Observations on a Smoke Ring


 
T

Tom Ferguson

Banned
I have had a couple of WSMs for a few years now. Love them to death.

I decided I wanted to move up, so I bought a Stump's Smoker. Huge mistake. I won't go into the details, except to say that I sold the smoker and didn't suffer too much of a loss.

Next I bought a Gator Pit. Real Texas pit. Takes a lot of intense monitoring while cooking, but produces the best real BBQ on the planet.

Each and every of the above methods requires some attention to the pit, more with the Gator Pit, less with the WSM.

So, in my lazy quest for simple Q, I stumbled upon the CookShack Smokette. It is a small (dinky) smoker that is powered by <GASP!> ELECTRICITY!!.

Well, that's not so bad. You add smoke wood of your choice and cook low and slow to produce some pretty good Q.

Here's my observation: When cooking on the Cookshack cooker, using some typical smoke wood chunks, there is no smokering.

The wood smokes correctly and reduces to ash.

I followed the advice of folks on the Cookshack forum and added some charcoal to the smoking tray of the Cookshack, and this made all the difference in the world. Real nice smoke ring.

So...

Why would you get a smoke ring with charcoal and NOT get one with wood chunks smoked along with the cook?

Anyway, still love the WSM, still love the stick burner. BUT... for convenience and ease of cleanup, the CookShack is hard to beat. Just don't try to feed a crowd.
 
Interesting.

I've not cooked on a Smokette. Are you starting with unlit wood and a heating element gets it to smolder? When you add the charcoal it is unlit?

(I'm sure you're not missing hurricane monitoring since you moved to Tenn, Tom. Still happy to have moved? It's beautiful on the Plateau.)
 
Hey Kevin,

Yep, the Smokette has a contraption that sits directly over the heating element. I put unlit wood chunks right in there. I also put the unlit chunks of charcoal in the same place.

I always thought the smokering was a function of the smoke and the meat protein, blah blah blah, but the Smokette seems to make that not true. The wood chunks in the smokette burn down to just ashes if left long enough, otherwise they seem to turn into charcoal also.

Without the charcoal, no smokering. With the charcoal, typical smokering. There doesn't seem to be any appreciable flavor difference either way. The smokering just makes it look more "real".

Very strange.

And yeah, I'm loving it up here in Tenn. Wish I would have made the move years ago. Country living isn't for everyone, but it sure sits well with me.
 
I love living in the country--but could do without the 'canes.

Smokerings are chemical reactions. I think it's hasty to infer that this is untrue based on the results you had, but somethingis either upsetting the dynamic or preventing its initiation.

Is the wood you are using regular ol' smokewook chunks? Is the charcoal you add regular ol' K? Have you added lump instead of K? When using wood alone, do you know what the temp of the cooker is at about the time the wood actually starts smoking? When you use charcoal does the smoke start sooner or is it the same?
 
If I remember right the smokette is a closed system. I don't think that there is enough air circulation to help spread the smoke around your meat.

Try using chips, or saw dust, and cold meat.

Then again, there are some of us that says charcoal briquettes or lump helps improve flavor and smoke rings.

Anybody with a FEC from Cookshack have problems with a smoke ring? I know its not electric heat but it does burn wood pellets.
 
Tom,

Interesting situation. You state that: "The wood chunks in the smokette burn down to just ashes if left long enough, otherwise they seem to turn into charcoal also." So my take is that temperature and oxygen are in play. Can you get a specific temp reading when you smoke? Burning to ash may imply a hotter temp and more oxy. At those temps I would think you would get a ring.

For what it's worth, here's a quote from another site that reviews electric smokers:

"The electric cookers I have tested do not produce a smoke ring, do not make crispy skins on chicken or turkey, do not develop a crusty "bark" on ribs, and do not develop the bacon flavors that make barbecue so sexy."

Craig Goldwyn; Amazingribs.com

Paul
 
I think the electric part of it has something to do with it, no matter what type of wood or charcoal is used. My brother has a electric brinkman smoker at his river house and I have used it several times with different setups of charcoal and wood chunks and can't get a smokering no matter what I have tired so far. It doesn't make sense to me either, I cna't figure it out.
 
Kevin,

Yep, regular smoke wood chunks. Same as I use on the WSM. And regular K. I haven't tried lump.

Steve, Paul, Randy,

The smokette is a faily closed system, but not completely. There is a small vent at the top to release the smoke. No air inlet.

I just thought it was strange that with the charcoal I get the smokering and without it, no smokering. I always put the meat in cold, too.

I do get a good bark on Ribs and Butt. Chicken comes out good, but no crispy skin.

Anyway, its all good. Love the convenience of the Cookshack. No warm up time, just turn it on and put the meat on. Quality of the Q is excellent too.
 
Tom, what temp do you cook at? Does using charcoal alter that temp? You may be cooking at two different temps if the charcoal is burning and providing heat and other stuff too.
 
This might help:

Smoke Ring in Barbeque Meats
How to Get That Coveted Pink Ring With Your Cooking
by Joe Cordray

Slow cooked barbecue meats often exhibit a pink ring around the outside edge of the product. This pink ring may range from 1/8 inch to 1/2 inch thick. In beef the ring is a reddish-pink and in pork, chicken and turkey it is bright pink. This pink ring is often referred to as a "smoke ring" and is considered a prized attribute in many barbecue meats, especially barbecue beef briskets. Barbecue connoiseurs feel the presence of a smoke ring indicates the item was slow smoked for a long period of time. Occasionally consumers have mistakenly felt that the pink color of the smoke ring meant the meat was undercooked. To understand smoke ring formation you must first understand muscle pigment.

