smoke question

[Darin Hearn]

I saw something on the Food Network last week during the grilling and chilling programming that confused me. During one of the competitions that they showed, a BBQ team put foil on their uncooked ribs and put apple slices in the foil. (I like the idea of putting apples in when you foil!) But they said after a few hours they take the ribs out and then they will get exposed to the wood smoke. Now I thought that a piece of meat only absorbs smoke during the first 2 or 3 hours of cooking. If you foil first and then later take the meat out of the foil and expose it to smoke, will it absorb any smoke? Will you be able to have a smoke ring in the meat if you do this?

 

[K Kruger]

Darin--

Meat doesn't absorb smoke really, particles in the smoke stick to it. That can happen as long as smoke is present. Where the confusion occurs regards the formation of the smoke ring which quits happening when the meat hits 140. So, no, a smokering would be unlikely in that case.

 

[Bryan S]

I think that's the same one we had a discussion about last year. IIRC that's the team that one had their own recipe for the Rub( the woman) and the sauce(the guy) and didn't know the others recipe. 3 person team? I could be wrong though.

 

[Darin Hearn]

So you can still get the smokey flavor but you might not get the smoke ring. Would you lose points in a competition if you did not have a smoke ring?

 

[Bryan S]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Darin Hearn:
So you can still get the smokey flavor but you might not get the smoke ring. Would you lose points in a competition if you did not have a smoke ring? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
As far as i know you get no points for smoke ring.

 

[Darin Hearn]

If you used the 3-2-1 method for ribs and cooked them for 3 hours in the smoke and then put the apple slices in when you foil for two hours. Do you think you would get the same sweetness in your ribs as if you had done the foil and apples for the first 2 or 3 hours? I think it would but I am not totally sure about that.

 

[K Kruger]

Yes, I think doing it either way would yield approximately the same results. But if it's sweetness (and a little apple flavor) you're looking for you're better off with apple juice in the foil; the flavor and natural sugars are more cncentrated.

 

[Bryan S]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Darin Hearn:
If you used the 3-2-1 method for ribs and cooked them for 3 hours in the smoke and then put the apple slices in when you foil for two hours. Do you think you would get the same sweetness in your ribs as if you had done the foil and apples for the first 2 or 3 hours? I think it would but I am not totally sure about that. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
If your going to foil them just add some AJ at that time.