SMOKE RING
"Is my meat cooked?" no need to worry, dear friends. The "pink" color in the middle of a smoked half chicken, on the edges of our beef brisket, and amongst our pulled pork is our BBQ badge of honor. Our meat is fully cooked, smoky, succulent, and super tender.
The bosses of BBQ call that pinkish color a smoke ring. What is a smoke ring you ask? The pink layer found in smoked meats can be explained by simple meat chemistry. Myoglobin is a protein that gives our smoked meats their pink color. In terms of meat, beef has four times the amount of myoglobin as pork, and chicken thighs have more myoglobin than chicken breasts, hence the term "dark meat".
Myoglobin LOVES oxygen. When wood is burned nitrogen dioxide is created. The gas dissolves on the wet surface of the meat and binds with myoglobin - creating the prized smoke ring!
In the BBQ world, the deeper the smoke ring, the moister the meat. Our pit masters ensure the deepest smoke ring to lock in flavor.
