Mad Science Experiment - Smoke Rings - Page 5

bigabyte · 03-01-2008, 11:04 PM

The results are in!!!

Pieces came off at different times over the course of about 45 minutes, but I had a system to keep everything organized and when all the pieces were ready I was able to process them systematically. This is a good thing because when I took the pictures off my camera I found I had only taken 14 photos, so I missed taking photos of two pieces. Because of the system I was able to quickly identify exactly which pieces did not get pictures. It was the Dry Brined piece and the Wet Brined piece.

The system I had to keep everything in order was to put toothpicks in the pieces in each cooker to identify which ones they were. Then when taking pieces off of the cooker, I had three different pans to put them in, so only pieces from the same cooker wound up in a pan. Then from the number of toothpicks in each piece in the pan I knew exactly what cooker and what piece it was. Then when evaluating them I did them in a specific order by cooker and number of toothpicks and wrote down the results for that cooker and piece number.

The pictures were taken as I processed the pieces, so they followed that same order, and I also included the toothpicks in the photos for identification if needed. It's a good thing I did because this is how I was able to figure out which pieces I had forgotten to take photos of.

OK, I know you are itching for the results, here they are. All pieces were cooked to between 195 and 200 degrees. The cookers were running at 275 throughout the cooking process. to measure the smoke ring, I sliced each piece in half and took the measurement of the smoke ring at its thickest point that was not a corner or gouge/cavity.

WSM w/Water Pan - Plain
1/2 inch thick smoke ring. Boring flavorwise.

WSM w/Water Pan - Spritzed
1/2 inch thick smoke ring. Boring flavorwise.

WSM w/Water Pan - Brined
1/2 inch thick smoke ring. Tasted rather good actually.
(sorry, no photo)

WSM w/Water Pan - Rubbed
3/8 inch thick smoke ring. Tasted good.

WSM w/Water Pan - Slathered and Rubbed
3/8 inch thick smoke ring. Tasted good.

WSM w/Water Pan - Brined, Slathered, Rubbed and Spritzed
3/8 inch thick smoke ring. Tasted better than the others.

WSM w/Sand Pan - Plain
1/2 inch thick smoke ring. Boring tasting.

WSM w/Sand Pan - Spritzed
1/2 inch thick smoke ring. Boring tasting.

WSM w/Sand Pan - Brined
1/2 inch thick smoke ring. Good meat flavor.
(sorry, no photo)

WSM w/Sand Pan - Rubbed
3/8 inch thick smoke ring. Tasted good.

WSM w/Sand Pan - Slathered and Rubbed
3/8 inch thick smoke ring. Tasted good.

WSM w/Sand Pan - Brined, Slathered, Rubbed and Spritzed
3/8 inch thick smoke ring - This one had the best bark and best flavor of all of the pieces today.

Oven - Plain
No smoke ring at all. This was the most boring flavor of all of them.

Oven - Tenderquick rub
5/8 inch thick smoke ring. This tasted OK. Nothing special.

Oven - Liquid Smoke and Tenderquick Rub
5/8 inch thick smoke ring. This did not taste bad, but if I was sereved this anywhere I would never order it again. The smoke flavor did not taste like real smoke and was very subtle and kinda weird tasting. I would never mistake this for real smoked BBQ, no way, no how.

Oven - Cherry Wood Ash
1/4 inch light colored smoke ring, but it was there! I did not taste it however.

I was surprised at how clear the results seem to be at initial glance. There are some noticeable patterns in these results. Here is what I am taking from this at first glance.

1. Cooking in a gas oven does not produce a smoke ring. (I knew this already though, but nobody can say I didn't include this)

2. Wood ash on meat does indeed form a smoke ring.

3. Meat cooked in an oven with Liquid Smoke could not fool anyone familiar with real BBQ.

4. Introducing extra moisture to the meat from a water pan, brining or spritzing has no effect on smoke ring penetration.

5. Adding a rub to the meat reduces penetration of the smoke ring. Slathers, spritzes and brines do not seem to cause any more reduction in the smoke ring, it appears to be just the rub that makes this difference.

Well, that's what happened today folks. Feel free to chime in with your thoughts.