Myoglobin is the pigment that gives muscle its color. Beef muscle has more pigment than pork muscle thus beef has a darker color than pork. Chicken thighs have a darker color than chicken breast thus chicken thigh muscle has more muscle pigment (myoglobin) than chicken breast tissue. A greater myoglobin concentration yields a more intense color. When you first cut into a muscle you expose the muscle pigment in its native state, myoglobin. In the case of beef, myoglobin has a purplish-red color. After the myoglobin has been exposed to oxygen for a short time, it becomes oxygenated and oxymyoglobin is formed. Oxymyoglobin is the color we associate with fresh meat. The optimum fresh meat color in beef is bright cherry red and in pork bright grayish pink. If a cut of meat is held under refrigeration for several days, the myoglobin on the surface becomes oxidized. When oxymyoglobin is oxidized it becomes metmyoglobin. Metmyoglobin has a brown color and is associated with a piece of meat that has been cut for several days. When we produce cured products we also alter the state of the pigment myoglobin. Cured products are defined as products to which we add sodium nitrate and/or sodium nitrite during processing. Examples of cured products are ham, bacon, bologna and hotdogs. All of these products have a pink color, which is typical of cured products. When sodium nitrite is combined with meat the pigment myoglobin is converted to nitric oxide myoglobin which is a very dark red color. This state of the pigment myoglobin is not very stable. Upon heating, nitric oxide myoglobin is converted to nitrosylhemochrome, which is the typical pink color of cured meats.
When a smoke ring develops in barbecue meats it is not because smoke has penetrated and colored the muscle, but rather because gases in the smoke interact with the pigment myoglobin. Two phenomenon provide evidence that it is not the smoke itself that causes the smoke ring. First, it is possible to have a smoke ring develop in a product that has not been smoked and second, it is also possible to heavily smoke a product without smoke ring development.

Most barbecuers use either wood chips or logs to generate smoke when cooking. Wood contains large amounts of nitrogen (N). During burning the nitrogen in the logs combines with oxygen (O) in the air to form nitrogen dioxide (NO2). Nitrogen dioxide is highly water-soluble. The pink ring is created when NO2 is absorbed into the moist meat surface and reacts to form nitrous acid. The nitrous acid then diffuses inward creating a pink ring via the classic meat curing reaction of sodium nitrite. The end result is a "smoke ring" that has the pink color of cured meat. Smoke ring also frequently develops in smokehouses and cookers that are gas-fired because NO2 is a combustion by-product when natural gas or propane is burned.

Let’s review the conditions that would help to contribute to the development of a smoke ring. Slow cooking and smoking over several hours. This allows time for the NO2 to be absorbed into and interact with the meat pigment.

Maintain the surface of the meat moist during smoking. NO2 is water-soluble so it absorbs more readily into a piece of meat that has a moist surface than one which has a dry surface. Meats that have been marinated tend to have a moister surface than non-marinated meats. There are also a couple of ways that you can help to maintain a higher humidity level in your cooker; 1. Do not open and close the cooker frequently. Each time you open it you allow moisture inside to escape. 2. Put a pan of water on your grill. Evaporation from the water will help increase humidity inside the cooker.

Generate smoke from the burning of wood chips or wood logs. Since NO2 is a by-product of incomplete combustion, green wood or wetted wood seems to enhance smoke ring development. Burning green wood or wetted wood also helps to increase the humidity level inside the cooker.
A high temperature flame is needed to create NO2 from nitrogen and oxygen. A smoldering fire without a flame does not produce as much NO2. Consequently, a cooker that uses indirect heat generated from the burning of wood typically will develop a pronounced smoke ring. Have fun cooking. A nice smoke ring can sure make a piece of barbecued meat look attractive.

About the Author:

Joe Cordray is the Meat Extension Specialist at Iowa State University’s nationally renowned Meat Lab, located in Ames, IA. He has been writing for The BBQer since Fall of 2001

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the last paragraph has the answer to why your electric cooker does not produce a smoke ring
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Steve Petrone:
Tom, what temp do you cook at? Does using charcoal alter that temp? You may be cooking at two different temps if the charcoal is burning and providing heat and other stuff too. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Temps are the same, both with and without the charcoal, 235*. The charcoal doesn't burn. It just smolders.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Jon Merka:
... the last paragraph has the answer to why your electric cooker does not produce a smoke ring </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Ah, but the electric cooker DOES produce a smoke ring. As long as I toss a couple of pieces of charcoal in with the smoke wood.
 
Reading through Joe's article above perhaps the difference is moisture levels? I assume that an electric smoker is going to have a lower moisture level than a charcoal smoker with a water pan.
 
Given the explanation from the IA extension service, I don't know why adding charcoal to an electric smoker would create a smoke ring when wood alone won't do it, as charcoal should have less nitrogen in it than the wood. Charcoal should mostly be carbon.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">A high temperature flame is needed to create NO2 from nitrogen and oxygen. A smoldering fire without a flame does not produce as much NO2. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

what if this is the key? clearly the electric element is just causing the wood to smolder as its not being reduced to ash. Maybe the charcoal actually ignites at the same low temp, which can in turn ignite the wood.

I just always assumed that the charcoal was just a better source of NO2, but the article implies that its more complicated than that.
 
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