Any tips or tricks to have a smoke ring while smoking in a kamado joe ?
A pink (or red) color in meat usually indicates the presence of myoglobin. Myoglobin's reddish pigment is usually lost when meat is cooked because the heat causes it to denature and turn brown. The center of a rare steak remains red because it never reaches a high enough temperature to denature the myoglobin. However, the outside of smoked meat gets extremely hot over the course of cooking, so cool temperatures can't be the cause of the pink color in smoked meats. What else might cause myoglobin to stick around, despite the heat? It must be something in contact with the surface, since that's the only place the pink color appears. That means it's either the dry rub seasoning or the smoke itself. We know the dry rub can't be the cause because when the same dry rub is used on meat that's cooked in an oven or slow cooker, the pink ring doesn't develop. So, by process of elimination, we know that the smoke itself is causing the pink ring - but how?
It turns out that burning organic fuels like wood, charcoal or gas produces a variety of chemicals, including trace amounts of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) gas. When NO2 gas meets the surface, it dissolves into the meat and picks up a hydrogen molecule, becoming nitrous acid (HNO2), which then gets converted into nitric oxide (NO). NO reacts with myoglobin, and together they form a stable pink molecule that can withstand heat. The thickness of the ring depends on how deep into the meat the NO is able to penetrate before reacting with myoglobin.
As you can imagine, this reaction has to occur fairly early in the cooking process, before the surface of the meat reaches temperatures that would denature myoglobin. Since smoking cooks meat with gentle temperatures, this reaction has more time to occur before myoglobin is lost. Even though gas and charcoal are commonly used for grilling, you wouldn't see the smoke ring occur in grilled meats because the heat in that application is so high that the reaction doesn't have time to occur before the myoglobin around the edges is lost.
Now I've only smoked two briskets with slightly different metholodgy on each so I am far from experienced but I prepped in making these briskets in researching what proper procedures and variables to take in order to achieve that perfect tender brisket. The first brisket was a meaty 15 pounder that I split the point from the flat from. I smoked to about 175F before wrapping in aluminium and leaving till about 203F. In this first scenario, neither had a smoke ring and the flat felt overcooked and not tender but more tough. The point was ok but not restaurant quality.
The second packer was 11lb and I kept it all together. This one I just let cook for about 8.5 hours and didn't even look at. It was 212F when I took it out and even though it was good, it easily fell apart and no smoke ring either.
Which begs the question, do electric smokers even make a smoke ring possible? I use a mix of dry and wet wood and keep a water pan in the smoker. My temp is usually 250F the whole time. Any suggestions?
I couldn't find a clear answer for this online. As asked in the title, do different pellet types/brands produce darker or lighter smoke rings?
For example, could Pellet A produce a dark ring on beef ribs while Pellet B produces a lighter ring (given exact same cooking methods for both rib smokes).
I’ve seen in the US, Ring have a smoke and CO listener. I am wondering if there is any Z-Wave Plus smoke detectors that work with the Ring Alarm System in the UK.
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