Why Is My Chicken Pink?

[darita]

I do chicken at 375* to 400* in a Primo, to a breast IT of 170*, thigh usually 180*+ and the skin is crisp and brown. I always double check different parts of the chicken with the Thermapen. I know the meat is done, well. Thing is, there's always pink meat around the joints and sometime raw looking blood. I'm sure it's all cooked, but why do I get this color? Is this normal or am I kidding myself about the doneness of the meat?

[Fwismoker]

It's because in poultry there is more myoglobin in the working muscles (dark meat area).....Dude you got smoke ring! ))))

[Bludawg]

It happens and will not hurt you I notice it on birds that I have brined that where enhanced.

[mikemci]

Must be a hen.

[DickQ]

If juices run clear it is cooked. If juices are pink, not cooked. Sounds like it's smoke ring, which is good!Check temp, u should be good!

[buccaneer]

Originally Posted by DickQ

If juices run clear it is cooked. If juices are pink, not cooked. Sounds like it's smoke ring, which is good!Check temp, u should be good!

This is a myth.
To prove it, probe your next chook when it is hot but long before it nears being cooked. The juices run clear.
That being said, it is still a rule that many people follow with common sense checking when the chook IS cooked, and no harm, no foul.Nyuk nyuk.

Myoglobin answer it likely, and true what Blue says, once you hold at 55C for 8 minutes you are safe and the truth is, American beliefs on safe temperature are waaaaaay over how a few hundred billion people out here eat chicken.
Seriously doubt you have anything to worry about.
Hell, I TARGET blood flecks(myoglobin) along joints and bone and always overshoot!

[Ron_L]

Originally Posted by Fwismoker

It's because in poultry there is more myoglobin in the working muscles (dark meat area).....Dude you got smoke ring! ))))

Originally Posted by DickQ

If juices run clear it is cooked. If juices are pink, not cooked. Sounds like it's smoke ring, which is good!Check temp, u should be good!

A smoke ring would be on the out side of the chicken, not against the bone as darita is asking about.

Here is an excellent article from Amazing Ribs that describes what Darita is seeing...

http://www.amazingribs.com/tips_and_...run_clear.html

3) Pink meat
Sometimes the purple in bones can discolor the meat touching them and they remain pink even though the meat is safely cooked. Sometimes the pink color can come from nitric oxide (NO) or carbon monoxide (CO) produced by the cooker. NO and CO can be byproducts of combustion in gas ovens and grills, as well as charcoal and wood grills.

This pink meat can be soft and spread evenly throughout the meat, or it can take the form of a distinctive band called a smoke ring which is right below the surface. USDA says "All the meat—including any that remains pink—is safe to eat as soon as all parts reach at least 165°F as measured with a food thermometer. Often meat of younger birds [can be] pink because their thinner skins permit oven gases to reach the flesh. Older animals have a fat layer under their skin, giving the flesh added protection from the gases. Older poultry may be pink in spots where fat is absent from the skin. Also, nitrates and nitrites, which are often used as preservatives or may occur naturally in the feed or water supply used, can cause a pink color."

And of course, meat can become pink as a result of chemical reactions that happen during smoking. The pink band called a smoke ring is right under the skin, and can sometimes extend as much as 1/2" into the meat. Click here to read more about smoke rings and what causes them.

[Callahan-que]

If it's at the joints and close to te bone it's not a smoke ring. Smoke ring would be under the skin close to the surface.

[Callahan-que]

Ron L beat me to it, I type tooo slow.

[Fwismoker]

Originally Posted by J'ville Grill

If it's at the joints and close to te bone it's not a smoke ring. Smoke ring would be under the skin close to the surface.

That would be correct...the discolored juice in the joints is not a worry when the temp is right and the pink that can be deeper in the meat from the outside in near the joints is myoglobin caused.

[IamMadMan]

Originally Posted by ron_l

here is an excellent article from amazing ribs that describes what darita is seeing...

http://www.amazingribs.com/tips_and_...run_clear.html

THANKS Ron.....

[BubbyQue]

Around the dark meat of chicken there is alot more blood vessels and such and you will almost never be rid of all of it, it is perfectly fine to eat if the IT is right.