Final Beer Tally: 11

I either overestimated with the 30 pack, or underconsumed. We went out earlier for a birthday dinner and is why it took me so long to post the results. So I had to stop drinking the beers from the 30 pack. I guess this means I have extras for the leftovers, so it's all good.

thillin · 03-01-2008, 11:14 PM

Great job. Now chop it all up and mix it all together and feed somebody.

BobBrisket · 03-01-2008, 11:22 PM

Very interesting. Thanks for the results. Now send me the leftover beers and pork!!

SmokeInDaEye · 03-01-2008, 11:51 PM

Great job, Chris! Really interesting stuff!

beerguy · 03-02-2008, 02:17 AM

Great job. Im wondering if all the toothpick holes let the air out of the smoke rings....I'll go to my room now...

Hell Fire Grill · 03-02-2008, 07:36 AM

Maybe if you drank more beer you would have been able to try the one covered in cherry ash.

redy2smoke · 03-02-2008, 07:52 AM

enlighting info Chris,Thanks!!

G$ · 03-02-2008, 07:59 AM

Nice job, thanks for your "work".

pat · 03-02-2008, 08:05 AM

Very interesting experiment! Thanks for sharing the results.

Bigmofo300lbs · 03-02-2008, 08:13 AM

This is the definition of 'Labor of Love'. Really intersting stuff.

bigabyte · 03-02-2008, 11:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beerguy

Great job. Im wondering if all the toothpick holes let the air out of the smoke rings....I'll go to my room now...

DOH!

I never thought of that!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sofa Q

Maybe if you drank more beer you would have been able to try the one covered in cherry ash.

No way. The pic does not do it justice. It did not look even remotely appetizing, and it smelled ashy. You woul dhave to be wasted to eat something like that, and there would have to be the promise of money or sex to probably entice the person to do so.

Jack2u2 · 03-02-2008, 12:12 PM

That was interesting and enlightening. From your post, it seems the brined pork was best. I have not brined a butt, but from your analysis, I may have to give it try.

QansasjayhawQ · 03-02-2008, 12:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dmprantz

Doesn't wood ash turn to lye in certain situations?

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigabyte

Hmmm... I better not eat it then!

I'm only doing that one to see if thre really is any factor from the wood ash in the smoke ring. The only way that piece of meat could possibly get a smoke ring is from the ash.

That's right - the traditional situation where wood as turns to lye is when it is exposed to animal fat - as in making lye soap.

I would worry about this chemical reaction more than I would worry about galvanized steel in my cooking chamber.

I'm enjoyed reading your findings!

DaChief · 03-02-2008, 12:24 PM

Thanks Chris. Interesting indeed. Have never brined....might have to try it. BTW, I would have finished the beer...but then that's me

Jaberwabee · 03-02-2008, 12:25 PM

Very interesting, but I am dissapointed in the beer consumption.

