Brisket Smoke Ring ???


 
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Dan Crafton

TVWBB Member
Smoked a choice 13lb packer last night. Came out great except for the almost non existent smoke ring. Had good smokey flavor, was moist on pull test, had great bark....just a paper thin smoke ring.

I stayed within 225-275 the entire cook and used red oak with three hickory chunks. I would say it was my best brisket yet just the lack of smoke ring bugs me. I,ve cooked past Briskets that had over 1/4in smoke rings just can't figure out while my last couple had paper thin ones.

Any thoughts on this and/or how I can improve my smoke rings on my Briskets?

Thanks much,
Dan
 
Well, considering that it's directly proportionate to the amount of nitrates that the surface is exposed to, one investigative approach might be to ask how long was the cook, was it exposed the entire time or wrapped at one point, what kind of charcoal did you use, what smoke wood and how much?

I'll also note that, while pretty, it has no flavor component whatsoever, so if your brisket was a hit, I'd call it a success :)
 
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Randy, sorry I left out those details.

I did not wrap at all and put the brisket on immediately after dumping my full chimney of lit kingsford regular. I used a half full water pan. Had the brisket fat side down.

One thing different I guess is I'm now using smoke wood ordered online from Smokinlicious where before I would use what ever the big box store had on hand (I know prob makes no difference).

Thanks,
Dan
 
I agree with Randy (we're not allowed to judge the smoke ring in a contest) and would add one additional comment: did you bring it to room temp before putting it on the cooker or straight from the fridge? To get the most pronounced smoke ring having a wider differential between starting and finished temp helps. In other words straight from the fridge produces a big smoke ring.
 
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Agree with everything. Question... did you use the same rub as before ? Not that this is THE determining factor. Have never looked that closely at the labels, but do some commercial rubs contain sodium nitrate and/or sodium nitrite ?

Bob
 
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Ok so it sounds like I shouldn't worry too much about the smoke ring. Just really wanted to understand what was going on with it.

Bob, I use Texasbbqrub's Brisket Rub which is the same rub Ive always used. The ingredients don't list sodium nitrate but don't know for sure.

Dan
 
Dan Crafton said:
Ok so it sounds like I shouldn't worry too much about the smoke ring. Just really wanted to understand what was going on with it.
Click to expand...
fyi... A smoke ring can be artificially created if one uses a product such as Morton Tender Quick in their rub... and is the reason we must ignore any smoke ring during judging.
Incidentally, that rub (Texasbbqrub) sounds good. Might have to try some.
Bob
 
The chemical reaction that causes the smoke ring stops when your surface meat temp reaches 140 degrees.
 
I never worry about smoke rings. The smoke ring in meat is caused by four things:
1) Low temperature cooking.
2) Combustion and the gases it creates, especially nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxides.
3) Moisture on the surface of the meat to help move the water soluble gases into the meat.
4) Myoglobin.
When these conditions are met, the gases in wood smoke reacts with the myoglobin in meat to form nitrites and nitrates. These are the same compounds added to hot dogs and other cured meats to preserve them and give them their distinctive pink color.
 
Forget about the smoke ring. If it happens it happens. Sounds to me you did a great job....:)
 
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