkey Fryer "Go on! Shoot me again! I enjoy it! I love the smell of burnt feathers and gunpowder and cordite!" -- Daffy Duck |
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02-27-2008, 06:57 AM | #13 |
Babbling Farker
Join Date: 10-01-05
Location: Shokan, New York
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Great idea, looking forward to results. One question. your oven meats are doen totally different than the wsm meats, so no head ot head comparison. Should a pice be rubbed with rub and doen similarly to the wsm? Maybe it's soemthing int he rub that causes it. Just my two cents. I look forward to the ash covered one, I was thinkning of doing this for a family get together. Scott
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Oh It'z BBQ! 1 Weber Gold Series Grill 1 WSM 18,1 WSM 22 1 Weber performer, 1 Smokey Joe Platinum 1 XL Big Green Egg 1 FEC 100 Team BBQ-Brethren.com KCBS Certified Judge #9079 |
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02-27-2008, 07:04 AM | #14 |
somebody shut me the fark up.
Join Date: 01-14-06
Location: At home on the range in Wyoming
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Okay, I've got my picks for the best ring (sealed in an unmarked envelope, in my sock drawer) and awaiting your results.
I didn't see any mention of meat temperature before going into the various cooking devices. What temp will you use for a baseline on this? Some folks claim it is one of the most important things.....
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~thirdeye~ Barbecuist ~ Charcuterist ~ KCBS Master Judge & CTC Big Green Eggs, Big Drum Smokers, Big Chiefs, Weber Smokey Joe "Custom Tall Boy" Oil Patch Horizontal, SnS Deluxe Kettle Visit my Cookin' Site by clicking HERE Barbecue is not rocket surgery “The problem with quotes on the Internet is that it's hard to verify their authenticity” ~ Abraham Lincoln
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02-27-2008, 07:11 AM | #15 |
is one Smokin' Farker
Join Date: 12-27-07
Location: Blue Springs, MO
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Wow that's a lot of work...But hopefully it will get you the results you (and us) are looking for...
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Jeff WSM w/Mods 22" Weber Kettle - Gold Country Smoker CS-450 KCBS Member #24405 CBJ #24405 [B]R Butts R Smokin Comp Team [URL="http://www.rbuttsrsmokin.com"]www.rbuttsrsmokin.com[/URL] [/B] |
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Experiment, Mad Science Experiment, smoke rings |
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