03-01-2008, 11:04 PM	#61
bigabyte somebody shut me the fark up. Join Date: 05-10-06 Location: Overland Fark, KS	The results are in!!! Pieces came off at different times over the course of about 45 minutes, but I had a system to keep everything organized and when all the pieces were ready I was able to process them systematically. This is a good thing because when I took the pictures off my camera I found I had only taken 14 photos, so I missed taking photos of two pieces. Because of the system I was able to quickly identify exactly which pieces did not get pictures. It was the Dry Brined piece and the Wet Brined piece. The system I had to keep everything in order was to put toothpicks in the pieces in each cooker to identify which ones they were. Then when taking pieces off of the cooker, I had three different pans to put them in, so only pieces from the same cooker wound up in a pan. Then from the number of toothpicks in each piece in the pan I knew exactly what cooker and what piece it was. Then when evaluating them I did them in a specific order by cooker and number of toothpicks and wrote down the results for that cooker and piece number. The pictures were taken as I processed the pieces, so they followed that same order, and I also included the toothpicks in the photos for identification if needed. It's a good thing I did because this is how I was able to figure out which pieces I had forgotten to take photos of. OK, I know you are itching for the results, here they are. All pieces were cooked to between 195 and 200 degrees. The cookers were running at 275 throughout the cooking process. to measure the smoke ring, I sliced each piece in half and took the measurement of the smoke ring at its thickest point that was not a corner or gouge/cavity. WSM w/Water Pan - Plain 1/2 inch thick smoke ring. Boring flavorwise. WSM w/Water Pan - Spritzed 1/2 inch thick smoke ring. Boring flavorwise. WSM w/Water Pan - Brined 1/2 inch thick smoke ring. Tasted rather good actually. (sorry, no photo) WSM w/Water Pan - Rubbed 3/8 inch thick smoke ring. Tasted good. WSM w/Water Pan - Slathered and Rubbed 3/8 inch thick smoke ring. Tasted good. WSM w/Water Pan - Brined, Slathered, Rubbed and Spritzed 3/8 inch thick smoke ring. Tasted better than the others. WSM w/Sand Pan - Plain 1/2 inch thick smoke ring. Boring tasting. WSM w/Sand Pan - Spritzed 1/2 inch thick smoke ring. Boring tasting. WSM w/Sand Pan - Brined 1/2 inch thick smoke ring. Good meat flavor. (sorry, no photo) WSM w/Sand Pan - Rubbed 3/8 inch thick smoke ring. Tasted good. WSM w/Sand Pan - Slathered and Rubbed 3/8 inch thick smoke ring. Tasted good. WSM w/Sand Pan - Brined, Slathered, Rubbed and Spritzed 3/8 inch thick smoke ring - This one had the best bark and best flavor of all of the pieces today. Oven - Plain No smoke ring at all. This was the most boring flavor of all of them. Oven - Tenderquick rub 5/8 inch thick smoke ring. This tasted OK. Nothing special. Oven - Liquid Smoke and Tenderquick Rub 5/8 inch thick smoke ring. This did not taste bad, but if I was sereved this anywhere I would never order it again. The smoke flavor did not taste like real smoke and was very subtle and kinda weird tasting. I would never mistake this for real smoked BBQ, no way, no how. Oven - Cherry Wood Ash 1/4 inch light colored smoke ring, but it was there! I did not taste it however. I was surprised at how clear the results seem to be at initial glance. There are some noticeable patterns in these results. Here is what I am taking from this at first glance. 1. Cooking in a gas oven does not produce a smoke ring. (I knew this already though, but nobody can say I didn't include this) 2. Wood ash on meat does indeed form a smoke ring. 3. Meat cooked in an oven with Liquid Smoke could not fool anyone familiar with real BBQ. 4. Introducing extra moisture to the meat from a water pan, brining or spritzing has no effect on smoke ring penetration. 5. Adding a rub to the meat reduces penetration of the smoke ring. Slathers, spritzes and brines do not seem to cause any more reduction in the smoke ring, it appears to be just the rub that makes this difference. Well, that's what happened today folks. Feel free to chime in with your thoughts. Final Beer Tally: 11 I either overestimated with the 30 pack, or underconsumed. We went out earlier for a birthday dinner and is why it took me so long to post the results. So I had to stop drinking the beers from the 30 pack. I guess this means I have extras for the leftovers, so it's all good. __________________ 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.

03-01-2008, 11:14 PM	#62
thillin somebody shut me the fark up. Join Date: 07-21-04 Location: Keller, Texas	Great job. Now chop it all up and mix it all together and feed somebody. __________________ Med Spicewine-adopted 3/13/10 *CL Score* 2 Large BGEs(pimped out w/Thirdeye Eggcessories)-hatched 6/4/07 & 4/20/11 Med BGE-adopted 2/2/08 *CL Score* -SOLD Mini BGE-adopted 1/31/08 *CL Score* Traeger 075-adopted 12/3/11 CL Score Weber 1 touch *CL Score* Weber Spirit 500 *CL Score* Weber Smokey Joe Silver *CL Score* BLUE & RED Thermapens Klose 20x42-SOLD Paddlin Pigs BBQ Ty

