Money muscle and smoke ring

[mobow]

As part of the master judge test it ask about the smoke ring on a money muscle. My questions is, is it possible to get a smoke ring all the way around the money muscle without seperating it from the butt? Thanx for your help and yes we are allowed to find answers anyway we can, keith

[HBMTN]

I have never tried but I bet I could do it by trimming the muscle away from the butt all except a 1/4 inch or so. Let it hang mostly seperated from the butt but still attached. Smoke should penetrate all around it leaving a complete Lord of - I mean Smoke Ring LOL

[lazyjacres]

Even leaving 1/2" to 3/4" will get the same results....


I have never tried but I bet I could do it by trimming the muscle away from the butt all except a 1/4 inch or so. Let it hang mostly seperated from the butt but still attached. Smoke should penetrate all around it leaving a complete Lord of - I mean Smoke Ring LOL

[mobow]

Thank you. Keith

[Rookie'48]

That's one of the crazy questions on the test because we're supposedly not paying attention to the smoke ring. Go figure!

[bmanMA]

That is interesting. I wonder if the question is meant to try and identify a team that has potentially hacked off the MM and then returned the roast to the smoker? If so, it clearly fails in several ways. Hmmm... yeah, it is strange.

[HBMTN]

I think the question on the test is to help keep a judge from DQ'ing a team if the smoke ring is all the way around the money muscle and the judge thinking it was cooked seperate from the whole butt.

[bmanMA]

OK... i hear that. That makes more sense. Trick question - that's a good question if that's the intention.

[ClayHill]

While taking a judging class (KCBS) I asked a similar question in regards to a smoke ring around the money muscle. It was apparent that the instructors were annoyed with my question and told us that this was not a judging issue, but a cook issue (policing each other)

Judges cant DQ a team on the premise of a smoke ring around a certain piece of meat. Unless a team is caught in the act, once it goes in the box, it’s going to get judged on the "judging criteria" and not cook rules

[Neal]

While taking a judging class (KCBS) I asked a similar question in regards to a smoke ring around the money muscle. It was apparent that the instructors were annoyed with my question and told us that this was not a judging issue, but a cook issue (policing each other)

Judges cant DQ a team on the premise of a smoke ring around a certain piece of meat. Unless a team is caught in the act, once it goes in the box, it’s going to get judged on the "judging criteria" and not cook rules


Your instructors were right. It is a judge's job to judge the food presented to them. It is not their job to search for reasons to DQ an entry. Too many judges have their priorities wrong in this regard.

[PimpSmoke]

You can leave it attached pretty well and still get smoke ring around. It all depends on temp of meat going in and moisture in the cooker.

TQ works on pork too, I think?

[Rub]

Your instructors were right. It is a judge's job to judge the food presented to them. It is not their job to search for reasons to DQ an entry. Too many judges have their priorities wrong in this regard.
I wish judges would stop and remember this before each contest. Sometimes I think they feel the need to search out the negative as opposed to reward the positive. Enjoy the experience!

[Sawdustguy]

I wish judges would stop and remember this before each contest. Sometimes I think they feel the need to search out the negative as opposed to reward the positive. Enjoy the experience!

I agree with that. I remember when my team was wrongly DQ'ed. Unfortunately the Reps were not on the ball.

[CTSmokehouse]

I agree with that. I remember when my team was wrongly DQ'ed. Unfortunately the Reps were not on the ball.

We all remember that...! I was judging at another table at Grill Kings...

Yours in BBQ,

Cliff