When wood burns, the gas produced is combined with oxygen and carbon to produce NO and CO. Smoke rings, or pink smoke lines as they are sometimes called, occur as a result of wood combustion. Just be careful when handling your Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker so that you don’t fall down laughing. So, where do you get the NO and CO that are key to the preservation of the smoke ring? Talk about smoke rings and fire. This is what binds to the still-red myoglobin in the meat and prevents it from oxidizing (going brown). The smoke ring, and even small flames, contain nitric oxide (NO) and carbon monoxide (CO). Such meat has been exposed to too much oxygen and driven too far away from its physiological ideal of 120° F. Too often, the reality of barbequed meat is a gray, shriveled-up hunk of burnt meat collapsed into a smoke syrup. People may also think that smoke rings are simply glossed paint that is brushed onto the outside of ribs to make them look good.įish, shellfish, and fowl are examples of meats that typically don’t have visible smoke rings due to the lack of myoglobin in their muscles. Some people believe that meat gets a darker smoke ring when it’s cooked at higher temperatures like those used in barbecue. Meat reacts with the oxygen in the air, which oxidizes the meat and makes it turn brown. While people may think that meat gets a smoke ring from the application of chemicals, this actually isn’t true. Let’s look at the origins of our craving for smoky meat. It’s not just the smoke that makes a smoked piece of meat so tasty, but also the chemical properties it lends to meat. Understanding what causes a smoke ring can be an interesting journey that leads you down many food-centric alleys. Important Things Which Influence Making A Smoke Ring Sure, they’ll take a bite and ask themselves if they like the taste of your fare.īut that first impression - in this case, the heavenly-looking smoke ring encircling your cut of meat - can win or lose you a trophy. The main reason for this is that most judges will base their scores on appearance - from how well you’ve cooked the meat to how nicely it’s been sliced and presented.
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The better your smoke ring, the better your chances of being crowned king (or queen) at a barbecue or grilling competition. Newbies might even ask if they could take a bite of the brisket’s edge.ĪIf you want to grill the best barbecue, don’t let your smoke ring skills languish instead, work toward a nice, thick smoke ring.
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Experienced pitmasters would probably drool over it. There’s more to it than a pretty color, though – the smoke ring actually serves an important purpose, and it can tell you a lot about how your meat is cooked.Ī perfectly cooked smoke ring that’s 1/2-inch thick would be an awesome sight to see. The width of the pinkness ranges from about 1/8 of an inch to 1/2 of an inch, with 1/2-inch being more desirable. What Is A Smoke Ring?Ī smoke ring is a pink circle that runs around the outer edges of most perfectly slow-smoked meats. With this guide, you’ll get all the tips and tricks you need to start getting that pink-colored ring when you cut into your smoked meat. It comes with practice, patience, and the right techniques. You don’t need to be a BBQ wizard to get a smoke ring. The color ranges from pale pink through light red to dark red and even purple depending on factors including the type of meat, its moisture content, and the length of time it was exposed to smoke.
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It’s actually caused by an accumulation of nitric oxide in the meat closest to the surface of the smoke generated by hardwood charcoal. It is shrouded in mystery and coveted by all barbecue aficionados. Pop! he sent a smaller smoke-ring from his short clay-pipe straight through each one of Thorin’s.What the heck is a smoke ring, you ask? It’s a pink or reddish hue circling the outer edge of a piece of meat that has been barbecued. Tolkien, The Hobbit, New York: Ballantine, 1982, Chapter 1, p. 13, He was blowing the most enormous smoke-rings, and wherever he told one to go, it went-up the chimney, or behind the clock on the mantelpiece, or under the table, or round and round the ceiling but wherever it went it was not quick enough to escape Gandalf. 1891, Arthur Conan Doyle, “The Five Orange Pips” in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, 1892, Then he lit his pipe, and leaning back in his chair he watched the blue smoke-rings as they chased each other up to the ceiling.1854, John Ross Dix, The Worth of the Worthless, Boston: Shakspeare Division of Sons of Temperance, Chapter 2, p. 46, Puff-puff-puff-went John’s pipe and as the circling smoke-rings went up, the pictures therein framed became as distinct as if they had been drawn by the delicate pencil of Hammatt Billings.