03-01-2008, 11:22 PM	#63
BobBrisket Moderator Join Date: 12-11-07 Location: El Paso, TX Name/Nickname : Bob	Very interesting. Thanks for the results. Now send me the leftover beers and pork!! __________________ PBC-Courtesy of Poobah, 22.5 Weber Kettles-A, K, DR Stamped, 18.5 Weber Bar-B-Kettle Black and Red, Weber 18.5 Smokey Joe Platinum, Weber Genesis Silver, Lil' Chief Smoker, Discada Set Up,OKJ Highland Offset. BobBrisket Jr.-MUDS, WSJ Silver My BEST Compliment....."You're a good cooker, Dad!"--My Son :) Miss You, Marty and Bull! RIP

03-01-2008, 11:51 PM	#64
SmokeInDaEye Quintessential Chatty Farker Join Date: 07-13-06 Location: Memphis, TN	Great job, Chris! Really interesting stuff! __________________ [URL="http://www.bbq-brethren.com"]http://www.SmokeInDaEye.com[/URL] Gen II Komodo Kamado, Pit Barrel Cooker, 3x 18.5" WSMs, 22.5" WSM, modified 18.5" Weber Kettle, 22.5" Weber Kettle circa 1960ish, Weber One Touch Platinum, copper Weber Smokey Joe, La Caja China, Bubba Keg, Bodom Picnic Grill, Weber Genesis

03-02-2008, 02:17 AM	#65
beerguy is One Chatty Farker Join Date: 05-05-05 Location: Fredericksburg Va	Great job. Im wondering if all the toothpick holes let the air out of the smoke rings....I'll go to my room now... __________________ 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

03-02-2008, 07:36 AM	#66
Hell Fire Grill Full Fledged Farker Join Date: 01-30-08 Location: Farkerville	Maybe if you drank more beer you would have been able to try the one covered in cherry ash.

03-02-2008, 07:52 AM	#67
redy2smoke Full Fledged Farker Join Date: 11-04-07 Location: Valley Head, Alabama	enlighting info Chris,Thanks!! __________________ Jim Brinkman SNP Pro Holland Tradition Gas (retired in place) UDS, Weber Kettle __________________________________________

03-02-2008, 07:59 AM	#68
G$ is Blowin Smoke! Join Date: 01-01-05 Location: Southern Arizona	Nice job, thanks for your "work".

03-02-2008, 08:05 AM	#69
pat is Blowin Smoke! Join Date: 01-21-08 Location: Des Moines, IA	Very interesting experiment! Thanks for sharing the results. __________________ Smokers Purgatory Have you tried Simply Marvelous Rubs yet?? Backwoods Party Ole Hickory CTO Large Big Green Egg WSM X 2 Weber Performer

03-02-2008, 08:13 AM	#70
Bigmofo300lbs Full Fledged Farker Join Date: 04-13-04 Location: Pacheco, CA (NCAL)	This is the definition of 'Labor of Love'. Really intersting stuff. __________________ Big Al - [url]http://www.hogwildbarbeque.com/[/url] _____________________________________________________ Kamado #7, WSM, 3 Weber Kettles, Smokey Joe, Gasser & Foreman

03-02-2008, 12:12 PM	#72
Jack2u2 is one Smokin' Farker Join Date: 11-27-07 Location: West Tawakoni, TX.	That was interesting and enlightening. From your post, it seems the brined pork was best. I have not brined a butt, but from your analysis, I may have to give it try. __________________ Jack -www.jrcsbbqandseasonings.com

03-02-2008, 12:24 PM	#74
DaChief Babbling Farker Join Date: 01-28-07 Location: Melbourne, FL	Thanks Chris. Interesting indeed. Have never brined....might have to try it. BTW, I would have finished the beer...but then that's me __________________ 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

03-02-2008, 12:25 PM	#75
Jaberwabee is One Chatty Farker Join Date: 11-21-06 Location: Wichita, KS	Very interesting, but I am dissapointed in the beer consumption. __________________ Oct 2011 Update. (it changes) 2 WSM's 1 of each (18.5, 22.5) 2 UDS's Gone, (Brother in Law took them....FARKER) 1 Rib Machine Chargriller Pro Hella Mod (Retired) 2 Bubba Keg (One HOT MOTHER, One LOW N SLOW) 1 22" Performer Yoder YS-640 is the next cooking device.

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